Author Archives: Peter Ziobrowski
Dalian Express to Anchor in the Basin
Hapag-Lloyd container ship Dalian Express looks to be the first victim of the closure at Fairview Cove. She is currently inbound, and was due to sail tomorrow afternoon, but will now have to wait until Monday for the terminal to reopen, and Atlantic Companion and London Express to clear the Pier. she will likely sail on Tuesday.
This could also affect other Rotations, with Fairview Cove being busiest early in the week.
(File Photo)
Radioactive leak at Fairview Cove
Last night, around Quarter to 10, Halifax Fire received a Call about a hazardous material Spill at Fairview Cove. It Now appears that a container containing uranium tetrachloride cylinders failed while being unloaded from the Atlantic Companion resulting in the cylinders being dropped on the ship.
Radiation levels three times the acceptable amount have been detected. Halifax fire later clarified that there was no material Leaking, but elevated radiation levels existed. Workers were released at 1am. I have now been informed that Fairview is closed until Monday morning for cleanup. A specialist cleanup team is due to arrive from Toronto this afternoon.
(Left)this is the type of container that failed. I believe this one safely came off Atlantic companion earlier. Its more of a bulkhead flat then Container, and holds the 4 cylinders. Note the abundance of Hazmat labels on the sides. The top one is Radioactive.
These bulkhead flats are frequently used to ship Vehicles and other odd sized and shaped cargos on container vessels.
- Radiation presents minimal risk to transport workers, emergency response personnel and the public during transportation accidents. Packaging durability increases as potential radiation and criticality hazards of the content increase.
- Chemical hazard greatly exceeds radiation hazard.
- Substance reacts with water and water vapor in air to form toxic and corrosive hydrogen fluoride gas and an extremely irritating and corrosive, white-colored, water-soluble residue.
- If inhaled, may be fatal.
- Direct contact causes burns to skin, eyes, and respiratory tract.
- Low-level radioactive material; very low radiation hazard to people.
- Runoff from control of cargo fire may cause low-level pollution.
Original Reports:
the area below was generated as details were unfolding:
Reports are that Halifax fire is dealing with a leaking container at Fairview cove. Atlantic Companion and London Express are both at the pier. Fire received the call at 21:46
A witness has told me that the fire department is by the Atlantic Companion. The container is reportedly damaged though May not be leaking.
- Radiation presents minimal risk to transport workers, emergency response personnel and the public during transportation accidents. Packaging durability increases as potential radiation and criticality hazards of the content increase.
- Chemical hazard greatly exceeds radiation hazard.
- Substance reacts with water and water vapor in air to form toxic and corrosive hydrogen fluoride gas and an extremely irritating and corrosive, white-colored, water-soluble residue.
- If inhaled, may be fatal.
- Direct contact causes burns to skin, eyes, and respiratory tract.
- Low-level radioactive material; very low radiation hazard to people.
- Runoff from control of cargo fire may cause low-level pollution.
Go West Young Vessels..
The Government of Canada issued a rfp for the transport of the final two Hero Class Mid-Shore Patrol Vessels aboard a larger vessel with heavy-lift capability. This one-way transport voyage, is expected to commence in October 2014 from Halifax, Nova Scotia, arriving at an international port, closest to Victoria, British Columbia. This last requirement is oddly written as it seems to imply that Victoria need not be the final Destination.
The Mid-Shore Patrol Vessels (MSPVs) were built to replace aging CCG vessels patrolling Canadian waters on both coasts and in the Great Lakes. The last two MSPVs in the series of nine, to be built under Contract for CCG by Irving Shipbuilding, will be based in Victoria. The Contract with the Ship-builder does not provide transport for any of the nine Mid-Shore Patrol Vessels to their eventual destinations.
CCGS A. LeBlanc and CCGS Caporal Kaeble V.C. are based in Quebec, PQ; CCGS Private Robertson V.C., CCGS Corporal Teather C.V. and CCGS Constable Carrière are based in Burlington, Ontario; CCGS G. Peddle and CCGS Corporal McLaren M.M.V. are based in Halifax, and CCGS M. Charles and CCGS Captain Goddard M.S.M. will be based in Victoria BC, and are the vessels subject to this RFP. Previous vessels sailed to their home ports.
Heavy-lift transport of the two MSPVs was only one of the options investigated; others such as sailing the ships on their own hulls were researched to determine what option was the most cost-effective; Sailing the MSPVs on their own hulls would seem to be cheapest method of transporting, but these small vessels are only allowed to travel up to 120 nautical miles off the coastline and MSPVs only have a maximum range of 2000 nautical miles. By following the shape of the coast closely and entering a number of harbours to re-fuel along the coast, this strategy can add up to 800 Nautical Miles to the length of the voyage and more voyage costs than a larger vessel would incur, such as harbour fees, pilotage fees, fuelling and provisioning costs. The time taken to sail this additional mileage will increase the delivery time to the final destination. Larger, heavy-lift commercial vessels do not have the same voyage restrictions off the coast as MSPVs; therefore they can use more direct, shorter routes and make less port visits, which cuts the time and costs needed to deliver both MSPVs to CCG – Pacific Region.
This last section, Taken directly from the RFP clarifies the point, and blatantly offers advice on working around Canadian Cabotage laws (Cabotage laws basically state that cargo moved between Canadian ports must be done via Canadian Flagged and crewed vessel.)
Since there are few, if any, Canadian heavy-lift vessels capable of performing this transport, most likely an international shipper will be using a foreign-flagged vessel to complete this Contract work. Shipping cargo from a Canadian departure point, aboard a foreign heavy-lift vessel means that there are Canadian Cabotage Law considerations and potential tariffs at the destination; To avoid punitive tariffs most shippers would recommend the use of the closest U.S. sea-port to Victoria, B.C., such as Seattle, Washington, to be their destination.
the Full set of requirements can be found at https://buyandsell.gc.ca/procurement-data/tender-notice/PW-14-00624110.
In 2011, 3 CCGS Lifeboats were delivered by Beulga Favourisation to BIO. These vessels were built by Victoria Shipyard Ltd, and were ultimately bound for Quebec. As I see no Coasting Trade application, the lifeboats were likely sailed to Seattle WA to be loaded.
RFP For MV Miner Removal
The RFP will be posted for six weeks with a deadline of April 23 at 2:15 pm.
Interested applicants can submit proposals by following instructions outlined in the RFP. Once the deadline is passed, applications will be reviewed and an award will be made within four weeks.
The RFP can be found at http://novascotia.ca/tenders/tenders/tender-details.aspx?id=NSLANDS63 .
The RFP itself is 312 pages – mostly of environmental disclosures, and a summary of woork undertaken to date. It also includes severl photgraphs of the vessel, including the ones seen here.
FELEX Update – HMCS Charlottetown
First Visit for Mckeil’s Beverly M1
The new to Mckeil Marine tug, Beverly M1 arrived in Halifax yesterday evening. The tug is registered in St. Johns NF, and is assigned to Mckeil’s project fleet. She arrived to move one of McNally’s Construction Barges.
Mckeil tugs are common sights in Halifax, with Florance M, Evans Mckeil and Salvor having all visited in recent memory.
Cabot to the Scrapers?
Rumor has it Cabot is bound for Turkish scrappers. The Oceanex Vessel was replaced by the new build Connraiga, and has been offered for sale. She is currently tied up at Pier 9. As of writing, she is still registered in Canada.
USCGC Tahoma Arrives
Another USCG Visit
Tomorrow morning brings the scheduled arrival of USCGC Tahoma. Based in New Hampshire, she is a Sister vessel to USCGC Campbell who was here last week.
USCGC Tahoma was last in halifax in February 2012