Category Archives: General Cargo

Acadia Desgagnes comes back to Canada

The Acadia Desgagnes returned to Halifax for reflagging to Canada. Over the summer, the ship works out of Quebec to resupply arctic communities. it then finds work on the international market in winter and is reflagged in Barbados with an international Crew.

She stopped in Halifax for the same reason since she was acquired in 2017. I missed her last year, but caught her in 2019 and 2018

Ships Laid up with issues

Imedghassen has been laid up for several weeks at pier 36. The ship arrived in Halifax January 9th, on its maiden call for Melfi lines, and was reporting a deficiency, which i am told is engine troubles.

Its unclear why the ship is still here, however there have been reports of engine damaged caused by new low sulpher heavy fuel oils which seem to have quality issues.

The bulk carrier Giulia 1 remains tied up at Pier 9 after an encounter with a large wave that resulted in injuries too 2 crew members, and the death of a third. it put into Halifax afterwards. The ITF were working to repatriate the crew, and get replacements in place to take over the ship.

Singelgracht Towed in.

Singelgracht was towed into port this Evening by Siem Commander, and tied up at Pier 9. Siem Commander sailed early this morning to rendezvous with the ship which was sailing from Zeebruges, Belgium for Philadelphia. It looks to have gotten into trouble off the Nova Scotia Coast.

Siem Commander had be laid up at COVE. You can see the tow line tailing behind in the photo Below.

UPDATE: Singelgracht at Pier 9 earlier today (jan 24th). There was no activity noted around the ship.

Boreas Sails for Cuba

the general cargo ship Boreas sailed for Havana Cuba today after loading a cargo at the grain elevator at Pier 28.

the ship was built in 2008, and is a petite 116m in length. and has been in the Cuba trade as of late making trips to the Island from Dakar, Spain, Las Palmas, and Jamaica.

2 ships collide in Welland Canal.

CHCH News in Hamilton interviewed me yesterday via Facetime about my thoughts on the collision between the Alanis and Florence Spirit in the Welland Canal which occurred July 11th. The Canal, and entire lakes shipping industry got lucky that neither ship sunk. You can see the interview here.

The collision was caught by at least two individuals who were out watching ships. the two video’s of the collision are included below. both of these videos were pretty promptly posted to Social Media.

in what was likely a steering failure, the general cargo ship Alanis loaded with wind turbine parts bound for Cleveland, and the bulker Florence Spirit, Port Colburn for Grand Anse PQ collided. It looks as though the Florence Spirit crossed the channel in front of the Alanis, in the video an alarm can be heard sounding prior to the collision.

The Welland Canal. the Collision occurred just above the current location of the Florence Spirit.

had the Florence Spirit sunk, across the canal, it could have taken weeks or months to clear the vessel. Photos of the Florence Spirit taken after the collision show it listing and down in the bow, suggesting that the hull was punctured by the Bulbous bow of the Alanis.

Despite Pilots being aboard the vessel, they can do little in the case of a machinery issue. a blockage in the canal would trap ships on both sides of the canal, and would have major trade impacts due to the quantities of bulk product that moves through the canal, including Grain and Iron Ore. Perhaps its time to consider compulsory tugs for vessels transiting the canal.

The Welland Canal is located in Ontario. The 43 km passage is part of the St. Lawrence Seaway system, connecting Lake Ontario and Lake Erie through the Niagara Peninsula. It enables ships to bypass the Niagara Falls.

Approximately 40million tonnes of cargo are carried through the Canal each year by some 3,000 vessels,of various types. These vessels are comprised of ocean-going vessels, along with Canadian and U.S. lakers.

Wilson Mistral with Anchors.

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.

Ocean Force riding the hook.

Ocean Force has spent the past several days at anchor in the Basin. the ship first arrived in Halifax in August to fill in for the Nolhan Ava on the Saint Pierre run. With the return of the Nolhan Ava, the ship took to the basin after completing its last trip.

Nolhan Ava it now operating on a service between Halifax and Argentia, NL. its unclear what the change will mean for the Saint Pierre Service, As the ship is now operated by a Dartmouth based Subsidiary of the company that ran the Saint Pierre Service.

There was some thought that the Ocean Force would take over that route, though that is unclear at this point. Also muddying the waters is the fact that the Nolhan Ava was re-flagged to Canada in August 2018, and has been making regular calls in Argentia after stopping in Saint Pierre. It looks as though on this first run, the ship stopped at Saint Pierre after Argentia.

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