Yesterday it was announced that the first Halifax Fleet week would be taking place Sept 7-10, coinciding with the biannual Cutlass Fury Exercise.
The week will feature a number of ships open to the public on Friday and Saturday Including an AOPS, HMCS Margaret Brooke as well as Naval vessels from the US (USS Porter and USS James E. Williams both Arleigh Burke Class Destroyers), UK, France and Germany.
The event will end on Sunday at noon with a Parade out to sea to mark the start of the Exercise.
More Details can be found at hfxfleetweek.ca
** why does the fleet week logo use a Battle Ship? UPDATE: I spotted this Amazing Fleet week patch on IG. so much better.
The ARC Gloria, Barque of the Colombian Navy arrived for a Port visit Sunday. The ship is currently anchored in the harbour, and will be moving to Tall Ships Quay behind NSP on the morning of the 15th. The ship will be open to the public 9am-10pm. ARC Gloria is currently scheduled to sail at 17:00 on the 18th.
The ship is on a tour to celebrate the bicentennial of the Colombia Navy. It was last in Halifax in 2016.
Built to a Blohm &Voss Design, she is a modern version of the Gorch Fock. The original Gorch Fock was built in 1933, and was taken as war reparations from Germany. Her sisters include NRP Sagres, USCG Eagle, and Mircea. The German Navy built a new Gorch Fock in 1958. the 1933 ship is now a museum in Germany.
Arc Gloria is the Oldest of the Modern Set of 4, Having been built in 1968 at the Astilleros Celaya S.A. shipyard in Bilbao. Her contemporaries Include Cuauhtémoc(1982 Mexico) , Guayas (1977 Ecuador) and Simon Bolivar (1980 Venezuela)
The ship was open to the public most nights until 10 PM, with traditional Colombian music playing. The above photo was taken just after 9pm, and the ship was still busy.
The beginning of August saw two notable terminal shifts take place. Both ZIM and Oceanex, who have called at the South End Atlantic Hub terminal, have now moved to Fairview Cove.
ZIM’s Atlantic service (ZCA) operates with 12 Panamax vessels, which can be easily accommodated at Fairview cove. ZIMs Canada Feeder Express (CFX) service serves Kingston -New York – Halifax – Kingston with 2 smaller vessels, Contship Leo and Contship Art.
Oceanex sails to Newfoundland, and takes a fair amount of truck trailers. those trucks will no long have to traverse downtown to reach the terminal.
Curiously, Nolhan Ava, which had been calling at Fairview Cove, has moved back to the South End terminal
The dockyard saw two visiting vessels this week. The FS Garonne is the 4th and Final Loire Class BSAM vessel. They are designed to support divers and submarines, and also server a towing and supply role. the first vessel of the class, FS Rhone also visited halifax in 2018
the second visitor is USCGC Forward. the ship is a famous class cutter, commissioned in 1990. Homeported in Portsmouth VA, the type is a frequent visitor to Halifax, though the Forwards first visit (since 2008)
Both Vessels are likly taking part in Op Nannook, the Canadian forces annual arctic exercises. HMCS Harry DeWolf was noticed earlier at the ammunition jetty. FS Garonne Moved to anchor in the Bedford Basin, and is scheduled to sail Wednesday morning, with USCGC Forward.
the 4th AOPS, the future HMCS William Hall began her builders trials yesterday morning.
Just after 10am, the ship came off the dock and headed for the basin. In the afternoon William Hall sailed for the open ocean, and has been doing workups off Eastern Shore.
The three Mega blocks for the 5th AOPS are due to roll out next month.
The General cargo ship Pijlgracht arrived on the 25th from jacksonville Fl and tied up at pier 9. The next day, the ship discharged a shrinkwrapped cargo directly onto a barge. What made this operation Unique, is that the barge belonged to the Navy, and was handled by naval tugs.
The ship is now owned by Spliethoff. It was built in 2011 as Beluga Progression. when Beluga failed, it became HHL Lagos. Spliethoff bough Hansa Heavy Lift in 2021, and the ship took its current name.
Pijlgracht moved to anchorage in the Basin, where it remains. I have been told the cargo that was unloaded is a sonar array.
USCGC Hollyhock tied up at the Tall ships Quay. the ship was built in 2003 at Marinette Marine in Wisconsin and stationed at Port Huron Mi, spending her whole career to date in the great lakes. Hollyhock is currently headed for the USCG’s shipyard in Curtis Bay, near Baltimore Maryland.
The Crew will pick up USCGC Sequioa, which will then take up station at Port Huron. Both these vessels are Juniper Class Buoy Tenders. USCGC Juniper and USCGC Willow have also called in Halifax in the past.
Friday and Saturdays 300mm+ of rain has caused a significant washout on the CN Main line at Mile 61.5 on the Bedford Subdivision. For reference, Truro Station is mile 64. The washout is located on McClures Brook, behind the Milbrook Band Council offices.
CN Reports the washout should be repaired by Wednesday.
The washout means trains are unable to enter or leave Halifax. I suspect 120 will still run as far as Moncton, with cars bound for Halifax moving the rest of the way once the line is open. I have been told that there are currently 3 trains staged between Moncton and Truro. CN508 (Moncton to Dartmouth general Freight) is stopped at the Truro Yard. two CN120 trains are stopped on sidings at Belmont (Springhill Sub mile 4.8) just before Truro, and Springhill. Once the line reopens, the plan is to Send train 121 currently in Rockingham yard out, then bring the Belmont 120 train in, turn around its power, and send another 121 out, while bringing the Springhill train in.
It seems unlikely that a few days closure will cause ship diversions – Cargo is likely already here, though dwell times at the terminals may increase.
Yesterdays inbound VIA Train was stopped in Moncton, and passengers were bused to Halifax. today’s departing Ocean, will see passengers bus to Moncton.
The Proponents behind the Melford Container terminal in the Straight of Canso have applied for Federal National Trade Corridor fund the Minister confirmed yesterday. The application is in the late stages of being evaluated. The terminal First proposed in 2008, has an approved environmental assessment, and an approval from the province of Nova Scotia to begin construction by October 2024.
SSA Marine, Melford International Terminal and Cyrus Capital Partners, L.P. have formed a joint venture to build the terminal, with SSA Marine to be the operator.
The 4.7 billion dollar national trade corridors fund has been contributing to projects across the country. The ports on Vancouver ($348.8million), Prince Rupert ($117.4million)received substantial funding for projects. however the three main ports on the east coast have received comparatively little.The Port of Montreal received $43.9million for three projects. the The following are Port related projects on the East Coast funded by the NTCF at Port of Saint John NB ($45million):
CBSA Container Examination Facility – 2.8million
West side terminal RO/RO expansion – 21million
NB Southern railway Upgrades – 21.2million
And in Halifax ($48million):
CBSA Container examination facility – 7million
Container terminal optimization – 18million
Windsor street exchange upgrades – 23million
The three main east coast Ports received only 136.9 million in funding, which is 25% of what BC ports received, and is less then the $150 million ask by the Melford terminal backers who only have projections and a business plan at this point.
