The 16,022teu CMA-CGM Marco-Polo arrived tonight, setting the Halifax, Canadian, and Eastern North American records for largest container ship to call. The full list of previous records can be found in this post
Crowds in the parking lot at Point Pleasant were so great for the ships 9:45pm Arrival that the police reportedly closed the parking lot to additional arrivals. For Comparison sake, compare with the Panamax MSC vessel in front. (below)
The ship is currently scheduled to sail at 6pm, on the 18th. I hope to get some daylight photos tomorrow.
I have been told that Maersk has been lured by CP Rail to begin calling in Saint John, and bypassing Halifax. A quick look at the Maersk Schedule continues to show the Halifax call into September, however ships have also been noted to be calling in Saint John, a Call on listed on the schedule.
A Sunday call for MSC Annick (at Pier 41) and Maersk Palermo.
Both ships call on Montreal where due to a questionable labour situation, Container volumes were down 10% in March. This led to the Employers association revoking some pay guarantees, which looks to have goaded the union into a limited labour action – the details of which will be announced at a press conference Monday afternoon.
Maersk Penang stopped in Halifax today. the ship spent the weekend in Saint john where it was trailing the port there with CP rail as the Carrier. The ship sailed over the dinner hour bound for Montreal.
Maersk Normally calls on Halifax westbound, after stopping in Montreal.
Arriving early this afternoon, MSC Eleni arrived from Portugal. The ship is rated for 5000TEU, and will be headed for Montreal, before stopping back in Halifax on her way back to Europe.
MSC Recently announced that Halifax would be added as an inbound and outbound port on the Canada Express 2 service. MSC had been making 1 call per week on a trial basis since last years strike at the port of Montreal, and recently began the double call prior to the official announcement.
Tampa Trader Called at pier 42 this past week serving ZIM’s Feeder service to Kingston Jamaica. The ship is a regular caller, calling every second week.
Occupying Pier 41, was the APL Gwangyang, Calling on CMA-CGM’s Columbus JAX service.
PSA Halifax has begun to disassemble and remove the last of the original Halterm cranes from alongside pier 36. The crane has been out of service for the last year, after it suffered a mechanical failure.
This morning, the largest containerized cargo vessel to call at a Canadian port arrived at the Port of Halifax. The CMA CGM Brazil, 366 metres length, 51 metres beam and 15,072 TEU capacity, berthed at PSA Halifax at approximately 12:00 a.m. ADT.
Placed on end, it would be the third tallest structure in Canada, after the CN Tower, and the INCO Superstack in Sudbury. The ship entered service in in May of this year, and is likely on its first trip.
COSCO Himalayas, at 14,200teu called at Prince Rupert in 2017 and held the previous record for largest ship to call in Canada
The CMA CGM Brazil sails on the weekly Columbus JAX service, from South Asia to the East Coast of America. With a terminal area of 32 ha, a quay length of 1,045m and a depth of 16.5m, PSA Halifax is the only port in Eastern Canada that can accommodate ultra-class vessels.
This inaugural call of the CMA CGM Brazil comes shortly after the arrival of Eastern Canada’s largest ship-to-shore super post-Panamax crane in July 2020, bringing the total number of SPPX cranes at PSA Halifax to five. The Halifax Port Authority is in the final stage of completion of a deep-water berth extension which will bring the total quay length to 800 meters to meet the growing deployment of Ultra Class Container Vessels.
the ship is currently scheduled to sail at 11:30. this may change however.
Genoa Express is at Fairview Cove. MSC Ela took to the outer anchorage on the 16th Quebec Express arrived on the 19th,and dropped the hook in the outer anchorage. Ortolan Gamma due on the 20th, MSC Annick is due on the 22nd, having sailed from Montreal. OOCL Montreal is due the 28th MSC Brianna is due the 31st.
