There’s an old adage that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. My coastal colleague, Zoë Ducklow, has been following the offshore comings and goings of vessels near Victoria, BC in her twice-weekly Westshore newsletter for months. It’s a fun glimpse at what’s happening in the Pacific Northwest’s waters—and, well, I figured: Why not here, too?
What you read here might be the beginning of a weekly column. Or not. It depends on how much these kinds of boat stories fill your sails, so to speak. In any case, that’s enough of a peek behind the editorial curtain for now. Let’s dive in.
Monday
It’s a busy start on the water after this past weekend’s deep freeze turned Halifax Harbour into Hoth and blew plumes of sea smoke from Point Pleasant to the Bedford Basin.
The $220-million bulk carrier CSL Kajika arrived this morning from Tampa and is docked at the former National Gypsum Wharf (now Gold Bond Canada Ltd.). It sails next for Baltimore. The 55,400-tonne NYK Deneb container ship arrived this morning from Caucedo, Dominican Republic. It’s berthed at the Fairview Cove and will depart for Southampton. And the 46,200-tonne Algoma Integrity bulk carrier arrived this afternoon from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It’s anchored in the Bedford Basin.
The Siem Confucius vehicle carrier arrived in Eastern Passage this morning carrying a load of Volkswagens, Audis and Porsches from Emden, Germany. (If you’re wondering what the inside of the Confucius looks like, Siem Car Carriers put together an extra-dramatic video montage if that’s your kind of thing.) The 200-metre freighter has been shuttling cars across the North Atlantic for the Volkswagen Group since 2020—and unlike many of its peers, runs on liquid natural gas. That’s supposed to be a good thing (it “burns much cleaner than conventional fuels,” Volkswagen says in a release) but last week, Canary Media ran a good piece on how the realm of LNG and low-carbon might just be another form of greenwashing.
The sexiest port calls of the day? That’s a toss-up between the Tropic Hope container ship and the MSC Alyssa, the latter of which was slated to arrive at 4:15pm from Montreal before heading onward to Barcelona. (Paella, anyone?) Not to be outdone, Tropic Hope’s last stop was in Philipsburg, Sint Maarten (current temperature: 26 and mostly sunny). It departs next for West Palm Beach, Florida.
Thursday
On Thursday, the Atlantic Sail container ship is slated to arrive around 1pm from Liverpool. This one’s a behemoth: At 100,400 tonnes and 296 metres, it’s the second-biggest cargo ship in Halifax’s harbour this week.
Friday
We’ve got ourselves a race: This Friday, the ZIM Luanda container ship is scheduled to arrive in Halifax from Valencia at the South End Container Terminal at 7:15am. It sails next for New York City. That’s the same scheduled arrival time as the Seaspan Loncomilla container ship, which is also bound for the Big Apple after crossing to Halifax from Valencia. Talk about the potential for high seas drama. (Do container ship captains have egos? And do they keep records of their time trials against other container ship captains? I’d like to imagine they do.)
Friday evening, the NYK Rumina container ship and Morning Lena vehicle carrier are scheduled to arrive from Antwerp and Zeebrugge, Belgium at 7pm and 8pm, respectively.
Saturday
Remember how I mentioned the second-biggest cargo ship coming to Halifax? This weekend’s arrival, the CMA CGM Von Humboldt, makes the Atlantic Sail look like Theodore Tugboat. At 396 metres, the Von Humboldt spans longer than Sackville Street to Duke Street and can hold up to 176,500 tonnes. It’s the only ship on this week’s list with its own Wikipedia page. It arrives from Tanger Med, Morocco at 8am.
Also en route Saturday: The MSC Vidisha R container ship arrives from Sines, Portugal at 10am.
