The Container ship EF Ava spent the morning riding the hook at anchor. The ship is likely waiting out weather to pass before sailing tonight for Portland Maine.
EF Ava Operates on Eimskips Green Line, stopping in Halifax, Portland, Argentia and Reykjavik.
This week in the Herald, I discuss covid-19, and its impacts on the port, and large offshore projects. as well as the sting of record breaking container ships to call in the coming months.
Since submitting the article:
Another recent addition to the the EC5 service, MOL Marvel arrived this afternoon from Norfolk is scheduled to sail overnight for Jebel Ali, with an eta of April 20.
MOL Paramount arrived this afternoon at fairview cove. The ships stowage plan was clear produced by someone with OCD, as Each container stack was 4 high, leaving a very flat appearance to the ship.
The 14,414 TEU CMA-CGM T. Jefferson arrived this afternoon, becoming the largest container ship to call in Halifax. The previous record was set last January by CMA-CGM Libra at 11,388. sister ship CMA-CGM Abraham Lincon is also scheduled, as is the 13800teu APL Sentosa.
All the Recent record beaters have operated on the CMA-CGM Columbus JAX service, which sails from asia to both the east and west coasts. 18 vessels provide weekly service, and 1 voyage takes 126 days. Both Records will fall this June when the 15072 teu CMA-CGM Panama arrives, beating both east and west records. the ship is currently Due June 6th.
COVID 19 concerns kept interviews to email, and media off the pier, and i will post some additional photos later.
MSC Leigh anchored in Anchorage #1 for a CFIA Asian Gypsy Moth Inspection. She sailed just before 3pm, bound for Montreal.
Considered an invasive species, Halifax is the Eastern Canadian inspection point for ships.
The CMA-CGM Thomas Jefferson is due at PSA Halifax on March 21. At 14,414 teu, she will set the record for largest container ship to call. The previous record was set last January by CMA-CGM Libra at 11,388. sister ship CMA-CGM Abraham Lincon is also scheduled, as is the 13800teu APL Sentosa.
Largest ship to call in Canada was the Cosco Himalayas at 14,500teu. It’s first call was in Prince Rupert in 2017, and still holds the record.
Both Records will fall this june when the 15072 teu CMA-CGM Panama arrives, beating both east and west records. the ship is currently Due June 6th.
All the Recent record beaters have operated on the CMA-CGM Columbus JAX service, which sails from asia to both the east and west coasts. 18 vessels provide weekly service, and 1 voyage takes 126 days.
Recent rail blockages are beginning to severely effect the port of Halifax. Yesterday ACL announced they were no longer calling in Halifax as long as rail service is limited, routing traffic through New York instead. ACL has a contract with CERES until 2022, and calls twice a week with containers and RO-RO traffic.
Hapag-Lloyd, and the Alliance is still calling in Halifax, but is considering re-routing cargo, as is ZIM. Hapag-Lloyd released this statement Wednesday.
The blockades of key rail track and Port Infrastructure facilities throughout Canada continues and the Federal and Provincial Governments remain in dialogue as they seek a resolution with the Indigenous communities across the country.
There have been no material changes to the state of the blockades as communicated in our previous letter. CP Rail tracks remain comparatively clear.
Prince Rupert is now clear and the recovery is underway.
The blockade in Ontario remains in place, and CN’s Eastern Canadian network is more or less shutdown. A limited number of trains are operating in the Halifax/Montreal corridor. Various options to move /divert cargo out of Halifax are being explored.
It is not clear yet how long the protests could last and the disruption continues as the blockades enter their third week. There has been inevitable disruption to the Rail transportation of both domestic and International shipments for which we apologize.
This is a continuing situation and we will provide you with regular updates.
Hapag-lloyd Feb 19 Statement
Some trains working east of Montreal are moving, but as most cargo through Halifax is bound or from beyond the Belleville blockade, those services are affected. The port is stacking cargo bound for Toronto and points west.
Coastal gas link is attempting to build a Natural Gas pipeline in BC. CGL have signed benefit agreements with several indigenous tribes along the pipeline route, and the project has broad support among elected councils and hereditary chiefs. 5 Hereditary Chiefs oppose the pipeline route across Wet’suwet’en Territory, and were blocking progress in Protest.
The supreme court ruled that the Wet’suwet’en territory is unceeded – it is not subject to a treaty, and the people were not conquered, therefore the Hereditary chiefs have legal title to the land.
Those 5 hereditary chiefs are not against the pipeline. they are against the current routing of the pipeline across their lands. The chiefs have proposed alternative routeing, which is actually in use by other pipelines currently. CGL rejected the proposed new routing, claiming it would delay the project by a year, and Cost 700 million more to build.
CGL went to court, and the BC Court granted an injunction ordering the protesters away. they refused, citing sovereignty over their territory. The RCMP then moved in and enforced the injuction. The Legality of the BC court injunction is likely to be challenged, however that will take time to work out.
In the Meantime, Mohawks have blocked the CN mainline near Belleville in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en. An injunction has been issued against this blockade by an Ontario Court, however the OPP have yet to enforce this.
The above are the facts. they are not open to debate.
This protest is not anti-pipeline, its not about the environment, or moving oil. some have latched on to the protest to advocate for those ideas, however that is disrespecting the purpose of the protest- which is about respecting indigenous title to the land, which in this case clearly exists.
The OPP have likely chosen restraint in dealing with the Mohawks, frankly its likely the interruptions could become much more severe were they to forceably remove this blockade. The Mohawks were participants in the Oka Crisis which featured blockaded roads bobby-trapped with incendiary devices. as bad as the rail blockade is, shutting down the 401 would be much worse.
while the Trudeau liberals are rightly getting criticism for the handling of this issue, Calls for the prime minister to order the police to do something are wrong. Politicians do not and should not directly control the actions of the police. Support and calls for Vigilantes, or other citizens to take it upon themselves to intervene is also not a sound approach.
Fundamentally CGL chose to go to court rather then being a good neighbour. CGL, wanting to save time and money is now costing the Canadian Economy millions per day in losses, and several thousand people are out of work until this is resolved. the rest of the country is an externality to getting this pipeline built how CGL want it, and frankly more anger should be expressed to at CGL, and Corporate Canada should be demanding CGL apologize, and change the routing.
The Alliance has been rotating vessels on its EC 5 service, with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines vessels coming into the rotation as of late. Other recent new callers have Included MOL Maxim, MOL Mission, MOL Maneuver and MOL Marvel. The ships are rated at 6724TEU and were built in 2010/2011, and carry the Marshall Islands flag.
MOL Paramount, MOL Partner,and MOL Paradise have been serving on the EC5 route for a while. Yantian Express, George Washington Bridge remain the only non MOL vessels on the Routes schedule.
MOL is part of ONE, formed as a merger of Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK), Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), and K Line’s container businesses.
CP announced today that it purchased the Central Maine and Quebec Railway. What makes this buy so weird, is that the track once belonged to CP.
in 1994, CP sold off all its trackage east of Montreal. those assets were owned by Iron Road, which want bankrupt. the Montreal Maine and Atlantic was formed out of a portion of those assets, itself went bankrupt in 2014 after the Lac Megantic disaster.
Other assets in the area were sold to Irving, and operate as the NBSR. CP maintained rights over those lines until 1993.
since CP is re-acquiring the track, it will now have direct access to Saint John. this suggests they have business. Oil by Rail is certainly a possibility, however that has already been occurring form North Dakota. Alberta oil is to heavy to be processed by the saint john refinery, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t an opportunity to load crude tankers with Alberta oil on a second leg voyage. is that play big enough? good question.
what if MSC shipping were to pull out of Montreal – even Partially? MSC currently calls on Montreal and Saint John. Montreal is out of the way, and delays in recent years due to ice, and North Atlantic Right Whale speed reductions likely cause grief to the MSC Schedule. A suitable rail partner could get the containers inland just as fast, and save days of sailing.
Saint John terminal operator DP World is already listing connections to CP via the NBSR on its website, previously that connection was only possible via PanAm Railways, into New York state.
