Honest Abe arrives a wee bit tardy into Halifax Harbour this week
Abraham Lincoln, it has been said, was so moral-bound that he once walked miles from his New Salem, Illinois storefront just to return the correct change to a customer. Honest Abe never lied, so the former president’s lore goes. (Maybe.) But was he ever late, strolling to and from the White House? Just a smidgen, even?
The CMA CGM A. Lincoln container ship is two days behind schedule from Tanger Med, Morocco. It’s due around 4am on Saturday—160 years and three weeks since Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address.
With that bit of history out of the way, here’s a look at what else is coming in and out of Halifax Harbour this week:
Monday, October 23
The Caribbean Princess arrived at the Halifax Seaport around 6:30am. The 3,100-passenger cruise ship was followed into port by a much smaller cruise liner: The 680-passenger Insignia, making its penultimate Halifax stop of 2023. The latter ship is en route from Boston to Montreal, where it will do an about-turn and sail right back to Massachusetts. The Princess, meanwhile, will bid adieu to Nova Scotia until 2024—it leaves Halifax for Maine, and will spend the winter and spring, in true princess fashion, making trips in and out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The Atlantic Sky container ship berthed at the Fairview Cove Terminal just before 8am. It wrapped a weeklong crossing from Liverpool, UK, and leaves Monday afternoon for New York City.
The Algoscotia oil tanker is due into Halifax Harbour around 2:30pm. The ship left Corner Brook, NL on Oct. 19.
Three more container ships round out the day’s arrivals: The ONE Crane, NYK Constellation and Tropic Lissette are all slated to reach Halifax between 9am and 11pm. Of those three, the ONE Crane is the furthest behind schedule—it’s nearly two weeks late on its planned run from the US eastern seaboard.
Tuesday, October 24
The Chinese philosopher Confucius famously said, “Roads were made for journeys, not destinations.” It’s fitting, then, that the Siem Confucius vehicle carrier is making an unscheduled stop in Halifax on Tuesday, after a 12-day voyage from Emden, Germany. (Confucius also said, “Never give a sword to a man who can’t dance,” which—beyond being a hell of a one-liner—feels like it could just as easily fit into a Wu-Tang Clan verse. Now that’s something.)
Screenshot from Siem Car Carriers video. Credit: Hector Huertas
The Siem Confucius is scheduled to arrive in Halifax on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023.
The MSC Surabaya VIII container ship is expected in Halifax around 6am. It’s inbound from Baltimore, Maryland and leaves later Tuesday afternoon for a land where men did, indeed, dance with swords: The former bullfighting city of Barcelona, Spain. (The Catalonians banned the practice in 2012.)
The Gotland general cargo ship arrives around 3pm from Moa, Cuba. Some credit to Honest Abe: It’s a whopping 19 days behind its current schedule.
The CTM Istmo container ship (formerly the Neuburg) is slated to reach Halifax around 10pm Tuesday night. It left Algeciras, Spain on Oct. 12 and was sailing past the Azores as recently as four days ago. It’s a fitting arrival: Istmo, it turns out, is both the Spanish and Italian word for “isthmus.” And an isthmus—specifically, the Chigneto Isthmus—is the only reason we’re not a larger PEI (or smaller Newfoundland).
Two Ls round out the day’s arrivals: The Liberty of the Seas and the Lagarfoss. The former, a 3,635-passenger cruise ship, is on the return leg of a nine-day round-trip voyage from New Jersey through Massachusetts, Maine and Atlantic Canada. The latter, a 141-metre-long container ship, is inbound from Portland, Maine.
Wednesday, October 25
If the great Frank Costanza believed in the mantra “serenity now,” he’d have to wait: This week in Halifax, serenity arrives on Wednesday. The Crystal Serenity cruise ship stops at the Seaport on a 12-day sailing from Quebec City to Miami, Florida. It’s expected around 8am and leaves for Saint John, NB by 4pm.
The 2,140-passenger Serenade of the Seas cruise ship also comes into Halifax on Wednesday. It’s on a seven-day tour of Maine and Nova Scotia, beginning and ending in Boston.
The Oceanex Sanderling ro-ro/cargo carrier makes its weekly stop at the Fairview Cove Terminal. It arrives from St. John’s, NL and will return to Newfoundland after its Halifax visit.
Finally, both the Atlantic Star container ship and Nolhan Ava ro-ro/cargo carrier are also expected at the Fairview Cove Terminal. The former is en route from Norfolk, Virginia, while the latter makes its weekly rounds between Halifax, Argentia and St. Pierre and Miquelon.
Thursday, October 26
The 700-passenger Seven Seas Mariner cruise ship makes its third and final Halifax stop of 2023. The ship arrives midway through an 11-day trip from Montreal to New York.
Kabacchi / Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
The Seven Seas Mariner, seen in 2009, arrives in Halifax on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
Elsewhere in the harbour, the Hanseatic Inspiration cruise ship wraps an 18-day voyage from Milwaukee, WI. It then sets sail on an eight-day voyage to Colón, Panama, where it will continue southward to Santiago, Chile and Ushuaia, Argentina.
Friday, October 27
The Contship Art container ship is expected around 8am on Friday. It’s currently en route from Kingston, Jamaica to New York City.
Early Friday morning, the 260-metre-long Melina container ship is slated to reach the Fairview Cove Terminal around 5:30am. It’s almost six days behind schedule from Valencia, Spain.
Both the ONE Grus and Bakkafoss container ships are scheduled to arrive at the South End Container Terminal. The former is on its way from Suez, Egypt, while the latter is currently sailing from Reykjavik, Iceland to Portland, Maine.
Piet Sinke (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
The Bakkafoss container ship, seen in Rotterdam in 2018, arrives in Halifax on Oct. 27, 2023.
Finally, the Acadian oil tanker is expected to reach Halifax Harbour. As of Monday afternoon, it was just outside of Saint John, NB.
Saturday, October 28
The weekend kicks off with the arrival of the MS Hamburg cruise ship. It arrives in the early stages of a 17-day voyage from Montreal to Cozumel, Mexico. The 420-passenger ship was formerly named the C. Columbus, but switched its name in 2012—proof that, as with old Cornwallis and John A. MacDonald, we are, in fact, able to come up with better names for things than honouring racists.
Sunday, October 29
The 450-passenger Seabourn Quest cruise ship arrives in Halifax on Sunday. It visits the Halifax Seaport during a 28-day voyage from Montreal to Miami that travels via Puerto Rico, Martinique, Barbados, Saint Lucia and Antigua.
The 364-metre-long ONE Owl container ship is due at the South End Container Terminal around 7am. It’s 12 days behind schedule from Norfolk, Virginia.
Last, but not least, both the Algocanada oil tanker and Tropic Hope container ship are set to arrive in Halifax. The former is en route from Sarnia, Ontario—and could possibly arrive Monday, Oct. 30—while the latter is currently berthed in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
