The Jean Goodwill offshore tugboat and icebreaker arrived at Halifax’s Richmond Terminal at the start of the week. The 84-metre-long Canadian Coast Guard ship came in from Botwood, NL, and before that, St. John’s, where it had been stationed since the start of November. The ship is named for a late Cree nurse and Order of Canada recipient who helped launch the Indigenous-led magazine Tawow and later helped to create a Native Access to Nursing program at the University of Saskatchewan. Its appearance in Halifax Harbour isn’t entirely out of the ordinary—its home port is Dartmouth—but it’s a rarer sight, as the ship is often out at sea. A source within the Coast Guard tells The Coast that it’s helping with standby coverage for search-and-rescue duties at the moment.
Here’s a look at what else is coming in and out of port this week:
Monday, November 27
This week’s harbour report starts with a man who has been in the news for all the wrong reasons these last few weeks: Puff Daddy. This being a shipping update, it isn’t really the place to venture into the troubling allegations against the rapper—of which there are many—but instead, since his name is everywhere at the moment, let’s talk about that. Remember when he went from Puff Daddy to Sean John, then pivoted to Puffy, then switched to P. Diddy, and finally settled on Diddy? (And remember how that was all… kind of a waste of time?) Well, this week’s first ship arrival is a little like that, too. The Delphinus C (formerly NYK Delphinus) container ship arrived at the Fairview Cove Terminal—and apparently out of naming ideas—around 6:30am on Monday. It came in from Antwerp, Belgium and left Tuesday morning for Port Everglades, Florida.
Speaking of music producers with heavy baggage (or, well, tonnage), the 200-metre-long SFL Composer vehicle carrier arrived Monday just after 7am. The 18,881-tonne Japanese-built ship has a carrying capacity of 6,500 cars. It arrived at the CN Autoport from Vlissingen, Netherlands and left Tuesday morning for Davisville, Rhode Island. Joining it in port, the Thermopylae vehicle carrier arrived around 10:30am from Southampton, UK. It’s expected to leave Tuesday for New York City.
Two more ships rounded out Monday’s arrivals: The Tropic Hope container ship and Algoma Integrity oil tanker came into port from Philipsburg, Sint Maarten and Tampa, Florida, respectively. The former will head onward to West Palm Beach, Florida, while the latter sails south for Baltimore, Maryland.
Tuesday, November 28
The CSL Tacoma self-discharging bulk carrier came in from Sydney, NS late Tuesday morning. As of Tuesday afternoon, it was docked at Wrights Cove. The 229-metre-long ship will leave next for Baltimore.
Around the same time, the Silver Ginny oil tanker berthed at the Imperial Oil Terminal in Woodside. It came in from New Orleans and will leave Halifax on Thursday morning. (Its destination isn’t yet listed by the Port of Halifax.)
Remember our pseudo-striker Franbo Lohas from a few weeks ago? Well, if we’re going to extend the “ship as fictional soccer player” bit just a bit further, then BF Fortaleza sounds exactly like the kind of made-up soccer team our ship would play for. The 122-metre-long Fortaleza arrived at Halifax’s South End Container Terminal after a 13-day voyage from Cartagena, Colombia. It leaves late Tuesday night for Mariel, Cuba.
Finally, the Atlantic Sky container ship arrived just before 1:30pm—and three days behind schedule—from Liverpool, UK. It leaves late Tuesday night for New York.
Wednesday, November 29
The ancient Greeks once believed that swifts and their bird kin didn’t have any feet. They coined the word apous, translating as “footless.” That became the bird genus Apus—the inspiration behind the ONE Apus container ship, which is set to arrive in Halifax around 6:30am. The ship left Norfolk, Virginia on Nov. 26—eight days behind schedule—and will carry onward to New York.
Its sister ship, the ONE Eagle container ship, is due at the same hour from Suez, Egypt. It, too, will depart Halifax for New York.
It might still be early for Christmas carols, but the Morning Carol vehicle carrier is set to arrive, true to its name, on Wednesday morning. The ship left Zeebrugge, Belgium on Nov. 20.
Two more ships round out Wednesday’s arrivals: The Oceanex Sanderling ro-ro/cargo carrier makes its weekly run from St. Johns, NL, while the MOL Experience container ship is currently set to arrive from Saint John, NB—albeit six days behind schedule. Both are expected to dock at the Fairview Cove Terminal.
Thursday, November 30
It’s a quieter day on the water to bring November to a close. Only two ships have scheduled arrivals: The Nolhan Ava ro-ro/cargo carrier arrives at the Fairview Cove Terminal from St. Pierre and Miquelon, while the Atlantic Star container ship is expected to arrive from Norfolk, Virginia.
Friday, December 1
Ferdinand Magellan lived a short life—the Portuguese explorer died at 41 or thereabouts—but the adventurer’s name has outlived him: It is Magellan who is credited with much of the first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth, starting in 1519 and lasting until his death in 1521, during Spain’s conquest of the Philippines. (Magellan died by a poisoned arrow during a raid he led—which is to say, he became acquainted with one of history’s longest-running truths: The karma of FAFO.)
The CMA CGM Magellan container ship hasn’t been at sea for quite as long—it was built in Korea in 2010—but it’s proven to hold up quite well thus far. For one thing, the ship is massive: It has a carrying capacity of 165,538 tonnes. The ship arrives at Halifax’s South End Container Terminal around 3pm from Tanger Med, Morocco.
Saturday, December 2
Five container ships are set to arrive in Halifax on Saturday: The Pacific Trader (inbound from New York), the CMA CGM Paranagua (en route from Montreal), the Lagarfoss (from Portland, Maine), the NYK Remus (from Saint John) and the Conti Courage (which sounds like it arrived from the Zellers perfume counter, but instead is coming from Baltimore).
Sunday, December 3
The Ayita general cargo ship’s schedule is a tricky one to pin down. According to the Port of Halifax’s Port Control dashboard, the ship is set to arrive from Szczecin, Poland on Sunday morning. But the latest estimates from the ship’s transmissions suggest that it’s likelier to arrive late Monday night around 10pm—and that it actually visited Gothenburg, Sweden after Poland.
The GPO Sapphire heavy load carrier looks set to finally arrive Sunday from Rostock, Germany.
Last, but not least, the East Coast oil tanker and MSC Leandra V container ship are due from Charlottetown and Sines, Portugal, respectively.
