Offshore Installation Vessel Orion

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The Offshore installation Vessel Orion arrived at the IEL Dock at woodside overnight. The Giant Main crane is rated for 5000tons. The ship joined the DEME Fleet in April 2022. if the ship looks familiar, it suffered a dramatic crane failure during testing in 2020, which went viral.

The Ship is Here to install Piles and Transition pieces for the Vineyard Wind 1 project off Martha’s Vineyard. The Piles and Transition pieces were manufactured in Spain by Windar Renovables. The pieces were then moved to the Port of Avilés, where they were loaded aboard the GPO Grace for Transport to Halifax. The Pieces are due on May 11th or 12th.

Vineyard 1 will consist of 62 GE wind turbines spaced 1 nautical mile apart. The surrounding area has also been leased to other Offshore wind developers who will be deploying Additional GE as well as Siemens turbines.

Orion will also be deployed for the installation of 176 foundations at the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Farm in the US. That project installed two trial turbines in 2020, and was staged out of Halifax. Bigroll Beaufort , arrived with components for 2 complete wind turbines. the Installation vessel Vole au Vent completed the installation off the Virginia Coast. The Fall Pipe vessel Adhemar De Saint-Venant also took part in the project.

For comparison, the Crane on Vole aux Vent is rated for 1500 tons. That ship also uses jack up legs when working.

The Port of Argentia Newfoundland has won a large contract to be a staging area for a US Offshore wind farm – though the client hasen’t been disclosed, its likely the Virgina Project.

Oh, and if you havent seen the video, here is the 2020 Failure of the Crane:


UPDATE 03/05:
Orion took bunkers from the North Altantic Kairos yesterday. Poor weather precluded photos of the operation, but the North Atlantic Kairos came alongside the vessel.

I attempted to Fly the Drone today, but the on and off rain interfered with the operation. the Orion looks to be setting up a sizable ground operation at IEL.

(Above) Drone View from the transit terminal lot. Lots of folks pulling in to look at the Orion. (Below) View through the fence from the Woodside terminal drop off area.

Additional Photos and updates can be found here

North Atlantic Kairos

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The products tanker North Atlantic Kairos took to the anchorage on arrival from Come By Chance Newfoundland. North Atlantic operates as a distributor for Fuel Products. The ship is scheduled to spend Tuesday at IEL, which is currently occupied by the Offshore Construction Vessel Orion. It seems likely the tanker will be bunkering the Oriorn.

If the North Atlantic Kairos looks familiar, it is a twin of the Algoma Dartmouth, which served as a bunkering tanker in Halifax until November 2018, when it moved to Saint John on a Charter to Irving.

North Atlantic Refining, was the operator of the Come by Chance refinery. the company was sold, and the refinery was recently converted to produce biofuel diesel, and is Operated by Braya Renewable fuels

FWN Atlantic to pier 25

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The General Cargo ship FWN Atlantic tied up at pier 25 sunday. the ship is almost brand new, and arrived from Hamina Finland. Hamina Happens to be home to a wind turbine factory.

The Ship is outfitted with Dynamic positioning, and equipped to handle pipe, so may be in town in relation to the Presence of the Offshore Installation Vessel Orion.

Grand Pavo at pier 9

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Grand Pavo Arrived at pier 9 yesterday to unload assorted heavy equipment, including a pair of rail grinders. The ship then moved to Autoport Saturday to finish unloading cars.

Built in 2005, Grand Pavo has a max capacity of 6400 cars. Pavo is named for a peacock in Greek mythology. Hera , queen of the heavens, used a peacock to pull her chariot through the skies.

ONE Stork

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ONE Stork made its first call to Halifax late this afternoon. at 140026TEU it is the largest vessel to call on The Alliance’s EC5 service.

The EC5 service has long been served by vessels in the 7000-8000TEU range, the largest vessels that can call on Fairview cove. In December, the Alliance announced upgrades to vessels beginning this April which would see 14,000-15,000 teu vessels added to the EC5 service.

Currently all of the listed new vessels on the EC5 service are named after Birds, Including ONE Hawk and ONE Eagle. These 14026TEU ships were built for NYK beginning in 2016.

at 14026TEU, these ships are the 5th largest to call on Halifax. The ports TEU size records are tracked in this post.

CSL Metis for Gold Bond Gypsum.

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the Bulker CSL Metis arrived this evening for Gold Bond Gypsum. the ship was previously in Portsmouth New Hampshire.

CSL Metis sails under the CSL Americas fleet, and is flagged in the Bahamas for International trade. Built in 1981, as a tanker, in 2007 a new forebody was constructed in china, and attached to the original stern and accommodation block. The ships power is 41 years old, but the cargo handling end is much newer.