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.
Atlantic Sail departed in the early afternoon freeing the berth for MOL Mission, which spent the afternoon at Fairview cove, sailing at 10pm.
PSA Halifax finished working Maersk Palermo, which sailed at 8:30pm, very lightly loaded. Tropic hope was forward, and was due to sail at 10:30pm. Ef Ava, which sailed at noon, was also tied up earlier at pier 42, keeping all 5 cranes busy.
today brought the arrival of the Mearsk Chicago, a 6000TEU container ship, and the Second Maersk Lines call of the day. regular Caller Maersk Penang sailed, as the Maersk Chicago was arriving at the Pilot Station.
Maersk seems to have added Halifax as a call on its MECL1 Service. The service runs from the middle east, India, via Suez and Spain to Newark, Charleston, Savannah and Houston.
Official Schedules have not been updated, however Maersk Pittsburgh is also scheduled to call in Halifax,
The Zhen Hua 29 arrived this morning with the new crane For PSA Halifax. The Crane was ordered last year, prior to the sale of the terminal to PSA.
Also on board the ship are 2 container Cranes bound for the EuroFOS terminal in Fos-sur-Mer France in the Mediterranean, and two gantry cranes for handling bulk products (Equipped with clam shell buckets) destined for Algeria.
the Zhen Hua 29 Departed Shanghai china April 24th, and sailed via the Cape of Good Hope.
It appears that the first block of the pier 42 expansion is complete, and work has started on the second. paint markings seem to indicate the new block is 22m in height, about 70′.
the blocks are slipformed, and once complete, will be towed into place and sunk. they will then be filled with aggregate to hold them in place, and capped with the pier top.
Work on the Halterm Expansion has moved to Pier 9. Dredging was completed at pier 9 Mid may, and the dump scows have been used to prepare the sea bed with coarse gravel loaded at pier 9. the Slip forming equipment is also now on site, and the first forms are being placed on the barge (above left). once the floor is cast, the outside walls and interior dividers will be cast by slip forming until the entire block is constructed. Once complete, it will be towed into place, and filler with gravel.
(Above)Unistar arrived first Friday from Belledune NB, and tied up at Pier 9 to take on bunkers. she sailed overnight Saturday. (below) the Bandura arrived with Casks of Radioactive material on deck. the ship arrived Friday afternoon, and sailed before sunset.
(below)Lomur arrived at Halterm for Eimskip. Sailing on the Green Line, the ship arrived from Argentia NF. and took a fair amount of freezing spray. A small ship, she is rated for 505TEU, and sailed for Portland Maine.
The ice was knocked off with the spreader, before the containers could be removed. The Photo above and video below were contributed by a friend of the site.
With the interm expansion of pier 42 currently underway, The Port announced its further expansion options yesterday. The Images are photos of slides taken by Councilor Waye Mason, who attended the presentation by the port, and the descriptions are mostly lifted directly from the ports website at portcityhfx.ca, with some additional comments by me.
Halterm North
This scenario involves infilling the main Ocean Terminal slips between Piers A, A1, and B, using a caisson wall that supports a new container pier, thus creating a single UCCV berth. The existing Pier C would continue to operate throughout the development phase.
This proposal would create an efficient container yard that can still accommodate dry bulk and cruise operations along the north side of Pier A. The Halterm North option can be built within the Port’s existing property, with negligible impact on navigation or on adjacent land use. This option requires the least amount of imported fill material and has the shortest development timeline of all three Halterm-based scenarios.
The Halifax Port Authority would investigate relocating users of Ocean Terminals to other locations within the Port of Halifax. This option would be the least expensive and easiest to build.
Halterm South
The Halterm South concept extends the existing Halterm berth southward with significant infilling to accommodate on-dock rail and container storage. The slip between Piers A1 and B would be infilled to create additional yard space.
Enhancement options for Point Pleasant Park were included as part of the Halterm South expansion concept. This option would be more expensive and would require more time to build than Halterm North.
Halterm East
Phase One would involve infilling the slip between Piers A and B and a new berth would be developed east of the existing Pier C. Should container volume continue to increase, the new berth would be expanded southward to increase the capacity in subsequent phases.
The Halifax Port Authority would investigate relocating users of Ocean Terminals to other locations within the Port of Halifax.This option would be more expensive and would require more time to build than Halterm North.
Dartmouth
The optimal location of a new Dartmouth container terminal was identified as being to the south of downtown Dartmouth and to the north of Eastern Passage. This location was determined by navigational issues and by land use developments along the Dartmouth shoreline. (this is essentially the imperial oil site)
For the Dartmouth concept, two rail options were considered to provide necessary rail access to the site:
Trains running along the existing Dartmouth waterfront line
Trains running along new track east of Dartmouth
Trains running along the existing Dartmouth waterfront were found to be impractical due to the 4200 meter length required for efficient operation. A route for a 20+ km track running east of Dartmouth was examined in detail and adjusted to mitigate property and environment impacts.
Not including rail costs and costs related to property purchases, capital cost for this option was estimated at $1.4 billion CAD in 2017, with operation not expected to start until early-to-middle 2030. This option was determined to have much higher costs, longer timeline, increased logistical/construction challenges, and significant impact on properties and residents in Dartmouth. the real costs for this will likely be north of 3 billion dollars.
Other Options
Barges Assessed the use of barges to transship local containers between Halterm and Fairview Cove. This option would result in inconsistent movement of freight with increased exposure to weather-related delays and would add substantial operating costs to port-related goods movement
Halifax East/South Byway through Rock Cut Extensively studied the option of moving both rail cargo and trucks safely through the rock cut. This option would require expanding the width of the rock cut to 83 feet, or 25 metres. Several portions of the rock cut would require significant alteration (excavation and blasting) in predominantly residential areas. It would also require the rebuilding of 13 bridges and one rail bridge, plus the costs associated with design, construction and land acquisition (which would include expropriation) for a new highway intersection in the North End.
Halifax Northwest Arm Crossing Evaluated the diversion of local traffic to a new tunnel under the Northwest Arm, with connections to the west-side roads. This option would take too much time, would be cost-prohibitive, would pose significant engineering challenges to achieve the necessary 8% grade and would displace a large number of residents.
Raising the Harbour Bridges to expand Fairview Cove Evaluated the reconstruction of the harbour bridges to increase the vertical clearance to accommodate ultra-class vessels.This option would result in significant traffic disruptions in Halifax over many years and would result in a significant timeline disadvantage when compared to other more viable concepts
McNabs Island Assessed the option of building a new Greenfield terminal at McNabs Island.This option would take too much time, would be cost-prohibitive, would pose significant engineering challenges to develop the required cross-harbour connections for both road and rail lines, and does not have stakeholder support.
