Maersk Cutter

Maersk Supply Service Canada Ltd's newest vessel arrived in Halifax this morning for the first time. Delivered by Asenav in Santiago, Chile August 5, the ship arrived in St.John's on its delivery trip September 8: see Shipshots.blogspot

 A crane is set up to load gear aboard Maersk Cutter. That is Skandi Flora astern at pier 9C.

It berthed at pier 9A in Halifax, the new home of International Telecom (their former quarters at pier 9 have been annexed by Halifax Shipyard). It appears then that the ship will be doing some cable work just as its former fleet mate Maersk Chignecto used to do. See Tugfax 2015-02

That latter supplier the ex Chignecto Bay sailed from St.John's September 8 or 9 and headed to Tampico, MX.  Its Canadian flag registry was closed October 9 and it was reflagged to Mexico with owners listed as Armamex Naviera SA de CV. No new name has been posted yet.

The Maersk Clipper is the second of and order of two sister, Maersk Clipper is the other, built in Chile (a Canadian free trade partner) and measures 6,490 grt, and about 4,000 dwt. Its engines produce 13,000 bhp and its design bollard pull is 180 tonnes. It is fitted with all the DP and FF bells and whistles.
The ship was not built to fulfill any particular Maersk contracts, so is apparently available on a spot basis.

The downturn in oil work has resulted in more than 30 suppliers from one company alone "stacked" in the Gulf of Mexico and about 100 in North Sea ports. Maersk is laying off employees world wide (and not just in its offshore operations) so it iS good to see suppliers working.

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Heading South

The tug Boa Odin sailed from Halifax on October 8, towing the Boa Barge 33 loaded with one section of the former Novadock floating drydock.The destination is Tampa, FL.

As morning fog burns off on October 7, Boa Odin stands by the stern of the Boa Barge 33.

The tow will be within range of shoreside AIS stations for the entire trip, so will be easy to follow on Marinetraffic.com other AIS sites.

Also trackable is the supplier Maersk Chignecto, southbound giving Tampico, MX as its destination. That port is well out of the normal operating area of the St.John's based Maersk operations.

 Arriving in Halifax in 2014, rigged with seabed survey gear, Maersk Chignecto was also in Halifax in February 2015  fitted with for cable work.

 The last of the Husky Bow Valley suppliers in the Maersk Canada fleet, it dates from 1983. Although still shown as registered in Canada, and owned by Maersk, is this its last trip?

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Maersk Chignecto back again - updated

Maersk Chignecto arrived back in Halifax today. It was last here in October 2014. It had been fitted out for seabed survey work in the Hibernia and Whiterose oil fields in July and September.
See: http://tugfaxblogspotcom.blogspot.ca/2014/10/maersk-chignecto.html

Today it tied up at pier 9 where Teleglobe has its base., and although there was no action on deck, it may well be that it is here to  be for cable work. Its arrival may be connected to the new Hibernia Express Cable System that will be installed between Halifax, Cork, Eire and Brean, UK this summer.  See update below

Maersk Chignecto's large open after deck is useful for many functions besides anchor handling, but has been cleared of all the bottom survey gear that it carried when it was here last..

The supplier was built for Husky / Bow Valley by Hyundai Heavy Industries, Ulsan in 1983 as Chignecto Bay and worked out of Halifax for time until sold to Maersk Canada in 1987 and based in St.John's, NL. It is an anchor handling tug supplier of 10,880 bhp.

The unique design of this series of tugs makes them instantly recognizable.

Saturday February 7

During the last two days the after deck of Maersk Chignecto has been a be hive of activity as it was fitted with cable retrieval and repair gear. It will be headed to sea this evening for work off Cape Breton..

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Maersk Chignecto

With news that Maersk Gabarus arrived in Gent, Belgium for scrap on October 14, [see Tugfax October 5] it was a pleasant surprise to see sister vessel Maersk Chignecto arrive in Halifax today.

Built by Hyundai, Ulsan in 1982 as Chignecto Bay it was one of the six AHTSs for Husky/Bow Valley.

 
All six boats went to Maersk in 1988, and were simply renamed. Since then they have worked out of Newfoundland, with assignments to Nova Scotia and the North Sea.When built their 10,880 bhp made them among the most powerful AHTSs in the area. Now with boats approaching twice that power, Maersks's three remaining Huskys find other work such as diving support vessels, with submersibles or ROVs.

Maersk Chignecto is now fitted with a stern gantry, a couple of SeaCans for control rooms and shops and a huge array of low level deck lights.

For the past few months the boat has been conducting seabed surveys at Hibernia and White Rose (for Husky). Last winter and spring it was working out of the Netherlands in the North Sea, for a rate of UKPds 22,000 per day.
Its visit to Halifax today may be related to the passing of Hurricane post tropical storm Gonsalvo well offshore from Nova Scotia, but bound directly for the Avalon Peninsula Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Halifax may have been the most convenient port of refuge from the former hurricane.

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