A Norwegian Ferry showed up at Pier 9 yesterday. the SVANØY was brought over from Ålesund Norway by Logistec, and will be chartered to Société des traversiers du Québec (STQ) to cover for STQ ferries crossing the St. Lawrence river. STQ has an option to retain the ferry for 2023 as well. The ferry will be used on the Isle-aux-Coudres Crossing.
The value of the charter is $15.1million Cdn.
The PCTC Thalatta tied up at pier 9, and looks to be unloading Heavy Equipment from JCB. Equipment can be seen parked on the pier, and some rail cars are in the terminal to take some of it onward.
Logistec looks to have made the move to pier 9. Much of their orange coloured equipment can be seen parked on the permitted of Pier 9. Logistec traditionally was based on Pier A1, and frequently handled these types of deliveries there.
The transit shed on pier A1 is scheduled for demolition as part of the the infiling of basin between Pier A1 and B for the expansion of the PSA Halifax Atlantic Hub, which is due to begin in May.
Tropical Shipping’s Tropic Lissette called Monday in the snow. It was lovely today, so they must have delivered some better weather.
PSA Halifax has purchased Ceres Halifax Inc from NYK. Ceres has been the terminal operator at Fairview cove since the terminal opened in 1982, with 2 twenty year leases on the terminal. As a result of the purchase, Fairview Cove will retain its name, and the south end terminal will now be known as the Atlantic Hub.
The planned acquisition was previously revealed in a December 2021 competition bureau filing.
Historically there was some competition for carriers between Ceres and Halterm. When Ceres began operating Fairview Cove in 1982, the company’s founder Chris Kritikos was successful in bringing ACL and Hapag-Lloyd to the new Ceres terminal by offering better rates then Halterm. Ceres first year in operation at the Port of Halifax saw the terminal handle 55% of the Ports total volume. To this day, almost 40 years later, both ACL and Hapag Lloyd both still call at Ceres Fairview Cove, though ACL did switch back to Halterm for a period.
Ceres Terminals was acquired by Japanese shipping company NYK in 2002. That year Ceres renewed it lease on the terminal for another 20 years, ending in 2022.
The release indicates that PSA will be rationalizing terminal use with a goal of reducing truck traffic – likely smaller ships and RO-RO will begin to call at Fairview cove – I expect to see Oceanex make the move.
Hyundai Force was moved to pier 9 with reported engine problems. The ship arrived on the 28th. The engine reportedly stopped to the South west of the Azores on the 20th, and it was able to be restarted the next day after a drift.
The ship is Due at Fairview cove to discharge containers.
Nukumi arrived in Halifax and tied up at pier 25. the ship is owned and operated by CSL for Windsor salt and was specifically designed to service Windsor’s Magdalen Islands salt mines. It is the first Diesel Electric Laker, and the first bulk carrier in Canada to have single point loading. The single loading point means the ship will not have to shift along its berth to line up with the ship loading equipment to fill all the holds.
Construction of the ship began in August 2020, and the ship departed Jiangyin, China for Halifax at the end of January.
Saturday saw Maersk Patras (Above) and Contship Leo at Pier 41/42 respectively. Contship Leo operates on ZIM’s Canada Feeder Express service between Halifax, New York and Kingston Jamaica. Maersk Patras serves the 2m Alliance’s St Laurent 1 Service with stops in Bremerhaven, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Montreal and Halifax.
CMA CGM Alexander von Humboldt spent yesterday at pier 42, with Oceanex Connaigra at pier 41. At 16000teu, CMA CGM Alexander von Humboldt is amoung the largest ships to call in Halifax.
With more Large ships on the way, PSA Halifax Announced the Purchase of 2 more SPPX Ship to shore gantry cranes. The New Cranes are set to be delivered in early 2023. one was an exercised option from the last purchase, and the other is net new. they will join the existing Cranes at Pier 41/42
The PSA Release includes quotes from Kevin Piper, president of the Halifax Council of ILA Locals, which is notable as evidence of a good relationship between the major Halifax terminal operator and labour.
the products tanker Torm Voyager arrived at Irving Woodside this evening. The Danish flagged tanker is carrying product from Irving Oil’s facility in the Netherlands. The ship Sailed from Ijmuiden on the 5th.
the ship was built in 2008.
HMCS Charlottetown has been up on the sychrolift at the dockyard undergoing a work period. Her Paint below the waterline was recently completed, and looks sharp.
The SD Victoria Arrived February 10th, and has been at the dockyard ever since. It recently moved to a more photogenic berth, and i was able to get a picture. The ship is operated by Serco, which holds a contract with the UK MOD to provide support services to the British Armed Forces, and also operates the RCAF Air base in Goose Bay.
The SD Victoria is a support ship used to provide service to the Royal Navy. Its trip here was in support of some diving exercises, and remained to conduct some repairs. the ship is expected to sail next week.
