(Above) Tug and Tow Connected via Chains (Below) Closeup of towing arrangement, Does not appear to be using Australian Spirits Anchor Chains.
(Above) Chain Towing Bridle, Attached to a cable. the Cable will be payed out when they get to open ocean. (Below) Tow passing the ferry track
(Above) Tug Janus Leading the Way. (Below) Atlantic Oak, Atlantic Larch and Atlantic Willow (Not visible on other side) steer the stern
The Tanker Almi Navigator Dropped the hook in Anchorage 1 to take on bunkers. The Algoma Dartmouth is still secured at Pier 9, suggesting that winds may be too high for bunkering to take place.
Built in 2013 and Liberian Registered, she is larger then the Australian Spirit.
She last offloaded cargo in Point Tupper
Working Autoport.
The tug Janus Tied up at Pier 9 forward of the Australian Spirit. Janus was contracted to tow the Australian Spirit to a ship Yard in Portugal to have a new rudder fitted. The Tug Arrived Early in the Morning on the 5th.
She is a relatively New Build, and Rated at 19000hp, has lots of power for the job.
Marshal Islands Flagged Tanker Cape Bacton at Imperial Oil. She Arrived from New York.
A Handy Size Product tanker, She was built in 2004 by Hyundai Mipo in South Korea, and is Owned and operated by United Product Tankers.
In the past week there have been 4 Nautical disasters.
1) The Car Carrier Hoegh Osaka ran aground last night on a sandbar and took a 50 degree list. the crew was evacuated.
2) The Cement Carrier Cemfjord, rolled and sank off Scotland with no distress call or epirb activation. the Bow was discovered by a passing ferry.
3)The Bulker Bulk Jupiter Capsized and sank with the loss of all but one of the crew. It is believed its Cargo of Bauxite liquified, causing the vessel to roll.
4) The Greek Ferry Norman Atlantic Caught fire with the Loss of 10 lives.
The 19000hp tug Janus has sailed for Halifax to collect the Australian Spirit. She will then tow the Australian spirit to Portugal to be fitted with a new rudder. According to marine traffic the tug is due on the 6th.
It have heard that when the Australian Spirit was Inspected, it was found that the rudder shaft had broken and the rudder had fallen off. it was suggested that the rudder post may have been bent however the lower rudder gudgedon had marine growth where the bearing would have been, suggesting the whole thing was damaged in the past.
2014 was an eventful year at the port of Halifax.
The Fednav Ice Breaking Bulk Carrier Nunavik Stopped briefly on her delivery Voyage. CSL Tacoma, Another new build Bulker also made Several stops this year. BP ran a seismic Survey program over the summer, with familiar and some new vessels working out of Halifax. The Bluenose II finally sailed, though only for a trial. Pier 9c was finished, and went into service, With Onego St.Peterburg being the first vessel to tie up.
HMCS Fredericton was the first FELEX vessel to Deploy, sailing on Dec 30th. She will replace HMCS Toronto. The Tug Firebird was Declared Surplus. HMCS Preserver and HMCS Iroquois were announced that they would be decommissioned, having reached the ends of their serviceable lives.
Once again 2014 was a good year for port visits to the Dockyard. The French made Multiple stops in Halifax in 2014. FS Misteral and FS La Fayette took place in amphibious landing exercise Lion Mistral with the Canadian Army. Fulmar spent a week in July for the start of the Route Halifax Saint Pierre Yacht Race ,and the Survey Vessel FS Laplace, which had completed surveying Saint Pierre.
The end of July brought the NATO SNMG-1 for a visit. The Fleet consisted of FGS Niedersachsen, TCG Kemalreis, USS Leyte Gulf, USNS Medgar Evers and USS Anzio. The US Coast Gurad was also a Frequent visitor, with USCGC Escanaba visiting in August, USCGC Morro bay in June, and USCGC Tahoma and Campbell stopping in in March.
Rounding out the Visits were The Danish Destroyer HDMS Nils Jules visited in December, and The Submarine USS New Mexico Tied up at Shearwater in March, and the German Supplier FGS Bonn in Febuary
See our post on Nautical Disasters. 2014 was an eventful year. The tanker AlgoNova caught fire, and Laura 1 was also bumped by the Icebreaker CCGS Henry Larsen, and put in for repairs. In February Asian Emperor Rolled and destroyed Machinery. this resulted in our most viewed post ever as Car forums linked to our post, as panicked people awaiting delivery of their new car on the ship tried to figure out if their vehicle was damaged. In March the tug gulf spray got crushed, and the bulker John 1 went aground off Newfoundland. She was rescued by the tug Ryan Leat. A Container of radioactive material also shut down the Fairview Cove terminal after it fell into the hold of a ship. In December the Tanker Australian Spirit Lost her rudder, and needed to be towed into port.
The 9 Hero Class Vessels for the Coastguard were completed, with #9 Launching in may. With Completion of that program, the Old assembly hall was torn down. The FELEX program continued on, With the First 2 vessels becoming operational.
Shipyard Construction Progressed with the new Assembly building reaching near completion, and the new overhead cranes being installed.
FerriesThere was much Ferry News in 2014. The New harbour Ferry Christopher Stannix Was delivered, New Ferry was ordered, and is under construction for delivery next year. The province tendered for a new Boat for Grand Passage, and the New Digby-Saint John Ferry, Currently known as Canada2014 arrived in Canada.
and a
Regular halifax caller, the bulk carrier Barkald is the first ship of 2015. She tied up at National Gypsum just after 5pm on the first to avoid the holiday.
