floating very high out of the water, the empty wood ship carrier Mcqueen took the inner anchorage for Asian Gypsy moth inspection. Mcqueen sailed from Dafeng China February 23. the ship is due to sail mid afternoon.
Built in 2009 in Japan as Ocean Destiny, the ship took its current name in 2016. it is owned by Hope Well Shipping, based in Shandong.
UPDATE: on departure, the Ship gave Belledune NB as its destination.
I have been getting alot of questions about the Crane Ship Thialf currently in the approaches. Thus, I present this Q&A
Q: Why is it Here?
The Thialf is here to remove the topsides and Jackets from the Sable offshore filed. the Crane will lift the topsides, and put them on a barge. the barge will then be taken to sheltered waters, where it will be fastened for sea, and then taken to the UK for recycling. There are 7 platforms, so probably 14 total removals. (the jackets are the platforms legs sitting on the sea floor)
Q: Why is it not entering the Harbour?
Cheaper to anchor out there, Plus no need to pay for pilots, tugs and anchorage in the harbour. Vessels like this have support vessels to bring supplies to them, in this case Atlantic Kestrel and Bylgia.
Bylgia traveled from Amsterdam with the Thialf
Q:Where is it Anchored?
about 3nm East of Chubucto head.
Q: Wasen’t it here before?
One of Heerema’s smaller crane ships, Hermod, was here around 2003. The original Sable Offshore installations were performed in 1998 by the Saipem 7000
Q: If this is the second largest, Whats the largest?
Fleet mate Sleipnir. Built last year, it can lift 20,000tons. The Saipem 7000 is the third largest.
Q: you didn’t answer my question..
Ask it in a comment to this post, and i will
the ship is the Rolls Royce UT75L design Platform Supply vessel. It was acquired from Gulfmark and was last reported in Stavinger Norway.
From the renderings above, it looks as though the ship will be modified to perform cable handling work.I have been told that the ship has spent the last month in dry dock, with the Bulk tanks below deck being replaced with a cable tank.
IT Telecom operates from the Maritime Cable Base at Pier 9. IT Telecom currently operates IT Intrepid . IT Interceptor was apparently chartered, and since the end of 2014 has been working as the Italian Cable ship Antonio Meucci – though her class certificates were revoked in January as a survey was not completed – likely due to Corona Virus.
The car carrier Grand Diamond tied up at pier 9c this afternoon to offload 350 cars. The ship will likely be heading to Montreal, and needs to reduce its draft to make up up the river. The cars will then be picked up on the way back. the Ship Sailed at 16:00 giving Singapore as its destination. the ship will sail via the Suez Canal. i suspect the cars are either for local delivery, or another ship will be along to collect them.
The ship arrived from New York, and is likely carrying some sort of project cargo. This happened once before, in 2015, the Glovis Century lightened the load to pick up Military equipment. Since then, the car carriers Toscana and Onyx Arrow also tied up at pier 9 for work periods.
The Supply vessel Bylgia arrived with the crane ship Thialf, and had been standing by in the outer anchorage with the vessel. The Atlantic Kestrel took over, and the Bylgia tied up at pier 9 for supplies.
Both vessels are here for the Sable offshore Decommissioning project.
One Magnificence is a notable arrival as it is the first vessel to call in Halifax for ONE that is in the new ONE Branding – That is with the Magenta painted hull. ONE – short for Ocean Network Express, was formed in 2016 by the merger of the Container business of Japanese shipping lines NYK, MOL and K-Line
the Ship is the former MOL Magnificence, and the ship traded its MOL blue at its last drydocking. ONE will move its ships slowly to the new paint scheme as they are serviced.
This week in the Herald, I discuss covid-19, and its impacts on the port, and large offshore projects. as well as the sting of record breaking container ships to call in the coming months.
Since submitting the article:
The worlds second largest crane ship Thialf arrived in the approaches last night after 33 days at sea. the Vessel sailed from Amsterdam, and will be used to remove the Sable Island Offshore Gas field production platforms.
The 2 cranes are able to lift a combined 14,200 tons.
