About those mega yachts owned by billionaires in Halifax Harbor this week…
Ehave you wondered how much it costs to keep a superyacht seaworthy? For every year New York multibillionaire and real estate developer Larry Silverstein keeps his $40 million megayacht Silver Shalis running, complete with pool, elevator and gym, it is estimated to cost the former owner of the World Trade Center between $2 and $4 million. That’s about five to ten times what Halifax spends on art each year.
Silverstein’s 55-foot yacht was anchored near the foot of Salter Street on the Halifax waterfront from Wednesday, July 28 through late Tuesday morning. Before that, the 90-year-old’s luxury ship was docked in Lunenburg for three days after an earlier four-day stay in Halifax. And he’s not the only visitor with deep pockets who came to see Halifax harbor shrouded in mist – across the pier, the 150-foot-tall Homecoming (valued at an estimated US$7.9 million, according to United Yacht) has also been anchored since last Wednesday, and the $80 million Live la Vie (owned by Swiss pharmaceutical billionaire Willy Michel) was anchored outside the Nova Scotia Power building from Saturday to early Tuesday. The ships clock in as the 775th largest, 1,979th largest and 480th largest yachts in the world respectively.

Martin Bauman / The coast
The Homecoming (foreground) and Silver Shalis (background) yachts docked in Halifax Harbor on July 3, 2023.
The most stunning part? None of the three are anywhere near the largest yacht anchored in Halifax. Per Peter Ziobrowski of Halifax Shipping Newsthat claim belongs to the 255 feet Sea Ranger, which was converted from an oil rig tug into a yacht with its own basketball court, helipad and swimming pool once owned by Google CEO Eric Schmidt. That shouldn’t be outdone by the 247 feet, either Bella Vita, formerly owned by Nova Scotia tuna magnate John Risley. (As billionaire yachts do, the ship has since changed hands — and name — to the Huntress, owned by a US diplomat who also was once owned by the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball.)
It must be nice to have things, I think. Too bad all that wealth couldn’t be shared or used to save the planet. Anyway, on to other things – here’s what else is coming in and out of the port during the week of July 3-9, 2023:
Monday July 3
Have a safe trip to Canadian Navy ships HMCS Summer side And Shawinigan. The two Kingston-class coastal defense ships departed from Halifax Harbor on Monday as part of NATO’s ongoing Operation Reassurance mission in Central Europe, Canada’s largest current bet of military assets around the world. More than 1,100 Canadian Forces are currently deployed to the Baltic region between land, air and sea efforts. The 90 or so members aboard the Summerside and Shawinigan will participate in “mine countermeasures” for the next four months, Rear Admiral Josee Kurtz tells CBC News. Both ships are equipped with mine detection and removal tools.
The Atlantic star The container ship arrived at Fairview Cove Terminal just after 5:30 a.m. Monday morning. It included an eight-day crossing from Liverpool, UK, departing for New York City later that evening. Meanwhile, the Eimskip is owned Lagarfoss container ship arrived from Reykjavik, Iceland around 7:30 am. It sails next to Portland, Maine.

Martin Bauman / The coast
The container ship Lagarfoss will arrive at the Port of Halifax on July 3, 2023.
Two more ships completed a busy Monday in port: The NYK Remus container ship and CSL Tacoma self-unloading bulk carrier arrived at approximately 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. from Saint John, NB, and Wilmington, North Carolina, respectively. The 293 meter long Remus left Halifax early Tuesday morning for Southampton, UK. Meanwhile, the Tacoma was anchored in the Bedford Basin as of Tuesday morning. It will leave for Wilmington on Friday.
Tuesday, July 4
One of Halifax’s largest ship arrivals of the week chugged into port at the South End Container Terminal early Tuesday morning: the 364-foot A swan completed a whopping 22-day crossing from Colombo, Sri Lanka, via Egypt’s Suez Canal. With a carrying capacity of 138,907 tons in the summer, the ship is one of the heaviest dumpers for the first week of July. It is scheduled to depart Halifax for New York City on Tuesday evening.

Martin Bauman / The coast
A crane lifts a steel container from the container ship ONE Swan in Halifax on Tuesday, July 4, 2023.
About half that size, the 65,867 tons NYK Daedalus arrived early Tuesday morning from Cartagena, Colombia. It is docked at the Fairview Cove Terminal and will sail on to Southampton, UK, early Tuesday afternoon.
finally, the Morning Kapo vehicle carrier arrived at the Eastern Passage Autoport around 7:30 AM. It completed a nine-day crossing from Zeebrugge, Belgium. The ship departs Tuesday afternoon for New York City.
Wednesday July 5
New York never sleeps, and neither does the city Energy Artemis. The 600-foot oil/chemical tanker will arrive in Halifax around 4 a.m. after leaving the Big Apple early Monday morning. The 182-meter ship was built in Korea in 2022 by K. Shipbuilding Co. It will dock at the Imperial Oil Terminal.
Konnichi wa to the ZIM Yokohama container ship, arriving from Spain early Wednesday morning. It left the coastal city of Valencia on June 28 after previous stops in Barcelona; Genoa, Italy; and Piraeus, Greece. After Halifax, it’s on its way to New York City. (Not a bad summer vacation itinerary.)

DmitTrix (CC BY 4.0)
The container ship ZIM Yokohama, seen in Haifa, Israel in February 2023, is expected to arrive in Halifax on Wednesday, July 5, 2023.
Around the same hour the Yokohama will arrive, the Oceanex Sanderling ro-ro/carrier is scheduled for its weekly trip from St. John’s, NL. It is expected to dock at the South End Container Terminal.
Thursday, July 6
The first week of every summer when I was a kid, my grandparents rented our family a small house on a lake. It was part of a larger camp/resort complex, which meant there were certain amenities that were really important when you were a kid: a wooden playground, an outdoor basketball court, shuffleboard courts that always seemed to be in direct sunlight, and a swimming pool. dock where you can cannonball and dream about backflipping like the bigger kids, if only you had the guts to try. The main attraction, however, was the tuck shop. It was full of penny candies and other sweets that you could buy for a penny. I must have gone every day. Sometimes twice a day.
That’s kind of how it feels now with the 1,430 passengers Zaandam cruise ship making its 11th Halifax stop of the season this Thursday. I like to picture the captain at the helm, hard-working week after week into Halifax harbor – even when the stop wasn’t planned – just for another scoop of Dee Dee’s ice cream or to hear the afternoon cannon once more.
Elsewhere, the August Luna general cargo ship and Nolan Av The ro-ro/cargo carrier arrives at 5:30 AM and around 8:00 PM from Moa, Cuba and St. Pierre and Miquelon, respectively.

Photo: Martin Bauman / The coast
The 1,430-passenger Zaandam cruise ship, seen in Halifax on May 4, 2023, will return to Halifax on July 6, 2023.
Friday July 7
The one operated by Wallenius Wilhelmsen Manon vehicle carrier is marked for a 5:30am arrival from Zeebrugge, Belgium. The ship can carry up to 7,194 cars (based on the size of a 1966 Toyota Corona). It is ready to dock at the Eastern Passage Autoport.
The 294 meters long MSC Pratiti The container ship is expected to arrive on Friday around 4 p.m. It is en route from Sines, Portugal, after previous stops in Salerno, Naples and Gioia Tauro, Italy. (I’d say this also qualifies as a decent summer vacation, but a pickpocket once stole my phone in Naples. And while we’re settling scores, the Neapolitans aren’t putting enough toppings on their pizza, either.)
Last but not least, the Atlantic sail The container ship is expected to reach the Fairview Cove Terminal around 6 p.m. It is currently traveling from Baltimore, Maryland, to Norfolk, Virginia.
Saturday July 8
Look, the largest ship arriving in Halifax this week: the 366 meters CMA CGM Magellan The container ship will arrive at the South End Container Terminal around 4 a.m. on Saturday. It is in the middle of a week long crossing from Tangier Med, Morocco.
On his heels are the A tap And MSC Esthi container ships, inbound from Norfolk and Baltimore respectively. The former is expected to arrive at the South End Container Terminal around 5 p.m., while the latter will arrive at 8 p.m. (Speaking of huge fortunes, the Aponte family, owner of the Mediterranean Shipping Company, saw their net worth increase by $46 billion in the past year alone, thanks to a continued boom in the shipping industry.)
Sunday July 9
The last day of the week brings into play some of the last letters of the alphabet, with the arrival of the Warnow Master container ship and Viking Neptune Cruise ship. The 600-foot container ship has been cruising a set route between Halifax, New York, and Kingston, Jamaica for the past few months; it last left Halifax on June 26.
The 930-passenger Viking Neptune is currently in Quebec City after stops in Montreal and Saguenay. It returns via the Gaspé Peninsula and continues to Boston and New York after the Halifax stop.
Editor’s note: In an earlier version of this story, Valencia was referred to as a Catalan city. Although Catalan is spoken in parts of Valencia, the region is in fact more accurately described as Valencian. De Kust regrets the mistake and promises to eat three full plates of paella as a sign of goodwill.