Cruise ship season arrives in Halifax, reveals The Coast news article.
Container ships, cruise ships, cargo carriers
Container ships, cruise ships, cargo carriers and more vessels bound for Halifax the week of April 17-23.
When the 2,300-passenger Norwegian Dawn cruise ship docks at Pier 20 this weekend, it will mark the return of cruises to Halifax for the second full, eight-month season after a two-year hiatus brought on by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Signs of the season’s imminence are already visible along the Halifax Waterfront: Tourist shops are back open at Bishop’s Landing, renovations are underway to the food huts that spill onto Sackville Landing and new patio chairs adorn the beach volleyball pit near the base of Salter Street. By the time the last cruise ship of the season leaves on Nov. 9, as many as 325,000 tourists are projected to have visited our coastal city on an Atlantic cruise—an uptick from 239,000 in 2022, and a return to pre-pandemic levels.
While the industry’s resurgence bodes well for the waterfront restaurants, downtown pubs and gift shops that count on their arrival, the ships’ return isn’t without controversy; in 2021, more than 200 demonstrators met the Norwegian Dawn in Key West, Florida, protesting the cruise industry’s harmful effects on coastal waters, marine life and air quality of port communities.
That opposition isn’t limited to south of the border: Last week, a Stand.earth petition garnered more than 52,000 signatures, calling on Transport Canada to ban cruise ship dumping in Canadian waters. (Because of Canada’s lax environmental laws relative to the United States, many cruise ships travelling from the US opt to empty their waste when they cross the maritime border into Canada.)
Stay tuned to The Coast for more on that story in the coming weeks. For now, let’s get into the rest of what’s coming in and out of Halifax Harbour this week.
Monday
The Tropic Hope container ship arrived just after 9:30am at the South End Container Terminal on Monday morning. The 160-metre vessel was running seven days behind schedule on its route from Philipsburg, Sint Maarten; Saint Thomas; US Virgin Islands; and San Juan, Puerto Rico. It didn’t stick around in Halifax for long; the Tropic Hope is already en route to West Palm Beach, Florida, and is expected to reach port on Friday.
Meanwhile, the CSL Metis self-discharging bulk carrier arrived just after 2:30pm on Monday afternoon, inbound from Baltimore, Maryland. (A self-discharger, or self-unloader, is just what it sounds like: A ship that can offload its own cargo, usually with the help of an on-ship excavator.) It’s currently docked near Wright’s Cove.
Tuesday
The Atlantic Sea container ship was back in Halifax this week, two weeks after it last arrived from Liverpool, UK. The 296-metre ship is on the return leg of a southward swing through New York, Baltimore, and Norfolk, Virginia. It reached the Fairview Cove Terminal late Tuesday night, nearly eight days behind schedule. The container ship left Halifax early Wednesday morning, bound for Hamburg, Germany.
Wednesday
Things picked up in Halifax Harbour midweek with the arrival of the Algoscotia chemical/oil products tanker. It reached port at the South End Container Terminal in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, inbound from Corner Brook, NL. The ship was built in Shanghai in 2004 and is a double-hull oil tanker, meaning if its outer hull were to puncture due to a crash or bottoming out, oil contained in the inner hull is less likely to spill. That’s a lingering effect of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, after which the United States phased out all single-hull tankers in US waters.
Later in the morning, the MSC Fiammetta marked the first of two Mediterranean Shipping Company container ships to reach Halifax Harbour on Wednesday. The MSC Alyssa arrived an hour later, inbound from Montreal. The Fiametta, which wrapped an eight-day crossing from Sines, Portugal, is the larger of the two ships at 277 metres and with a deadweight of 73,355 tonnes. The Alyssa measures in just a touch smaller at 274 metres long and with a deadweight of 61,487 tonnes.
Wrapping things up for the day, the Oceanex Sanderling ro-ro/container ship arrived at the South End Container Terminal at 9:30am, inbound from St. John’s, NL. The CSL Tacoma bulk carrier was set to arrive late Wednesday afternoon, after a two-day journey from Baltimore.
Thursday
According to the Port of Halifax’s Vessel Forecast Summary, which tracks the daily ins and outs of big ships in Halifax Harbour, the day was meant to begin with the arrival of the Morning Calypso, but that doesn’t appear to be happening anytime soon. At last call, the ro-ro/vehicle carrier was in Egypt’s Suez Canal on Wednesday morning, bound for Barcelona. Give it another 10 days—two weeks?—and maybe we’ll see the Calypso reach Halifax.
Rounding out the day, the Seaspan Loncomilla and Gotland container ships are both set for arrival at the South End Container Terminal and Ocean Terminals, respectively. Both are nearly 10 days behind schedule—the former is en route from Valencia, Spain; the latter is inbound from Mariel, Cuba.
Friday
True to form, the busiest day in Halifax Harbour looks to be Friday, with the arrival of five container ships and a ro-ro/cargo ship to boot. The first two expected in port are the NYK Rigel and Selfoss container ships, inbound from Cartagena, Colombia, and Portland, Maine, respectively. Both are projected to arrive around 7am. The former is six days behind schedule and set to berth at the Fairview Cove Terminal. The latter will dock at the South End Container Terminal. An hour later, the 195-metre CMA CGM Louga container ship and 120-metre Nolhan Ava ro-ro/cargo ship are pegged for an 8am Halifax arrival. The former is en route from Montreal; the latter from St. Pierre and Miquelon.
Last but not least, both the Atlantic Sail and X-Press Irazu container ships are slated for a noon arrival—the former is set to dock at the Fairview Cove Terminal; the latter, at the South End Container Terminal. The 296-metre Sail will wrap a weeklong crossing from Liverpool, while the Irazu will conclude its voyage from Lisbon, Portugal—almost 19 days behind schedule. (Too many pastéis de nata?)
Saturday
The aforementioned Norwegian Dawn arrives early Saturday morning, with the first cruise ship passengers of 2023. Three more cruise ships will follow next week. Later on, the CMA CGM Mexico, AS Felicia and Atlantic Sun container ships are projected to reach port in Halifax—inbound from Tanger Med, Morocco; New York; and Baltimore, respectively. The Mexico is by far the biggest ship of the week, at 365 metres long and with a carrying capacity of 15,128 20-foot containers. It’s slated for an 8am arrival at the South End Container Terminal. The latter two are both set for 6pm arrivals.
Finally, the 200-metre Vayenga Maersk was originally scheduled for a Saturday arrival, but is listed as an omitted sailing on the Port of Halifax’s website. It will skip Halifax Harbour and sail straight from Montreal to Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Sunday
There’s only one ship scheduled for arrival this day: The Tropic Lissette container ship is set to dock at the South End Container Terminal at 2pm, six days behind schedule from Philipsburg, Sint Maarten.
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Source: The Coast
