Aerial views of HMCS SACKVILLE in refit

HMCS SACKVILLE's current refit is still ongoing, and the Dockyard's submarine maintenance shed provides some interesting views of the ship from above. The usual views from the mezzanine look like this:

There is also a higher platform (that is not always accessible) that is used to access the overhead cranes, which provides an aerial perspective of the ship:

This seemed like an interesting position to have Gary Reddy, the ship's Commanding Officer, pose for a photo. 

The ship is a bit messy, being in the middle of this refit, and we are hoping to get a second set of photos from this position when the refit is completed (and the decks a little tidier).

The refit is progressing well, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and about 25% of the hull plating has been cladded with new steel plating to date. 

HMCS FREDERICTON operations

 FREDERICTON was working up at sea this week, and I was lucky enough to catch her just as she weighed anchor and headed out of Halifax Harbour on Wednesday last week. When I boarded the ferry, the engines were running as apparent from the funnel emissions. 

The next image shows the decommissioned Deep Panuke platform in the background at the Woodside pier. This platform left Halifax later in the week, destined to be broken up at Sheet Harbour.

Halfway across on the ferry, the anchor appeared above the surface, confirming that the ship was about to get underway. Unlike on Friday, no tugs showed up on Wednesday, suggesting she was headed for sea.

With the anchor hauled up, the ship starts to turn to head out. The NSCC building is in the background.

After leaving the ferry, I rushed out to the end of Cable Wharf to get some more photos, arriving just in time to capture FREDERICTON as she passed Georges Island. I was fortunate that there was still a bit of a light show left over in the sky from sunrise. 

Passing the lighthouse on Georges Island.

FREDERICTON returned to Halifax in July after a 6-month NATO deployment during which her Cyclone helicopter crashed and 6 members of her complement were killed. In recent weeks, she has started operating a Cyclone again.

Atlantic Star

Although luckily already positioned by chance on an ideal portion of the Halifax Waterfront to take photos of outgoing ships, Atlantic Star managed to sneak up on me on Thursday morning - I was just about to head up the hill to work when I found an excuse to stick around for a few more minutes. In the foreground, employees of McNally continue the demolition and removal of the old Foundation Maritime/Pilot wharf.

Winds were light enough that the pilot obviously felt comfortable cutting the escort tug free after the narrows, and Atlantic Star proceeded to take the western passage past George's Island to avoid the incoming Elka Nicholas.

The rows of containers in the forward cells appear to be cut down as they approach the bow, presumably to improve forward visibility from the bridge.

Elka Nicholas headed east of George's Island to avoid the outgoing vessel.

In the above image, one of McNally's work barges supports a crane involved in the demolition of the Foundation Maritime / Pilot wharf.

Unlike many (the majority of?) container ships, the design of both the 3rd (now sold for scrap) and 4th (pictured) generations of Atlantic Container Line (ACL) vessels incorporated cell guides to help stabilize the racks of containers, and to hold the containers in place. With some of the world's larger container ships recently experiencing large-scale collapses of container stacks (with the resulting loss of, and damage to, cargo), these seem to be a good idea. Containers lost at sea, when still afloat, are also a cause of damage and loss for smaller vessels at sea. The cell guide system can be seen to good effect above, and ACL boasts that it has not lost a container at sea for the last 30 years.

In addition to the deck cargo of containers, the ACL ships incorporate a large ramp and several decks dedicated to RO/RO (roll-on/roll-off) cargo - these are currently the largest multi-purpose RORO / Container vessels in the world, and they are regular callers at the Fairview Container Terminal in Halifax.

The ship is about to eclipse the McNab's Island lighthouse in the image above. In addition to cargo, these ships are set up with passenger berths, although the passenger service has been put on hold in 2020 due to COVID-19. 

Both ships that day would also have needed to give way to the tanker Largo Desert, which was at anchor in the inner harbour.

While my commute some mornings can be devoid of interesting shipping in the harbour, I was lucky to catch three ships that morning. With COVID-19 forcing me to work from home since March, with only a limited return to the office since late-September, catching shipping in the harbour on my occasional trip to the office is much welcomed.

HMCS HARRY DEWOLF (AOPV 430) returns from her circum-Newfoundland cruise

Upon seeing that HARRY DEWOLF was entering Halifax Harbour yesterday morning, and not having any meetings on my calendar, I was able to nip down to Alderney Landing to take a few photos. The weather did not cooperate, starting off with light fog and ending with actual rain.

HARRY DEWOLF just rounding George's Island with McNab's Island in the background and a Canadian Coast Guard Bell 412 helicopter in the background.

One of the Glen tugs approaches HARRY DEWOLF as a CCG RHIB speeds by in the foreground.

HARRY DEWOLF with George's Island in the background.

It was at this point that the rain started, which supplanted the fog in degrading my image quality.

At this point, I think I got a single shot off before rain coated my front filter, and I had to retreat to the back of the car to clean it off.

HARRY DEWOLF passing in front of MV Asterix.

As the first of a new class of Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessels (AOPV), the Navy has been putting HARRY DEWOLF through her paces both in Bedford Basin and at sea, with her most recent cruise a counterclockwise circumnavigation of Newfoundland that also took her into the Northumberland Strait where she had a photo op with the Confederation Bridge. With a planned Arctic passage in 2021, all her systems need to be certified and the crew needs to be well familiar with the ship. It is also a time to root out any inevitable bugs and deficiencies, like some recent fuel pump failures, which presumably need to be fixed under warranty by the shipyard. 

Capsize of the Transatlantic

On April 10, 1965, the Poseidon Lines freighter Transatlantic was inbound on the St. Lawrence Seaway just below Sorel. Having just departed Sorel, the outgoing freighter Hermes made way for the incoming Transatlantic in the Lac Saint-Pierre area, but Hermes seems to have strayed into shallow water. The latter's stern got sucked toward the shore, which sent her bow out into the incoming channel and caused her to strike Transatlantic on the port side. 

Photo of Transatlantic, © Frans Kerkhof, from Shipspotting.com.

According to Shipspotting.com, "Transatlantic was heavily damaged, burst into flames, and was soon on the bottom of the river. Three lives were lost on the latter ship while Hermes suffered considerable bow damage and ultimately had to go to Montreal for bow repairs."  

Viewed from astern, the now burning Transatlantic is under the care of  two tugs, with Marine Industries Ltd.'s Capitaine Simard in the foreground. The tug in the background is probably George M. McKee. Firefighters can be seen here working aft of the superstructure.

The tugs in the above photo belong to Marine Industries Limited (MIL), and Mac Mackay had mentioned them in his Tugfax blog here (Capitaine Simard) and here (George M McKee).

Efforts to save the ship were unsuccessful, and Transatlantic ended up capsizing to port, and sank to the bottom with her starboard side exposed above the surface. 

Transatlantic lying on her port side with the passing Saguenay Lines freighter Sunrise in the background. You can see the fire-charred paint on the bridge of the former. There is a petroleum slick enveloping the bow of the ship.

Viewed from forward, the ship's bilge keels and a set of empty lifeboat davits can be seen.

This time viewed from aft, the empty lifeboat davits can also be seen in this photo.

Looking forward from the bridge, you can see a deck cargo of drums, which may explain why the ship caught on fire after the collision (or maybe the just contributed to the fire). 

A man stands forward of the bridge on the side of the capsized ship, with fire-charred paint on the superstructure visible to the left of the photo.

A group of men stands on the side of the bridge superstructure.

Tugs in the background appear to be approaching the capsized Transatlantic.

Looking at the photos on the Mariner's Weather Log website, the bow of Hermes was fairly sharp and protruded well beyond the waterline, and the post-salvage photo shows there is significant damage to Transatlantic's superstructure. In addition, where the post-salvage photo does not clearly show damage to the hull (though any hole may have been patched in order to refloat the ship) and the pre-sinking photo above shows the ship initially heeling to starboard, I wonder if it was the firefighting efforts that caused the capsize to port.

While the photos in this post (except where indicated) are from the Foundation Maritime / AECON collection, I have been unable to determine if Foundation Maritime was actually involved in the salvage operation, and I have not even found mention of any firm connected with the work. Transatlantic herself was determined to be a constructive total loss, and she was broken up in Sorel in 1967. 

For more information, the websites listed below have additional information on the incident and its aftermath, along with more photos of the ship both before and after the sinking. In addition, the Bowling Green State University site has information on the tug Capitaine Simard.

Additional Sources:

Mariner's Weather Log website

Shipspotting.com

Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University