AOPS #4, the future HMCS William Hall was moved onto the boa barge 37 today, and ready for its impending launch. the barge will be towed to the Basin, where it will be slowly submerged, until the William Hall floats off.
After launching, the ship will be moved along side Pier 7 at the ship yard for completion.
Lost in the excitement of Fridays Arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford, was the commissioning ceremony for the second AOPS, HMCS Margaret Brooke, which took place at the dockyard.
The third AOPS, has been delivered to the navy, and is tied up along side the first. The 4th ship is due to be launched mid November from Halifax ship yard.
AOPS #3, The Future HMCS Max Bernays began sea trials this morning in the basin. The ship should be heading out to sea later today.
USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul, LCS-21 arrived Sunday for a port visit. The ship is Due to sail tomorrow morning. Like most LCS built at Fincantieri’s Marinette Marine in Wisconsin, the ship stopped in Halifax on her way to her home port.
Previous ships of the class to stop ave included:
USS Freedom – Nov 2008
USS Fort Worth – Aug 2012
USS Milwaukee – Dec 2015
USS Detroit – Nov 2016
USS Little Rock – April 2018
USS Billings – July 2019
USS Sioux City – Nov 2019 (missed this one)
USS Witchita – Nov 2019
USS Indianapolis – Nov 2019 (Missed this one too)
USS St Louis Bypassed Halifax during Covid in 2020. Early ships faced issues with the Combining Gear – the Gear box that transfers power to the shafts form either the diesel engines or the turbines. Because of these issues, Completed ships were not accepted by the navy untill alterations could be made, which led to 3 visits in November 2019.
Due to the location of the combining gear, it was determined to not be cost effective to repair early ships. USS Freedom was Decommissioned in Sept 2021, and Fort Worth, Detroit and Little Rock are set to be decommissioned this year. 5 Additional ships are currently under construction.
The center mega block for AOPS #4 the future HMCS William Hall, was rolled out for the First time this evening. When i drove past at 7pm, they were just finishing, and removing the transporters.
Typically the Stern Mega Block follows the next day, and looks to be waiting in the right bay of the assembly hall.
William Hall’s bow section looks to be under construction in the left bay, behind where the first mega block was located prior to its roll out.
UPDATE 06/11: the stern Mega Block has now been rolled out.
Good morning from Halifax Shipyard. The centre and aft mega blocks of the future HMCS William Hall (AOPS #4) have been moved from our module hall to land level, where they will soon be joined together for further outfitting. #ShipsForCanada pic.twitter.com/kQSPXAbvSH
— Irving Shipbuilding (@IrvingShipbuild) June 11, 2022
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.
Today the feds gave an update on the Large Naval tug project. this project will see 4 new tugs commissioned to replace the current fleet of Glen Tugs currently in use. The tugs are being built by Ocean Industries, at their Isle-aux-Coudres, Quebec shipyard.
The first two tugs (Haro and Barkerville) are scheduled to be delivered by sealift to the RCN’s Maritime Forces Pacific in Esquimalt, British Columbia, in 2022. The other two (Canso and Stella Maris) will sail to Maritime Forces Atlantic in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 2023 and 2024.
The new tugs are named as follows.
AOPS #3, the future HMCS Max Bernays moved into the basin for launch this morning. The barge will now be submerged over the coming hours, with AOPS #3 likely being floated off late this afternoon or early in the evening.
Word is AOPS #3, the Future HMCS Max Bernays, will be loaded onto the Boa Barge 37 on Friday mornings high tide, and then launched in the basin Saturday.
the ship is scheduled to be the first of two west coast based AOPS.
Halifax Fire’s new boat arrived from the builders, and entered the Harbour for the first time on the June 21. The boat, named Kjipuktuk is the Mi’kmaq name for Halifax, and will be heard on the Radio as Fireboat 1.
The new boat is a Firestorm 36, and was built by MetalCraft Marine of Kingston Ontario. The boat is a popular design and is use by fire departments around the world. Unlike the previous boat, this one will live in the harbour permanently, and will be operated from a slip at the Alderney Marina.
