The Queen Mary 2 Arrived this Morning, and Backed into Pier 22. Crystal Symphony is Occupying Pier 20. There are now 3 ships remaining this year – Brilliance of the Seas on the 28th, and Seven Seas Navigator and Emerald Princess on the 30th
General Cargo Vessel STATENGRACHT arrived last night. She appears to be loading Heavy Equipment parts that arrived earlier by Rail.
She Has an interesting Configuration, with 2 cranes on the Port Side, and a Single Crane, and 2 Cargo Elevators on the Starboard. STATENGRACHT was built in 2004.
With Kometik Sailing around 10am for Hiberina, It is now Mattea’s turn for bunkers. They arrived at Anchorage 1 overnight.
Above – A daylight Shot. Bellow – A Shot From the Bridge, as the Bunker Barge comes along side with tug assistance
Jewel of the Seas At Pier 20 (right) and Enchantment of the Seas at Pier 22(Left)
With the Cruise season winding down for the year, Today brought visits from 2 RCCL Vessels, Jewel of the Seas and Enchantment of the Seas
This afternoon we will see Bunkering – US Style.
In Halifax (And much of the rest of the world im told) Bunkering is done from a smallish dedicated Tanker – such as our own Algoma Dartmouth, and the NT Dartmouth before that.
The shuttle tankers Kometik and Mattea will be bunkered via the Barge Columbia with the Tug Siberian Sea. It is common in the US to use a Tug and Barge to move oil, as this combination requires less crew then a full tanker does. This sort of combination makes periodic apperances at the Imperial Oil Docks.
There is no word on why Algoma Dartmouth is not being used, However it could be the Algoma Dartmouth, or the Low Sulfer Fuel required is unavailable. UPDATE: It appears the Low Sulfer Fuel is not currently available in Halifax. In the Fall refinery shift their product lines, and Imperial Oil may currently be shutdown for that transition. Algoma Dartmouth was imported to Canada, but an agreement was made that it could not trade outside the Harbour, or the Substantial Import Duty would need to be paid on her. Thus she is unavailable to make the trip to St John NB.
The Tug Siberian Sea and Barge Columbia are owned by K-SEA OPERATING LLC, and are based out of New York NY. The tug was built in 1980 and is Powered by two EMD 12-645 E-2 diesel engines, she is a twin screw tug rated at 3,300 horsepower. The Barge Columbia has a capcity of 58000 Barrels.
Eta is 1400. Photos to follow.
The tug and barge arrived after 6pm tonight, and set right to work. The Barge is hard to see as it it very low in the water. Better Daylight Photo’s Tomorrow.
The France Telecom Marine ship Raymond Croze arrived this morning and tied up at Pier 30. Alas The port had containers in the way so i coculdnt get an unobstructed view of her.
Updated – Picture from the Dartmouth Side.
The Western Neptune is Survey vessel belonging to Western Geco. Such vessels are used in sub sea geophisical surveys – typically for oil and gas. Western Geco appears to specialize in surveying existing resevoirs, so they may be here doing work on the Sable or Deep Panuke gas fields.
