today brought the arrival of the Mearsk Chicago, a 6000TEU container ship, and the Second Maersk Lines call of the day. regular Caller Maersk Penang sailed, as the Maersk Chicago was arriving at the Pilot Station.
Maersk seems to have added Halifax as a call on its MECL1 Service. The service runs from the middle east, India, via Suez and Spain to Newark, Charleston, Savannah and Houston.
Official Schedules have not been updated, however Maersk Pittsburgh is also scheduled to call in Halifax,
Maersk Cutter, another relatively new new Offshore vessel put into Halifax. it is expected to sail overnight.
Built in 2015, and Flagged in Canada, the ship normally works in the Newfoundland offshore. The Thalif may be taking a break from Sable decommissioning work to install 2 cranes on the Hiberina platform, so this visit may be related to that.
the general cargo ship Wilson Mistral arrived just after midnight, and tied up at pier 9. Loaded with anchors and Chains, these will be installed in Mulgrave by the Horizon Arctic (due in Halifax July 6) to hold the Boa Barge in place with the Deep Panuke Production platform aboard.
the ship arrived from Montrose, Scotland, and is very small.
the ship is due to move to pier 27, likely for fuel, at 10pm tonight.
The feds posted an rfp for the removal and scrapping of the former HMCS Cormorant, which has been languishing in Bridgewater. The ship sunk in 2015, when someone went aboard and open valves from the sea chest. The coast guard cleaned up that mess, and last year took further actions to deal with the risk of pollution left over from its work in 2015.
A consultants report included with the RFP indicates the cost of removal and scraping to be in the 2 million dollar range. The rfp closes August 13.
These photos were taken by me, Just prior to the Coast Guard taking action last November.
the tug Boa Odin delivered the Boa Barge 34 to Pier 9. The Barge will be used too remove the production platform for the Deep Panuke offshore gas project. The Platform features jack up legs. Once the platform is positioned underneath the platform, the platform will lower itself onto the barge, and then withdraw its legs from the Seabed.
Nobel Regina Allen is Currently plugging the last well of the project.
Since the platform is still relativity new, a costing trade application was filed to allow the platform to be stored aboard the barge, at anchor in Mulgrave for 1 year.
Boa Barge 36 was used for the installation of the platform in 2011.
On Friday, a 15y/o was taken to hospital after an incident where two personal watercraft collided. According to a report by CTV, at the time of the incident, the watercraft were participating in a Guided tour led by Harbour Watercraft & Adventure Rentals owner Ossama Nasrallah.
it is still unclear what exactly happened. the Boy was taken to a waiting ambulance at Kings Wharf by Nasrallah. it is reported that the boy walked to the ambulance with assistance, but has been hospitalized with life threatening Injuries.
Staff Sgt. Fox with Halifax Police confirmed to me that the collision involved 2 personal watercraft, and that the “injured 15 year old male was operating a personal watercraft, and was the only rider on that watercraft.”
Harbour Watercraft & Adventure Rentals operates from the Halifax Waterfront behind summit place.
Since the early 2000’s, all operators of pleasure craft are required to show competency. and meet age and Horsepower restrictions. this change came about in part, to a number of fatalities in boating accidents, ironically, involving personal watercraft and teenagers. This is why the horsepower restrictions apply to those under 16.
Note the Restriction on Personal Watercraft
Proof of Competency normally takes the form of a Pleasure Craft operator Card or PCOC. To get a PCOC, you take a course, or self study, and write an exam. In the case of rental operators, a checklist serves as an equivalent, and requires the renter to cover important safety topics.
Transport Canada says the following about the the Checklists:
A rental boat safety checklist is a ready-to-use safety briefing. Rental agencies use the checklist to review safety information with clients before they head out onto the water. Clients check the boxes on the list to confirm they have understood each item.
Transport Canada
Checklists include information on boat operation, boating safety rules, local hazards, and what to do in an emergency. Safety checklists are available for many different kinds of boats and personal watercraft.
Anyone operating a power-driven boat in Canada must carry proof of competency while on board. Your completed rental boat safety checklist is considered proof of competency.
You can find the various checklists on the TC Website. Here is the Checklist for a Personal Watercraft.
among the items is
Harbour Watercraft & Adventure Rentals webpage seems to comply with this, as it states that the Seadoo driver must have a valid drivers license.
so yah, clearly Transport Canada rules and, the companies own procedures are not being followed. Since the owner was involved in this incident, it suggests the company from has a lax safety culture from the top, since if the checklist was completed, it would require acknowledging in two places that the operator was at least 16.
The Zhen Hua 29 arrived this morning with the new crane For PSA Halifax. The Crane was ordered last year, prior to the sale of the terminal to PSA.
Also on board the ship are 2 container Cranes bound for the EuroFOS terminal in Fos-sur-Mer France in the Mediterranean, and two gantry cranes for handling bulk products (Equipped with clam shell buckets) destined for Algeria.
the Zhen Hua 29 Departed Shanghai china April 24th, and sailed via the Cape of Good Hope.
Update:
here is How they unload it.
After spending several weeks in the outer anchorage, the AS Federica has found work. the ship anchored in the basin over the weekend, likely to take on supplies, and is due to Sail the afternoon.
the ship was working on ZIM’s feeder service, and is now going to work on CMA-CGM subsidiary ANL. The ship is scheduled to sail from Saint John July 2 for New York, Savannah, Miami, Kingston, Rio Haina, Philipsburg and back to Saint John July 23
Jan de Null operates the 2017 built Adhemar De Saint-Venant. The ship is designed to lay rock on the ocean floor.
The vessels will be able to install rock at depths up to about 600 m by means of a flexible fall pipe to allow for accurate rock installation around structures such as offshore wind turbine foundations and Oil & Gas platforms. The ships Spec Sheet (PDF) give a good view of the vessel
the ship sailed from Saint John, and was spotted off the Coast of Virginia, likely building the bases for the Offshore wind farm which was installed by Vole au vent out of Halifax.
The ship is named after Adhémar Jean Claude Barré de Saint-Venant who developed the unsteady open channel flow shallow water equations, known as the Saint-Venant equations, that are a fundamental set of equations used in modern hydraulic engineering
Update:
Sailed at 1400 under fog.
Cruise ships will not be gracing the Halifax waterfront this summer, as Transport Canada announced they have extended the ban on cruise ships until Oct 31. Cruise ships were originally banned until July 1 in Canada. CDC Rules in the US had cruises suspended until July 24 in US waters, which effectively meant that they were not happening in Canadian waters, as most cruises to Halifax originate in the US.
The only cruise scheduled to call in Halifax after Oct 31 was the Silver Whisper. That cruise is canceled as well, as it was supposed to depart Montreal Oct 27.
