The Strike in Montreal ended with a 7 month truce this past Sunday. Several ships at anchor departed and sailed for Montreal. Genoa Express (above) hung on, and completed cargo work before sailing. Quebec express also hung around, and is currently at the pier at Fairview Cove (below).
MSC Brianna called this week, as the first stop of a 6 month contract for 2500teu/per week to come to Halifax. this is new business, and may be a hedge against winter delays and further labour action.
The Boskalis tug Princess put into Halifax fro a brief fuel and supply stop Tuesday, before heading for Mulgrave. The tug will likely be collecting one of the Sable offshore platforms for delivery to the UK Recyclers.
Halifax Fire’s Rescue boat 13 is Passing in the Foreground.
The DRDC Barge has returned to its home in the Bedford Basin. The barge was removed in 2019 for a work period, and its return was delayed until this week for a variety of reasons.
Genoa Express is at Fairview Cove.
MSC Ela took to the outer anchorage on the 16th
Quebec Express arrived on the 19th,and dropped the hook in the outer anchorage.
Ortolan Gamma due on the 20th,
MSC Annick is due on the 22nd, having sailed from Montreal.
OOCL Montreal is due the 28th
MSC Brianna is due the 31st.
Montreal Express diverted to Halifax due to Montreal’s strike. Genoa Express is also now showing due on the 16th.
Some Photos from my first trip to Halifax, June 2004.
Thanks to the Longshoreman strike at the Port of Montreal, and the volume of diverted containers coming to Halifax, PSA Halifax has had to relocate empties. Currently there are stacks in the Truck Marshaling area (Above) at pier 24 (below) and in the parking lot opposite Pier 21. Containers have moved in Ocean terminal areas near pier 27 as well.
Fortunately for PSA, the next two diversions are due at Ceres.
Atlantic Sail departed in the early afternoon freeing the berth for MOL Mission, which spent the afternoon at Fairview cove, sailing at 10pm.
PSA Halifax finished working Maersk Palermo, which sailed at 8:30pm, very lightly loaded. Tropic hope was forward, and was due to sail at 10:30pm. Ef Ava, which sailed at noon, was also tied up earlier at pier 42, keeping all 5 cranes busy.
Wilson Monsoon arrived Sunday night from Scotland, to collect the unused anchor gear that was to be used to anchor the Deep Panuke field production platform in Mulgrave. Since they are no longer needed, they are presumably going back to Scotland.
Sister ship Wilson Mistral delivered the anchors in July.
Last week in the Herald I outlined how ongoing labour strife could be an issue for the Port of Montreal, leading to a loss of Cargo in the longer term..
JOC posted an article suggesting 50% of Montreal’s cargo volume is Discretionary – shippers are not tied to the port, and use it for convenience sake. Summer whale and Winter ice delays, plus geographical challenges already were cause for concern for Montreal, and now labour issues are added.
After this article ran, one of the Longshore Unions at the port of montreal gave 72 hour strike notice for an indefinite strike, to begin Monday. That means effective tommorw, most terminals are shut down, Causing ships to divert.
A 4 day strike 2 weeks ago caused two MSC Vessels to divert to Halifax, Maersk to call out of Order, and Hapag-Lloyd sent a ship to Saint John NB. Canadian Pacific Railways re-acquisition of the line through Maine seems to be paying off, and CP has simply moved its customers to Saint John. Another Hapag-Llloyd ship called this week in Saint John.
MSC Rochelle arrived in the outer anchorage Saturday – its due at PSA Halifax on the 18th. The wait is required to maintain schedule, as a week is saved by calling in Halifax Vs Montreal.
Maersk Palermo arrived Sunday morning. it usually spends around 6 hours in port. this call the ship is due to sail late Monday afternoon.
Montreal Express and OOCL Belgium also look to be diverting to Halifax, Due on the 11th and 15th respectively. I expect more to divert given the nature of the labour actions.
