2017 Shipping Photography Retrospective

With the end of December rapidly approaching, it is time to look back on my favourite shipping images of 2017. This is a collection of subject matter that is either well framed, otherwise interesting, or sometimes both.

Big Lift's Happy River with HMBS BAHAMAS on board, presumably headed to Europe for refit.

CSL Tacoma. I usually try to fill the frame with my subject matter, but I love this wide angle shot of a seemingly small CSL Tacoma set against the Halifax skyline.

Tanker Crawford escorted by Atlantic Oak.

Budapest Bridge.

Budapest Bridge. Fog is my friend (sometimes). 

OOCL Kuala Lumpur. It is always nice when the ferry manages to duck behind a large moving ships, to allow for a different viewing angle.

Crystal Symphony. As always, I look for angles that eliminate shoreline in the background that interferes with the outline of the ship.

YM Express.

A member of the herring fleet tied up along the boardwalk on the Halifax waterfront.

2017 was the last year for the ACL G3 ships like Atlantic Conveyor, and they have now all gone to scrap. The rust trails from the windows in the superstructure show that maintenance was slipping at the end. Despite teething problems, the new G4 ships have now replaced them.

One of the aforementioned ACL G4 ships, Atlantic Star.

The herring fleet's Morning Star.

Sometimes the ferry gets very close and allows images such as this one of Acadian.

Wallenius Wilhelmsen's Liberty peaking out from behind George's Island, which really goes to illustrate the size of the modern auto carrier.

Queen Mary 2.

The Canada C3 icebreaker, Polar Prince. While I couldn't even get close enough for an unimpeded photo of the ship, my lucky brother managed to snag a berth on a 9-day leg of her travel through the Northwest Passage for Canada's 150th year. But I'm not bitter.

Grandeur of the Seas. While not what I would call beautiful, I will allow that she looks more balanced than some of the newer mega-ships that go by the "cruise ship" moniker these days.

Queen Mary 2.

Queen Mary 2.

Queen Mary 2 performing a sailpast of the Halifax waterfront upon her departure on August 10th.

A morning's ferry ride was well timed to catch the warmth of the rising sun lighting up the port side of YM Essence.

Serenade of the Seas.

The Atlantic Pilotage Authority procured two new (to them) pilot boats for the Port of Halifax, including Nova Pilot. I believe both were purchased in The Netherlands. I normally don't get to photograph the pilot boats at speed, but on this particular day I was lucky enough to be a passenger in the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic's rebuilt schooner Hebridee II.

Hapag Lloyd's Palena.

One of two remaining ferries servicing the Caribou, NS to Prince Edward Island run, Confederation.

Zim San Diego riding high.

Hapag Lloyd's Dalian Express.

Holland America Line's Rotterdam. October's rising sun frequently makes for an interesting background.

Rotterdam again. The rising sun is particularly interesting when it provides both a backdrop and lighting in the form of reflections from some of the new highrise buildings on the Halifax skyline.

Two of the larger cruise ships that visited Halifax, Regal Princess, and Mein Schiff 6.

The same two ships - I enjoy stacking ships in the same image. I think it makes them look bigger.

Guangzhou Highway. Auto carriers are large ships, but seen from a small boat, they look even bigger!

I grudgingly admit to admiring the lines of the Disney cruise ships, like Disney Magic shown here.

Malleco.

YM Movement.

Dockwise Forte.

Another ACL G4 ship, Atlantic Sail.

Atlantic Sail.

Torm Carina. It constantly amazes me how much you can get away with these days with the latest digital cameras in terms of hand held photography from a moving platform (harbour ferry) in low light conditions.

This photo of Trinity Sea is another example of this.

YM Essence and Trinity Sea.

That's it for 2017 - let's see what 2018 brings!

2017 Royal Canadian Navy Photography Retrospective

The year of Canada's 150th anniversary celebration, 2017, included a number of unique opportunities to photograph the ships of the Royal Canadian Navy. Here are my favourites of the past year. Some are included because I really like the image, and others because it marked one milestone or another in the history of the RCN. They are presented more or less in chronological order.

2017 isn't the final year for the RCAF's CH-124 Sea King, but it is getting close, and some airframes will be retired in the coming months.

The reason for the Sea King's impending retirement, the RCAF's new CH-148 Cyclone, has been getting lots of flight time around Halifax. At the end of 2017, however, it has been announced that there will be a pause of Cyclone operations from RCN ships, as there is a conflict between the dipping sonar and the Beartrap hauldown cable while could cause damage to the former. The dipping sonar will therefore have to be relocated within the airframe on existing models, and the location will be modified on airframes yet to be completed. The helicopter, ordered in 2004 for delivery in 2008, will now be 10 years late.

The last IROQUOIS class destroyer, HMCS ATHABASKAN, took a bow this year, and paid off on March 3, 2017.

HMCS ATHABASKAN: Final Week in Commission and Paying Off

The Navy allowed the general public access to the paying off ceremony, so I was able to get relatively unfettered access. ATHABASKAN carried out a sailpast of the dockyard flying her paying off pennant, the first RCN ship to have the opportunity to do so in some years (her sisters IROQUOIS and ALGONQUIN, and the oilers PROTECTEUR and PRESERVER, were not seaworthy when paid off).

The paying off pennant trails behind ATHABASKAN, kept aloft by balloons. It is hard to see in this image, but you can see the tail end hanging just above the water to the left of the image.

ATHABASKAN approaches the jetty under her own power for the final time. This image made the cover of the Spring issue of Warships International Fleet Review magazine, published in the UK.

Hat's off!

The crew marches off the ship for the last time.

There were some good angles of the crew lined up on the jetty with the ship in the background.

The Syncrolift platform at HMC Dockyard required repairs and upgrades over the last few years, and with them complete, the platform can once again be used to hoist large ships. Here, HMCS CHARLOTTETOWN is shown after a bottom cleaning.

HMCS CHARLOTTETOWN on the Syncrolift

While ATHABASKAN was being paid off, her remaining sisters Algonquin (left) and Iroquois (right) were being broken up in Liverpool, NS.

Also coming to and end in Liverpool was the former HMCS PRESERVER. Here, she is shown hauled out, being broken up below the waterline.

Battle of the Atlantic Sunday was a foggy, rainy, affair this year, and HMCS MONTREAL didn't leave the jetty. The service was held inside the hangar.

Battle of the Atlantic Sunday - 2017

MONTREAL's bell shows traces of the day's weather.

At the end of May, SACKVILLE returned to her summer berth on the Halifax waterfront.

I always try to get the shot of sailors throwing lines ashore, and only occasionally manage it. I think succeeded here.

I only walked the bridge once this year, and while no ships passed underneath, I was rewarded with an RCN RHIB passing underneath.

Navy ships are once again being built at the Halifax Shipyard, and earlier this year both the middle and stern sections of the future HMCS HARRY DEWOLFE were rolled out.

Harry DeWolf rollout

Another Cyclone flypast.

Another Sea King flypast.

Preserver left Halifax for the final time, bound for breaking up in Sydney, Cape Breton. Here, she has a tow line rigged, and the tug lies under her stern.

The Navy featured in portions of the 2017 Royal Nova Scotia Tattoo.

For the first time in many years, HMCS ORIOLE (the oldest commissioned vessel in the RCN) paid a visit to Halifax, stayed for the Tall Ships festival, and headed to Lunenburg in the autumn for a refit. Originally scheduled to return to the West Coast at some point after the refit, I have seen rumblings suggesting she may remain on the East Coast.

ORIOLE participating in the Tall Ships sailpast.

SUMMERSIDE escorted Queen Mary 2 during a sailpast in August.

SUMMERSIDE and a tug using its fire fighting monitors - what better excuse do I need?

The only RCN submarine currently assigned to the East Coast, WINDSOR, completed a refit and rolled out of the maintenance facility onto the Syncrolift, before being put back in the water.

MONTREAL returning from a training cruise.

Before SACKVILLE headed back to Dockyard for the winter, I took the opportunity to revisit her recently cleaned engine room for a new set of photos, and blogged about it.

HMCS SACKVILLE Engine Room

At the end of October, it was time for the inevitable return trip to Dockyard for SACKVILLE. When I have the opportunity (e.g. when work allows), I like to ride along during her transits - and this year I was rewarded with a well timed sunrise.

HMCS SACKVILLE cold move to Dockyard

I caught the rising sun from the bridge, both looking over the bow and the stern.

HMCS SUMMERSIDE returning to port, with MONCTON in the background.

I'm always a sucker for a nice dawn silhouette, like this one of MONCTON.

As with PROTECTEUR and ALGONQUIN before her, IROQUOIS goes under the cutting torch in Liverpool. 

WINDSOR underwent workups in December preparing for deployment in the new year.

Harry Dewolfe's bow made an appearance in December, and was mated to the rest of the hull. Shooting through a chain link fence can be a challenge.

Bow Roll-Out of future HMCS HARRY DEWOLFE

I usually try to avoid clutter in my ship photos, however, I thought these cranes and other equipment framed the ship nicely.

TORONTO was underway a fair bit during December, so there were a few good opportunities to catch her from the ferry.

WINDSOR, too, cooperated with my ferry crossings.

Apart from some MCDVs, SACKVILLE was the only ship lit overall in the Dockyard this year. Athabaskan sits to the right.

To top off the year, the MV Asterix arrived in Halifax on December 28th.

MV Asterix arrival in Halifax

Asterix is the new interim AOR.

Overall, it has been an eventful year for the RCN in Halifax, and I look forward to 2018!