Nova Scotia
Halifax Harbour Ships
* This a new page currently under construction*
2008
This section features of various vessels in around Halifax Harbour during my visit to Nova Scotia in June 2008.(to edit)*
Cruise Ships
Intro*
This is Maasdam which I photographed during a harbour tour on Monday 9 June 2008. The liner, named after the River Maas in the Netherlands, is operated by the Holland America Line. Another member of their fleet, Prinsendam called in at Greenock`s Ocean Terminal in September of that year. Maasdam has also visited the Clyde. Northern Transport's bunkering tanker NT Dartmouth is alongside. She was built at Collingwood,Ontario in 1970 as Imperial Dartmouth.
HMCS Sackville (K181)
Above: A total of 267 Flower-class Corvettes were built either in Canada or the UK, most serving in the Battle of the Atlantic throughout World War II. HMCS Sackville (K181) is the last of the 123 Canadian-built vessels and is Canada’s oldest fighting warship. Sackville, now preserved as a floating museum in Halifax, was dedicated as the nation`s official Naval Memorial in 1985. The location has added significance as the Nova Scotia capital was an important assembly point and destination for convoys making the perilous journey between Great Britain and North America.
Service on these small workhorses in the North Atlantic was typically cold, wet, monotonous and uncomfortable. They were prone to rolling and pitching and every dip of the forecastle into an oncoming wave was followed by a cascade of water over the decks. Men at action stations were drenched with spray, and water entered living spaces through hatches opened to access ammunition magazines.
CSS Acadia
Naval Dockyards
Canadian Coast Guard
Heavy Icebreaker CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent and High Endurance Multi-Task Vessel CCGS Sir William Alexander berthed at Shearwater on the Dartmouth side of the basin. Passing by is FDU 22 Fortune, a multi-purpose work boat attached to the Fleet Diving Unit at Shearwater. It was built by Celtic Shipyard in Vancouver.
Survey & Research Vessels
This is the Norwegian-flagged ship Scan Stigandi being prepared for sea trials after lengthening and rebuilding from a trawler to a seismic research vessel at Halifax Shipyards. She was photographed alongside the Machine Shop wharf on 9 June 2008. She dates from 2002 and was originally named simply Stigandi before becoming Scan Stigandi in 2007. Her identity changed yet again in September 2009 when she received her current identity of Neptune Naiad.
A power plant on the Dartmouth side of the harbour.
Merchant Ships
Harbour Tug Atlantic Larch is pictured here escorting inbound OOCL Italy to her berth on date?? Sailing under the flag of Hong Kong at that time, the containership is a product of Koyo Dockyard, Mihara, Japan, having been built in 2007.
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With a gross tonnage of 66,462, she is rated at 5,888 TEU. The twenty-foot equivalent unit (often TEU or teu) is an inexact unit of cargo capacity often used to describe the capacity of container ships and container terminals. It`s based on the volume of a 20-foot-long (6.1 m) intermodal container, a standard-sized metal box which can be easily transferred between different modes of transportation, such as ships, trains and trucks.
Within two years of my visit to Halifax the ship`s name was changed to Vietnam Express following integration on the Grand Alliance service, a reorganised operation provided by the troika of OOCL, NYK Line and Hapag-Lloyd. |
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Ferries
Ferries ply continually between the Halifax waterfront and Dartmouth on the far side of the harbour info* // Dartmouth III and Halifax III are shown here.
Tugs
A familiar sight around Halifax Harbour and extremely popular with young children is Theodore Too the Tugboat, who stars in a series of popular children`s books - no doubt Canada`s nautical equivalent of Thomas the Tank Engine! Theodore Too not only takes families on tours of Halifax Harbour but will often greet visiting cruise liners and guide them into port. Theo`s colour scheme closely resembles the old livery worn by the Serco Marine fleet. It`s a pity that the UK operator didn`t convert a couple of their Clyde-based tugs in a similar fashion! It would certainly cause a sensation with visiting warship or submarine crews when they were met in the Firth to be escorted to Faslane!
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Below: A pair of Svitzer Tugs, the nearest of which is Point Valiant. Built by Industrie Océan for Groupe Océan it was originally going to be named Océan Jupiter, but was sold while fitting-out to Eastern Canada Towing Ltd in 1998 who gave her the current identity, the second tug in the fleet to carry that name. Fourteen tugs and workboats in the predecessor Foundation Maritime and in the EC Tug fleet had names beginning with the letter "V", starting in 1948 with Foundation Vera. Point Valiant was the last tug to follow that tradition. When Cory Towage Ltd, parent of Eastern Canada Towing, was taken over by Wijsmuller, the tug was repainted, but the paint was barely dry when Svitzer took over the expanded Wijsmuller, and the tug was repainted again.
Point Valiant had proved particularly useful in some of the tight pier spaces in Halifax as what it lacked in weight it made up for in agility but in 2010 the tug was transferred from Halifax along with three other Svitzer tugs to Point Tupper on western Cape Breton Island. In early 2017, when Svitzer Montreal arrived in Point Tupper, Point Valiant became redundant, as the lowest powered tug in the Svitzer Canada fleet. Most work there involves docking tankers and bulk carriers at open docks where power is the main requirement. Point Valiant returned to the Halifax area and was sold soon after to Davies Tugboat Ltd of Burnaby, British Columbia and sailed for Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, where it will be lifted aboard a heavy-lift vessel which will transport the wee tug to her new home.
CFAV Firebird (YTR561), seen here at its Halifax base on ???*, is one of two Fire-class Fireboats operated by the Canadian Forces Maritime Command (Canadian Navy) that can also double as Yard Tractor Tugs. Firebird`s opposite number CFAV Firebrand (YTR562) is based at Esquimalt, Vancouver Island, on Canada`s West Coast. Both vessels were built by Vancouver Shipyard in North Vancouver, British Columbia in 1978. Firebird is easily identified as she is the only red and black-painted Canadian Forces Auxiliary Vessel working in the Halifax Dockyard. In addition to responding to fires the vessel conducts regular fire and security patrols around the moored ships and numerous dockside installations.
Tall Ships
Silva of Halifax was built in Sweden in 1939 as Silva, a three-masted auxiliary steel schooner, which initially transported cargo to and from various ports around North West Europe including Iceland. In the 1960's her sails were removed and she was operated as a small bulk carrier until being withdrawn from service in 1994. In 2000 she was acquired by Canadian Sailing Expeditions Inc. and towed to Halifax the following year. After a rebuild the tall ship now offers harbour tours under sail during the summer months and has become a popular venue for functions including weddings.
Private Vessels
Despite speculation that the luxury yacht Gran Finale is owned by either the Trumps or Madonna, the owner is thought to be simply a billionaire who values his or her privacy. The 150 foot vessel is a product of US shipbuilder, Delta Marine at their Seattle shipyard and was delivered to the anonymous owner in 2002. According to the builder, Gran Finale is capable of transoceanic crossings with ease, and cruising speeds close to 20 knots. She can accommodate up to 12 guests and is capable of carrying up to eight crew onboard. Other features include wraparound decks, including a private flybridge with Jacuzzi, sun beds and dining areas.
The Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race
The Clipper 07-08 Round the World Yacht Race info*