USS Marinette delivery trip

The Freedom-variant Light Combat Ship (LCS 25) USS Marinette stopped by in Halifax this past week for a short visit to refuel during her delivery trip from the Great Lakes. Many of these ships have stopped by on their way to the US East Coast.

USS Marinette backing out from Jetty NB.

Heading seaward with King's Wharf in the background.

These ships are propelled by waterjets, rather than conventional propellers, and they seem to kick up more of a wash behind the ship than I think is typical for warships of this size.

Passing the George's Island lighthouse.

Zhen Hua 23 arrives with new cranes for south end container terminal

 As covered elsewhere, the heavy lift vessel Zhen Hua 23 arrived on November 6th from China carrying four new container cranes, two of them destined for the South End terminal in Halifax, and the remaining two will continue on to be delivered to a customer in Portugal. The cranes could be seen over the horizon while Zhen Hua 23 was still below the horizon out at sea, behind the inbound cruise ship Insignia. 

Inbound cruise ship Insignia to the left with the container cranes jutting above the horizon to the right.

The remaining photos I captured were through the very dirty windows of my company's office, and shooting through the glass at an angle didn't help the image quality and sharpness of these images any, but they are still worthwhile sharing.

Inbound Zhen Hua 23 appearing behind the headland.

Zhen Hua 23 with her cargo of four container cranes.

Zhen Hua 23 behind the grain elevator, with the existing south end container cranes to the right.

A distorted photo of Zhen Hua 23 and her cargo amidst the glare of the sun on the harbour approaches. 

The ship is currently alongside in the container terminal to begin offloading the two cranes.

Two RCN vessels return from deployments

This past week or so saw the end of two naval deployments. First, I was lucky last Sunday to catch HMCS Harry Dewolf returning to Halifax after completing the 2023 edition of Operation Nanook in Canada's northern waters. 

HMCS Harry Dewolf passing George's Island on her return to Halifax from Operation Nanook 2023. 

HMCS Dewolf with the Halifax skyline as a backdrop.

The second ship to return travelled a bit farther and was gone for a longer time. HMCS Montreal deployed on Operation Projection when she departed Halifax on March 26th in the company of MV Asterix. While Asterix is still deployed in the Pacific Ocean, Montreal returned on October 3rd. I managed to get a photo through a dirty window, and converted it to black and white in an attempt to hide the unfortunate colours that resulted from processing the photo - I'm assuming the angle of the sun on the dirty windows was working against me.

HMCS Montreal returning from deployment in the Indo-Pacific for Operation Projection.

These photos can also be found here: https://smcclearn.smugmug.com/Nautical/Canadian-Navy

ITS Virginio Fasan departs Halifax

The Italian Navy frigate arrived in Halifax on Thursday and departed this morning just after 0900.

The ship is a FREMM type multi-purpose frigate.

Officers saluting me from the bridge wing - it's nice to be recognized. Or maybe they were saluting to an RCN admiral ashore, who can tell.

HMCS Glace Bay followed her out of the harbour - the latter is headed for Fleet Week in New York, but I am not sure if Virginio Fasan is also headed there. 

Ship watching from Chebucto Head

The family and I took the opportunity over the Easter long weekend to take a trip out to York Redoubt and Chebucto Head, and my timing at the latter worked to my advantage - there were two ships outbound during my time there. The family got bored and headed back to the car, but I braved the brisk wind to get some photos.

Upon arriving at the lighthouse, Atlantic Sky was visible heading outbound with MOL Courage behind.

The pilot boat kept pace with Atlantic Sky on the way out before retrieving the harbour pilot.

Pilot boat in the process of retrieving a the harbour pilot from Atlantic Sky.

MOL Courage outbound.

MOL Courage with Atlantic Sky in the distance after passing Chebucto Head.

The whole series of photos, and many more, are available in my Ships gallery on Smugmug.

Deployment for Op Projection

HMCS Montreal and MV Asterix departed on Sunday for Operation Projection in the Indo-Pacific. This is the first time an East Coast frigate will deploy for this operation, although Asterix has participated before. The weather for departure was cold and wet and will hopefully allow the crews to look forward to their southern deployment.

Montreal departing HMC Dockyard.

MV Asterix departing from HMC Dockyard.

Montreal is expected to be away until October 2023, while Asterix may stay longer and join up with the next two (West Coast) ships that will join Op Projection.

Recent ship photos

 I usually only manage to catch ship traffic in the harbour during my morning and evening commute on the ferry, but occasionally catch ships at other times as well. I have managed to catch a bit of traffic over the last few weeks.

British Engineer at anchor in the fog on March 18.

A backlit British Engineer at anchor while discharging water overboard.

NYK Romulus inbound on March 17.

NYK Romulus inbound.

MSC Cornelia coming in alongside at the south-end container terminal.

Vivienne Sheri D.

Vivienne Sheri D.

MSC Brianna.

Atlantic Sun departing from Halifax.

Atlantic Willow heads north as Atlantic Sun (no relation) departs.

Oceanex Sanderling.

Reflection of Oceanex Sanderling 

Onego Bayou in the snow.

Atlantic Sky arriving in Halifax.

Atlantic Sky arriving.

NYK Virgo arriving at dawn.

NYK Virgo arriving at dawn.

The rest of these photos can be seen in my Ships gallery on Smugmug.

Halifax Waterfront at Night - Queens Marque

 I had the change to wander the waterfront around Queens Marque last night and take a few photos. It was a bit windy and I was using long exposures to smooth out the surface of the water. 

Looking south from the foot of the tide clock.

The tide clock tower at Queens Marque. The lights of Dartmouth reflect off the glass at wharf level and seem continuous as a result.

Looking down from the tide clock tower towards the Queens Marque complex itself.

The roofline of one wing of the Queens Marque complex reflecting in the glass of another.

I was playing with both colour and black & white processing of my images, and for this one at least, I couldn't decide on which I preferred. I like both for different reasons.

Long exposure of the water at the foot of the steps into the harbour.

The tide clock tower is surrounded by metal bars with transparent plastic strips attached that spin in the wind. Hard to see in a smaller image, but there is some ghosting where they spun during this exposure.

It was a bit chilly last night, but at least there weren't too many people getting in the way of my camera!