Seeing double

 It is not unusual to see two ships from the same shipping company at the same time. Particularly with companies like the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) that have several service lines, serving the same port, ships come and go with no coordination between them. The ships generally arrive on their own timetables and sometimes meet in port.

It may not happen as often with general cargo ships from the same owners. Because they operate more or less at random, having two ships in port at the same time is worthy of note.

Today May 11, two ships each from two owners appear in Halifax.

There were two MSC ships scheduled to arrive at the pilot station at 0600 ADT this morning. The MSC Carmen proceeded inbound to PSA Halifax Atlantic Gateway Pier 41 where four cranes went to work.

Launched as the Buxcity it was delivered in 2008 by Daewoo-Mangalia as MSC Carmen. The 50,963 gt, 63,359 dwt ship has a capacity of 4884 TEU including 560 reefers. 

On a previous call in Halifax, September 30, 2023, MSC Carmen was on the INDUSA (India / USA) service, but has since shifted to the Canada Express service from London, Antwerp, Le Havre, but arriving from Sines, Portugal and is en route to Montreal.

The other MSC arrival was the MSC Aquarius, but it did not dock immediately - instead it went to number one anchorage. The ship was subject to examination for invasive species by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

After few hours the ship was underway for Pier 42, while fleet mate MSC Carmen slid along the dock to Pier 42. The MSC Aquarius is on the INDUSA service from India and having been in Asia recently requires clearance from CFIA before landing at a Canadain port. The ship arrived from Mundra via the Cape of Good Hope. MSC may or may not be re-instituting the INDUSA service here - it has been bypassing Halifax recently.

MSC Aquarius was built as NYK Aquarius by IHI Kure in 2003. It is a 75,484 gt, 81,171 dwt ship with a capacity if 6492 TEU. It changed name - but not owners - in 2019. Those owners are based in Cyprus where the ship is registered.

 The other fleet mates in port today are Canadian owned by Transport Desgagnés Inc. Marcellin A. Desgagnés arrived yesterday May 10 and also anchored in the lower harbour. It is currently flying the Barbados flag, having spent the winter months trading internationally. In March it was reported in Brazil, then the Gulf of Mexico. In early April it sailed from Morehead City, SC, for Montoir, France, then called in Antwerp and Esbjerg, Denmark before heading back across the Atlantic to New London, CT.

 

The MSC Carmen has left anchorage, heading for Pier 42 as Marcellin A. Desgagnés awaits.

The Marcellin A. Desgagnés is a two hold, ice class 3 general cargo ship, strengthened to carry leavy loads and fitted to carry containers. It carres two 250 tonne SWL cranes that can combine for a 500tonne lift, and one 80 tonne SWL crane. It was built in 2012 by Tianjin Xingang Shipbuilding and Heavy Industry Co Ltd as BBC Parana and was acquired by Desgagnés and renamed in 2023. For the winters of 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 it was reflagged to Bardaos and worked for BBC. It may return to Canadian flag while in Halifax. That would likely include a crew change.

 The other Desgagnés ship in port also arrived yesterday, May 10, and tied up at Pier 9C.  Argentia Desgagnés is classed as a general cargo ship, but frequently carries bulk salt and is equipped with two 35 tonne cranes and carries its own clam shell bucket grabs. The grabd are stowed alongside the forward crane.

Built in 2007 by Ustaoglu Yat in Eregli, Turkey, it served as the Ofmar from 2007 to 2017. It is a three hold ship of 6369 gt, 8950 dwt, strengthened to carry heavy cargo. In season, it is a frequent caller in Pugwash, Nova Scotia where it loads road salt. I believe the ship's last port was Gros Cacouna, QC.

 So far there has been no sign of cargo work - it is likely waiting for the start of the work week tomorrow (Monday, May 12). Pier 9C is chock full of wind generator tower sections, but there id still room alongside the ship for truck and rail access.

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Lake Saint Anne - maiden voyage

 The pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) Lake Saint Anne put in to Halifax for the first time today, May 9. The ship was delivered by the builders, China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Weihai) in February and made its way to Europe where it took up a slot on Wallenius Wilhelmsen's transatlantic loop.

As with the other new ships of its class it boasts its "cold ironing" (shore power plug-in) capability. It is one of ten sisterships to be built for Eastern Pacific Shipping fueled by LNG, with battery storage, shaft generators and with other features such as aerodynamic form. The 71,631 gt, 19,216 dwt ship has a capacity of 7,000 CEU. It has twelve decks, and two ramps - a 150 tonne capacity unit on the stern ramp and a 20 tonne unit on the starboard side. The mosr recent one was launched March 15 for delivery in June.

Two of the sister ships have already called in Halifax, Lake Shirasagi February 25 and Lake Tazawa on March 13. This ship is on long term charter to Wallenius Wilhelmsen, putting its fleet at 128 vessels (including Eukor).

Other ships of the class, built for EPS at the same yard, have been chartered to different owners, such as CMA CGM Silverstone.

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Cars keep rolling

Car carriers continue to call in Halifax, despite the upheaval in the auto industry due to US import restrictions and duties. Most of the ships that call here are en route from Europe to the United States, and Canadian imports may be a small proportion of their cargo.

Today, May 8, it was the Tannhauser, a regular caller on Wallenius Wilhelmsen's transatlantic route.

 The far ranging ship sailed from Pyeongteak, South Korea on March 4 then, via the Suez Canal, called in Tarragona, Fos, Livorno, Civitavecchia, Bremerhaven, and Zeebrugge before calling in Southampton, April 27 to 29. 

The ship was built in 2020 by Tianjin Xingang and comes in at 73,358 gt, 24,155 dwt with a capacity of 7656 RT43 cars. It also has five hoistable decks and a 320 tonne capacity stern ramp.

Its next port of call is to be Baltimore.

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Billboards on Boxes

The gazilllion cargo containers that exist in the world today (no one knows how many but 65 million seems to be one popular estimate) usually show the owner's company name in some way - often with initials, or a company logo. 

The Mediterranean Shipping Company uses its initials, with a wave shaped symbol, and a distinctive putty colour or rusty red, to distinguish its cointainers.
 

Containers also display the reporting marks assigned by Bureau International des Containers et du Transport Intermodal (Bic-Code). Originally developed by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) similar indentifiers are carried on railway rolling stock.  

Some containers, like rental containers, carry only the ISO reporting marks, as the company has no particular significance to the general public. Shipping lines and trucking companies however tend to use their name and company colours more prominently as a form of advertising. 

Recently some shipping lines have begun to use slogans or other text as a more overt form of advertising and self-promotion. It is not widespread yet, but it is bound to expand.

A tyical example is Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd (ZIM), which uses its acronym and seven stars logo to identify its boxes.

 (Yes the ship has no anchors in the photo. It lost them both in high winds while anchored off Halifax February 17-19, 2022

For a year or more ZIM has also been using their containers to promote the company's remote monitoring system. ZIMonitor tracks temperature controlled containers and can send an alert if there is a deviation from the required internal conditions.

 

ZIM also owns Gold Star Line, an Intra Asia carrier, but it does not advertise monitoring.

Temperature controlled containers, usually reefers, are painted white to reflect heat and appear identical no matter the owner. 

 ZIM has also recently begun to advertise in a more general way using the "Z Factor" slogan on their dry cargo boxes to promote the quality of their service.

 

Other lines such as CMA CGM advertise their environmental sensitivity by noting the use of fast growing bamboo for container flooring for their own containers. Leased containers from companies such as Seaco apparently use less responsible flooring.

 
 Container leasing companies such as Triton and Florens use more understated identification.

 CMA CGM however does seem to be at the forefront of environmental slogans.

China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) prefers a cute panda nibbling on bamboo to convey its message - no translation necessary.

 

A typical container, such as this apparently brand new TEU from Hapag-Lloyd, do take on a bit of wear and tear, so are often painted in more easily maintained colours. But then they will not stand out as Hapag-Lloyd's do.

 No matter the condition or the company colour choices, container ships working for the various alliances certainly make for a colourful display.

 

The APL Esplanade sailing from Halifax February 25, 2025 for the Ocean Alliance, presents a colourful patch work, even though it is displaying only a small proprtion of its 13,500 TEU capacity.

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Marti Cloud for ZIM

 The ZIM service from the west coast of South America, called ZCX Colibri Express, has had a variety of ships since its inception in 2024. Most appear to be on short term charter, which is not unusual for feeder routes (altough this is a very long feeder).

Today's (May 6) arrival, Marti Cloud is here on its second trip for the ZCX, but with a different name. On its first call, which was April 1-2, it carried the name JPO Aquila.  I did not see the ship at that time, as it was in port at PSA Fairview Cove for about eight hours, sailing during the night.

 Built by Jiansu Yangzijiang in 2010, it is a 16,137 gt, 17,152 dwt ship with a capacity of 1350 TEU and with 449 reefer plugs. It also sports a pair of 45 tonne SWL deck cranes. Sailing originally as Jamila for Ernst Russ / Peter Doehle, it only became JPO Aquila in 2022 when it was aquired by Oltmann Schiffahrts. It was apparently sold again earlier this year to the cryptically named Marti Cloud Shipping Company (but still under Oltmann management) and renamed Marti Cloud.  Some sources indicate that the name was changed as of April 1, but that may have been the date of handover, as it was still carrying the JPO Aquila name when it was in Halifax. Other sources show the name change taking place on April 9, which would have happened while the ship was in Kingston, Jamaica.

This may be its last call in Halifax as it is due for five year survey May 15 in Hamburg, which is well off its ZCX route. 

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Alliances working it out.

 With the dissolution of THE Alliance earlier this year, shipping companies are still settling in to their new configurations. Hapag-Lloyd left THE Alliance and formed a new alliance with Maersk called Gemini Cooperation. 

The remaining partners in THE Alliance - namely ONE, Yang Ming and HMM have formed the Premier Alliance which necessarily has cut back some of the former services. 

All this has not been good news for the Port of Halifax.

Hapag-Lloyd's close ties with the former Canadian Pacific Railway (now Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd - known as CPKC) mean that the Gemini Cooperation has concentrated its business on the Port of Saint John, New Brunswick which is served, through allies, by CPKC. Halifax is served by rival CN Rail only.

Some Hapag-Lloyd traffic will continue to come through Halifax by means of a slot sharing agreement with ZIM.

Premier Alliance - much reduced by the loss of Hapag-Lloyd, has dropped Halifax and Saint John from its weekly AL5 service and shifted from Port Everglades to Miami - a major hit for this port.

A temporary arrangement has apparently been reached between the Premier Alliance and the Ocean Alliance (CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen and OOCL) to share some transatlantic cargo on Ocean's AT3 service. That rotation is Southampton, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Halifax, Veracruz, Altamira, Houston, New Orleans, and Southampton. The first ship on that run arrived in Halifax today, May 3, westbound from Bremerhaven.

The CMA CGM Molière berthed at PSA Atlantic Hub this morning and sailed this evening. The old AL5 used to call at PSA Fairview Cove, but using slightly smaller ships

 

The CMA CGM Molière was built in 2009 by Sungdong Shipbuilding and Marine Enginering in Tongyeong. It is a 72,884 gt, 88,298 dwt ship with a capacity of 6570 TEU. Owners are listed as the opaquely named Box Carrier (No.1) Corp with management by Danaos Shipping Co Ltd of Piraeus and registered in Malta.
 

The Premier Alliance now serves Halifax with only the EC3 service (China to US east coast via Panama) using ONE's M class 13,870 TEU and Bird class 14,000 TEU ships. Its schedule shows only Savannah, Norfolk and Charleston on this coast, so how long they continue to serve Halifax is anyone's guess as they have cancelled at least two transPacific services already.

With the current upheaval in world trade there may be more changes to come, and almost certainly schedule adjustments, cancellations and "blank sailings".

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Tanker In - Tanker Out

 Jag Prachi

The Imperial Oil berth was kept busy today, May 2, as the coastal tanker Algoscotia sailed with refined product for regional distribution, first for Corner Brook. After waiting at an outer anchorage since yesterday the product tanker Jag Prachi promptly made its way in to the same dock with more refined product from Antwerp, Belgium.

 

 

As the ship's name implies it is owned in India and flies the Indian flag. India has a substantial shipping industry, but its ships are rare callers in Halifax. The 29,672 gt, 51,486 dwt ship was built in 2013 by Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan. It was originally named Lady Malou and took its present name in 2023 when acquired by Great Eastern Shipping Co Ltd.

 

 The tugs Atlantic Willow (aft) and Atlantic Spruce (forward) shepherded the ship to number 3 oil dock where it tied up starboard side to. (Most ships berth port side to at that dock.)

 

Nordic Moon

 The crude oil tanker Nordic Moon sailed from anchorage in Bedford Basin this afernoon giving the destination as New York. The ship arrived in Halifax April 25, with the name Goldway, having unloaded a cargo at Irving Oil's Canaport monobuoy off Saint John, NB. As reported here, it was recently sold by Eastern Pacific Shipping to Nordic American Tankers Ltd and came here to complete the transfer. Over the next few days the ship's funnel was painted over and its new name painted on bow and stern.

The previous owner's banner had been painted over before arriving here, but the funnel, including the huge exhaust gas scrubber housing, was repainted while at anchor. It now appears as a single cerulean blue hue, which is not typical of Nordic American ships. It may have to do with the lease back charter that was part of the acquisiton deal.

Nordic American Tankers Ltd, founded in Bermuda in 1995, now has twenty-one Suezmax size crude oil tankers in its fleet.  

I believe the company may trace its roots back to a similarly named company (with the same funnel marks) that operated the offshore storage tanker Nordic Apollo and the shuttle tanker Nordic Challenger that served the Panuke oil field off Nova Scotia in the early 1990s.
 See January 21, 2010 and December 12, 2018 

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