The busiest weeks of Halifax’s cruise season are still ahead, but as June comes to a close, 32 cruise ships have brought an estimated 46,000 visitors to Halifax’s waterfront so far in 2023. There’s good and bad that comes with that: As The Coast has reported, environmentalists warn that cruise ships are among the most pollutive forms of travel possible—and one ship can emit as much particulate matter in a day as a million idling cars. The industry is also worth an estimated $136 million to Halifax’s economy every year.
This week brings three more cruise ship arrivals, with the Zaandam, Seven Seas Navigator and Queen Mary 2 all making planned stops on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday, respectively. The ships kick off a busy week in Halifax Harbour.
Monday, June 26
What do gypsum and pearls have in common? The 188-metre-long Ocean Pearl general cargo ship arrived from Charleston, South Carolina at around 8:30am Monday. As of Tuesday morning, it was berthed at the Gold Bond Canada (formerly National Gypsum) dock near Wrights Cove. Gypsum mining has a centuries-long history in Nova Scotia; East Milford still contains the world’s largest open-pit gypsum mine. The industry took a downturn in the wake of the US housing crisis, but seems to have better days ahead with demand for the mineral—used in wallboard—fuelled by a construction boom. The Ocean Pearl leaves next for Tampa, Florida.
The 1,430-passenger Zaandam cruise ship made its tenth Halifax stop of 2023 at around the same time Monday. It arrived from Boston shortly after 8:30am and left for Sydney just after 8:30pm.
Meanwhile, the NYK Rumina container ship and IT Infinity offshore tug/supply ship rounded out Monday’s arrivals, inbound from Saint John, NB and Blyth, UK, respectively. The former is already en route to Southampton, UK and expected to arrive by July 3, while the latter will leave for the Strait of Canso.
Tuesday, June 27
Bienvenida to the 294-metre-long MSC Mexico V. The 21-year-old container ship arrived at Halifax’s South End Container Terminal early Tuesday morning after a six-day voyage from Sines, Portugal. The ship boasts a summer deadweight of 66,686 tonnes and leaves next for Montreal.
Meanwhile, the East Coast oil tanker berthed at the Irving Oil Terminal. It arrived just before 6:30am from Saint John and is set to sail for New Brunswick’s second-largest city once again late Tuesday afternoon.
Halifax’s weekly visitor, the Oceanex Sanderling ro-ro/cargo ship, arrived in Halifax late Tuesday morning after its regular crossing from St. John’s, NL. It’s slated to stick around the South End Container Terminal until Friday. On its heels (well, metaphorical heels, anyway), the 296-metre-long Atlantic Sail container ship arrived after a seven-day crossing from Liverpool, UK. It’s set to leave for New York late Tuesday evening.
Finally, the 364-metre-long ONE Cygnus container ship is back for another Halifax stop after its trip in early June. It’s been making the rounds of the eastern US in recent weeks, with stops in New York City; Savannah, Georgia; Jacksonville, Florida and Norfolk, Virginia. It leaves early Wednesday morning for the United Arab Emirates’ Jebel Ali port.
Wednesday, June 28
What a time for a former Russian satellite-tracking ship to return to Halifax Harbour: On Wednesday, as the world’s attention remains on a halted coup on Moscow and whatever the heck its despotic leader does next, the Seven Seas Navigator cruise ship is set to arrive in Halifax with another 490 tourists. It’s slated to dock at Pier 20 at around 8:30am. The ship has been making its way up the US coast after departing from Bermuda.
Two container ships and a vehicle carrier round out Wednesday’s projected arrivals: The ZIM China and ONE Owl container ships are due at 6am and 4pm, while the Morning Calypso vehicle carrier is expected to arrive at Eastern Passage’s Autoport around 5:30am. Both container ships are bound for New York after stops in Halifax; the former is en route from Valencia, Spain, while the latter arrives from Colombo, Sri Lanka via the Suez Canal. The Calypso, meanwhile, left Zeebrugge, Belgium on June 20.
Thursday, June 29
The Korean-built MSC Alyssa container ship is Thursday morning’s first arrival. The 274-metre-long ship left Montreal on Monday evening and is expected to reach Halifax Harbour by 6am. It’s far from a rare visit for the Alyssa’s crew; last year, the ship visited Halifax more than any port city except for Gioia Tauro, Italy. This year, the ship follows a trade route linking Halifax and Montreal with Barcelona, Valencia, Genoa and Livorno.
The Italian trend continues later Thursday, as Rome’s fratricidal twin, the NYK Romulus container ship, is inbound from Antwerp, Belgium. It’s set to arrive at the Fairview Cove Terminal at around 3:30pm. The ship sails onward to Port Everglades, Florida on Friday morning.
Friday, June 30
June ends with two container ships and a cargo ship set to arrive in Halifax Harbour. The 325-metre-long MSC Judith is the first container ship expected to reach port, just after 6am Friday. It’s currently en route to Baltimore, Maryland from Savannah, Georgia. Later, the Vivienne Sheri D container ship is pegged for a 5pm arrival from Reykjavik, Iceland. Finally, the Nolhan Ava ro-ro/cargo ship makes its weekly Halifax stop at around 10am, after stops in Argentia, NL and St. Pierre and Miquelon.
Saturday, July 1
The biggest ship to arrive in Halifax this week comes Saturday, when the 368-metre-long APL Sentosa completes its week-long journey from Tanger Med, Morocco. It’s not the biggest ship Halifax has seen this year—that honour belongs to the 396-metre CMA CGM Marco Polo—but it’s a doozy. The ship has a summer deadweight of 150,166 tonnes and can carry up to 13,892 20-foot steel containers. If all of those containers were laid end-to-end on Victoria Road and north to the 101 Highway, they would stretch from the foot of the MacKay Bridge to beyond Wolfville.
The next arrival seems downright tiny by comparison: The 200-metre Vistula Maersk container ship is expected around 8am, after completing its journey from Montreal. The ship has a carrying capacity of 40,000 tonnes—or slightly more than a quarter of the hauling capacity of the Sentosa.
Sunday, July 2
If you thought there might be a Canada Day hangover, guess again. Five ships are expected to arrive Sunday—including the 2,620-passenger Queen Mary 2 cruise ship, which is currently sailing from Southampton, UK to New York. It’s set to reach the Halifax Seaport’s Pier 22 around 8am and leave by 8pm.
Rounding out the bunch, the ZIM Yokohama, ONE Wren and NYK Remus container ships are slated to arrive at 6:15am, 7am and 5pm, respectively, while the Kitikmeot W. oil tanker reaches port at around 9pm. The tanker is owned by Newfoundland-based Coastal Shipping Ltd. and supplies fuel to far northern communities in Baffin Island. The name comes from the Kitikmeot region in Nunavut, which spans more than 443,000 kilometres from east of Gjoa Haven to south of Bathurst Inlet and west of Kugluktuk.
