The ARC Gloria, Barque of the Colombian Navy arrived for a Port visit Sunday. The ship is currently anchored in the harbour, and will be moving to Tall Ships Quay behind NSP on the morning of the 15th. The ship will be open to the public 9am-10pm. ARC Gloria is currently scheduled to sail at 17:00 on the 18th.
The ship is on a tour to celebrate the bicentennial of the Colombia Navy. It was last in Halifax in 2016.
Built to a Blohm &Voss Design, she is a modern version of the Gorch Fock. The original Gorch Fock was built in 1933, and was taken as war reparations from Germany. Her sisters include NRP Sagres, USCG Eagle, and Mircea. The German Navy built a new Gorch Fock in 1958. the 1933 ship is now a museum in Germany.
Arc Gloria is the Oldest of the Modern Set of 4, Having been built in 1968 at the Astilleros Celaya S.A. shipyard in Bilbao. Her contemporaries Include Cuauhtémoc (1982 Mexico) , Guayas (1977 Ecuador) and Simon Bolivar (1980 Venezuela)
The ship was open to the public most nights until 10 PM, with traditional Colombian music playing. The above photo was taken just after 9pm, and the ship was still busy.
The beginning of August saw two notable terminal shifts take place. Both ZIM and Oceanex, who have called at the South End Atlantic Hub terminal, have now moved to Fairview Cove.
ZIM’s Atlantic service (ZCA) operates with 12 Panamax vessels, which can be easily accommodated at Fairview cove. ZIMs Canada Feeder Express (CFX) service serves Kingston -New York – Halifax – Kingston with 2 smaller vessels, Contship Leo and Contship Art.
Oceanex sails to Newfoundland, and takes a fair amount of truck trailers. those trucks will no long have to traverse downtown to reach the terminal.
Curiously, Nolhan Ava, which had been calling at Fairview Cove, has moved back to the South End terminal
The dockyard saw two visiting vessels this week. The FS Garonne is the 4th and Final Loire Class BSAM vessel. They are designed to support divers and submarines, and also server a towing and supply role. the first vessel of the class, FS Rhone also visited halifax in 2018
the second visitor is USCGC Forward. the ship is a famous class cutter, commissioned in 1990. Homeported in Portsmouth VA, the type is a frequent visitor to Halifax, though the Forwards first visit (since 2008)
Both Vessels are likly taking part in Op Nannook, the Canadian forces annual arctic exercises. HMCS Harry DeWolf was noticed earlier at the ammunition jetty. FS Garonne Moved to anchor in the Bedford Basin, and is scheduled to sail Wednesday morning, with USCGC Forward.
the 4th AOPS, the future HMCS William Hall began her builders trials yesterday morning.
Just after 10am, the ship came off the dock and headed for the basin. In the afternoon William Hall sailed for the open ocean, and has been doing workups off Eastern Shore.
The three Mega blocks for the 5th AOPS are due to roll out next month.
The General cargo ship Pijlgracht arrived on the 25th from jacksonville Fl and tied up at pier 9. The next day, the ship discharged a shrinkwrapped cargo directly onto a barge. What made this operation Unique, is that the barge belonged to the Navy, and was handled by naval tugs.
The ship is now owned by Spliethoff. It was built in 2011 as Beluga Progression. when Beluga failed, it became HHL Lagos. Spliethoff bough Hansa Heavy Lift in 2021, and the ship took its current name.
Pijlgracht moved to anchorage in the Basin, where it remains. I have been told the cargo that was unloaded is a sonar array.
USCGC Hollyhock tied up at the Tall ships Quay. the ship was built in 2003 at Marinette Marine in Wisconsin and stationed at Port Huron Mi, spending her whole career to date in the great lakes. Hollyhock is currently headed for the USCG’s shipyard in Curtis Bay, near Baltimore Maryland.
The Crew will pick up USCGC Sequioa, which will then take up station at Port Huron. Both these vessels are Juniper Class Buoy Tenders. USCGC Juniper and USCGC Willow have also called in Halifax in the past.
Hollyhock is due to sail at 8am on the 25th.
Friday and Saturdays 300mm+ of rain has caused a significant washout on the CN Main line at Mile 61.5 on the Bedford Subdivision. For reference, Truro Station is mile 64. The washout is located on McClures Brook, behind the Milbrook Band Council offices.
CN Reports the washout should be repaired by Wednesday.
The washout means trains are unable to enter or leave Halifax. I suspect 120 will still run as far as Moncton, with cars bound for Halifax moving the rest of the way once the line is open. I have been told that there are currently 3 trains staged between Moncton and Truro. CN508 (Moncton to Dartmouth general Freight) is stopped at the Truro Yard. two CN120 trains are stopped on sidings at Belmont (Springhill Sub mile 4.8) just before Truro, and Springhill. Once the line reopens, the plan is to Send train 121 currently in Rockingham yard out, then bring the Belmont 120 train in, turn around its power, and send another 121 out, while bringing the Springhill train in.
It seems unlikely that a few days closure will cause ship diversions – Cargo is likely already here, though dwell times at the terminals may increase.
Yesterdays inbound VIA Train was stopped in Moncton, and passengers were bused to Halifax. today’s departing Ocean, will see passengers bus to Moncton.
The 2 photos in this post have been circulating on Social Media, and I am unsure the Original Source.
UPDATE: I’m told that between Rockingham and HOT, there is 43000′ of train waiting to depart – thats about 3.5 trains.
The Proponents behind the Melford Container terminal in the Straight of Canso have applied for Federal National Trade Corridor fund the Minister confirmed yesterday. The application is in the late stages of being evaluated. The terminal First proposed in 2008, has an approved environmental assessment, and an approval from the province of Nova Scotia to begin construction by October 2024.
SSA Marine, Melford International Terminal and Cyrus Capital Partners, L.P. have formed a joint venture to build the terminal, with SSA Marine to be the operator.
The 4.7 billion dollar national trade corridors fund has been contributing to projects across the country. The ports on Vancouver ($348.8million), Prince Rupert ($117.4million)received substantial funding for projects. however the three main ports on the east coast have received comparatively little.The Port of Montreal received $43.9million for three projects. the The following are Port related projects on the East Coast funded by the NTCF at Port of Saint John NB ($45million):
And in Halifax ($48million):
The three main east coast Ports received only 136.9 million in funding, which is 25% of what BC ports received, and is less then the $150 million ask by the Melford terminal backers who only have projections and a business plan at this point.
The terminal website, http://www.melford-terminal.com/ currently goes to a webhost parking page. You can find the list of NTCF projects that received funding at https://tc.canada.ca/en/programs/funding-programs/national-trade-corridors-fund/projects-funded-national-trade-corridors-fund#wb-auto-4
Around 9:30pm Est, Wednesday evening, A vehicle caught fire during loading operations on board the CON-RO vessel GRANDE COSTA D’AVORIO at the port NY/NJ Newark terminal. The ships crew activated the shipboard firefighting equipment, and called the Newark Fire department who responded. The fire was first reported on Deck 10, and quickly spread upwards to Decks 11 and 12.
The Newark FD Attempted to make a quick hit on the fire, but its rapid spread caused the firefighters to Retreat. In the process two went missing, causing maydays to be declared. they were found, but both have passed.
A statement from the ships owner, Grimaldi Deep Sea indicated the ship has 1200 new and used vehicles on board, and 157 containers. The Ship sails on the North America West Africa Loop. They also indicated the fire was under control, however it was clearly still burning, and reports from Friday morning, indicate that the fire is still spreading fueld by the exploding fuel tanks of cars on board.
Used vehicles are a significant hazard. unlike new vehicles, they can be full of fuel, may have other unknown contents, and be in questionable mechanical state. Used Toyotas in particular are a common export to Africa, both to be resold for driving, and as parts vehicles.
Car fires on RO-RO Vessels are a Huge issue. Vehicle decks are large open spaces, often with low ceilings, and vehicles are parked very close to each other, making movement between them very difficult. The Enclosed nature of the ship contains heat and smoke, decreasing visibility. The close proximity also means the fire can quickly spread. Cars burn at 1500F, which can cause other vehicles close by to light. Heating of surrounding decks can also cause vehicles on other decks to catch fire solely from heat transfer.
Ships have onboard firefighting systems, which are designed to meet international maritime standards. Its unlikely a municipal fire department will have adapters or compatible equipment. In this case it appears the Newark FD was attempting to use shipboard equipment, which was unable to provide sufficient pressure.
Using unfamiliar equipment is a problem. you don’t know if it will work, you dont know its capabilities. A better strategy would have been to lay hoseline into the ship, up a stair well to the 10th deck, and attack the fire from there with familiar and known equipment.
In May 2003, a Fire on board the vehicle deck of the Newfoundland ferry Joseph and Clara Smallwood was contained by Shipboard sprinklers, and Successfully fought by the ships crew while under way and local Volunteer Department once the ship docked. It took several hours to fully extinguish the fire. In that case, only one vehicle was on fire, and it was quickly detected and reacted to.
Grimaldi Group is the Parent Company of ACL. Used vehicles (And all manner of RV’s) are transported on ACL vessels via Fairview Cove, including used cars, bound for Africa.
Updates to Follow.
UPDATE 07/07 23:37
Things are not going well, the fire has spread forward and down 2 decks, As well vehicles on the top deck are visibly on fire. The ship now has a 3 degree list towards the pier. this apparently becomes a bigger concern at 5-6 degrees. the ships bridge has also been compromised by fire.
Salvage company Smit Don Jon is now leading the firefighting effort, though the inside of the ship is too hot to access.
The New Jersey Fire Officers union also released a statement, where they indicated that port authority members attempted to fight the fire with 1″ hoses, which were having no effect, so the Newark department had to take over.
So the NJ fire officers union is throwing their members under the bus? if your the Officer with Newark who arrived, Why would your initial tactical action to takeover what’s already in place – Newark determined that the port authority didn’t have the capability, so they took over and did the exact same thing!? Forget the lack of training in shipboard fires, there seems to be a lack of training in incident size up, and choosing appropriate initial tactical actions.
Look I’m a volunteer fire officer, I’m not trained in shipboard firefighting but I have worked as a longshoreman. If I roll up to that ship, I’m deploying an improvised stand pipe, ideally up an enclosed stairwell, and launching an attack from there. We saw no evidence that Newark FD attempted to run any of their own lines to attack the fire when it was clear the ships systems were not sufficient.
I think we also need to have a conversation if the fire fighting systems on board commercial vessels are sufficient to fight the kinds of Fires we see on board them.
In June 2020 A fire occurred on the PCTC Höegh Xiamen in Jacksonville, Florida. The fire managed to burn through several decks. that ship was managed by Grimaldi Deep Sea. in July a fire gutted the warship USS Bonhomme Richard at the San Diego Naval base. – fire started in a vehicle deck.
in 2019, Grande America, a ship of a similar design to the GRANDE COSTA D’AVORIO sunk after suffering a container fire on deck. the PCTC Grande Europa also suffered a fire at sea, but it was brought under control.
UPDATE 07/08 1500
the ship disappeared from AIS at 0845est this morning, suggesting that the bridge has now been lost, or has lost power. Sal Mercogliano Tweeted the below image of the ships general arrangement, overlaid on the fire image, which helps explain the situation.
UPDATE 07/09:
as of Saturday afternoon, the fire is contained to the 11th deck, and its spread has been stopped. The List is being maintained to assist in dewatering operations. On Sunday deck 11 was being overhauld, meaning the majority of the fire was extinguished, and crews were working to make sure it was fully out.
