Port of Halifax projects continue amid coronavirus concerns

SHIPPING NEWS: Port of Halifax projects continue amid coronavirus concerns
Peter Ziobrowski 1 April 2020 https://www.saltwire.com/business/regional-business/shipping-news-port-o...

With COVID-19 worries shutting down most of the city and moving many to work from home, the Port of Halifax is functioning normally.

Both container terminals are seeing normal traffic, pilots and tugs are operating normally, and CN is moving trains as expected. What the virus might do to the shipping sector is yet to be fully understood.

Coronavirus concerns led to longer than usual shutdowns in Asia for the Chinese New Year, leading to a glut of cargo in ports and a shortage of new product from factories. Factories are coming back online and the port congestion in Asia has eased. However, it has led to shipping lines adjusting vessels on their schedules.

As a result of the shifts, Halifax will see a record-breaking string of ships calling in the coming months.

The largest container ship to call in Eastern Canada tied up at PSA Halifax on March 21. The CMA CGM T. Jefferson is the first of several vessels of that size to call for the line.

The ship, built in 2017, is 366 metres long and 48 metres across at its widest point. If stood on end, it would be as tall as a 120-storey building, or almost four Fenwick Towers. The ship is so large, only the terminal’s two newest cranes can accommodate the 10-high container stacks; fortunately, not every stack is loaded to maximum height.

June will bring the CMA-CGM Panama, which will be the largest container ship to call in Canada.

With portions of Europe and the United States affected by the virus, it is unclear what the impact will be as customers shut down. It is possible containers will begin to dwell in North American ports, waiting for the reopening of final destinations. With New York being hard hit, it is possible some cargo may divert north, where Halifax has capacity, and is so far relatively unaffected by COVID-19.

Other large marine projects are also continuing as planned. The Pier 41-42 expansion at PSA Halifax is continuing to enable two large ships to call at once. The work is expected to be finished by the summer. A larger gantry crane is on order, and is due to arrive sometime in the next three months. Made in China by ZPMC, there is as yet no word if this has been delayed.

Offshore, the Noble Regina Allen is capping the wells of the Deep Panuke project, and platform removal is scheduled for later this year. The Deep Panuke platform will be reused on another gas project.

Removal of the production platforms from the Sable project is also progressing. Beginning this month, they will be lifted by the world's second-largest semi-submersible crane ship, Heerema Thialf, and loaded onto barges. The barges will then be towed into sheltered waters where the platforms will be secured. The components will then be towed to the United Kingdom for recycling.

The Thialf's two cranes are capable of together lifting thousands of tonnes. Each of the seven platforms will be removed in two pieces, topsides and then the supporting structure, which range from 25 to 75 metres in length. It's likely some of the vessels at Pier 9 will be involved in this work.