Three cruise ships will arrive in Halifax Harbor this week
TThe busiest weeks of the Halifax cruise season are still ahead, but as June draws to a close, 32 cruise ships so far in 2023 have brought an estimated 46,000 visitors to the Halifax waterfront. There’s good and bad in that: As The Coast has reported, environmentalists warn that cruise ships are among the most polluting forms of travel possible — and one ship can emit as much particulate matter per day as a million idling cars. The industry is also worth an estimated $136 million to Halifax’s economy each year.
Three more cruise ships are arriving this week, with the Zaandam, Seven Seas Navigator And Queen Mary 2 all of which make scheduled stops on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday respectively. The ships begin a busy week in Halifax harbor.
Monday June 26
What do plaster and pearls have in common? The 188 meters long Ocean Pearl The cargo ship arrived from Charleston, South Carolina around 8:30 a.m. Monday. As of Tuesday morning, it was moored at the Gold Bond Canada (formerly National Gypsum) dock near Wrights Cove. Gypsum mining has centuries of history in Nova Scotia; East Milford still contains the largest open cast gypsum mine in the world. The industry declined in the wake of the US housing crisis, but seems to have better days ahead with demand for the mineral – used in building boards – fueled by a construction boom. The Ocean Pearl then departs for Tampa, Florida.
Photo: Martin Bauman / The coast
The 1,430-passenger Zaandam cruise ship, seen in Halifax on May 4, 2023, returned to Halifax on June 26, 2023.
The 1,430 passengers Zaandam cruise ship made its tenth Halifax stop of 2023 on Monday around the same time. It arrived from Boston shortly after 8:30 a.m. and departed for Sydney just after 8:30 p.m.
Meanwhile, the NYK Rumina container ship and IT infinity offshore tug/supply vessel completed Monday’s arrivals, coming in from Saint John, NB and Blyth, UK respectively. The former is already on its way to Southampton, UK and is expected to arrive on July 3, while the latter will depart for Canso Strait.
Tuesday June 27
Bienvenida to the 294 meters long MSC Mexico V. The 21-year-old container ship arrived early Tuesday morning at Halifax’s South End Container Terminal after a six-day voyage from Sines, Portugal. The ship has a carrying capacity of 66,686 tons in the summer and then departs for Montreal.
Meanwhile, the east coast oil tanker moored at the Irving Oil Terminal. It arrived from Saint John just before 6:30 a.m. and will depart again Tuesday afternoon for New Brunswick’s second-largest city.
Corey Seeman / Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
The Oceanex Sanderling, seen in Halifax in 2018, returns to Halifax Harbor on Tuesday, June 27, 2023.
Halifax’s weekly visitor, the Oceanex Sanderling ro-ro/freighter, arrived in Halifax late Tuesday morning after regular crossing from St. John’s, NL. It is scheduled to remain around the South End Container Terminal until Friday. On his heels (well, metaphorical heels, anyway), the 296-foot tall Atlantic sail container ship arrived after a seven-day crossing from Liverpool, UK. It will leave for New York late Tuesday night.
Finally the 364 meters long A Cygnus container ship is back for one more stop in Halifax after its voyage in early June. It’s been making the rounds through the eastern US for the past few weeks, with stops in New York City; Savannah, Georgia; Jacksonville, Florida and Norfolk, Virginia. It departs early Wednesday morning for the port of Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates.
Wednesday June 28
What a time for a former Russian satellite tracking ship to return to Halifax harbor: on Wednesday, as the world’s attention remains focused on an aborted coup in Moscow and whatever its despotic leader does the followingthe Seven Seas Navigator cruise ship will arrive in Halifax with another 490 tourists. It is scheduled to dock at Pier 20 around 8:30 am. The ship will make its way along the US coast after departing from Bermuda.
Martin Bauman / The coast
The 490-passenger Seven Seas Navigator cruise ship, seen in Halifax on May 26, 2023, will return to Halifax on Wednesday, June 29.
Two container ships and a car transporter round out Wednesday’s scheduled arrivals: The ZIM China And An owl container ships arrive at 6 a.m. and 4 p.m., while the Morning Calypso The auto carrier is expected to arrive at the Eastern Passage Autoport around 5:30 AM. Both container ships are on their way to New York after stops in Halifax; the former is en route from Valencia, Spain, while the latter arrives via the Suez Canal from Colombo, Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, the Calypso left Zeebrugge, Belgium on 20 June.
Thursday June 29
The Korean-built MSC Alysa container ship is the first arrival on Thursday morning. The 274-meter vessel departed Montreal on Monday evening and is expected to arrive at the Port of Halifax at 6 a.m. It’s far from a rare visit for the crew of the Alyssa; last year, the ship visited Halifax more than any other port city except Gioia Tauro, Italy. This year, the ship will follow a trade route connecting Halifax and Montreal with Barcelona, Valencia, Genoa and Livorno.
Andrew, CC BY 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
The container ship MSC Alyssa, seen here in 2001, arrives in Halifax on Thursday, June 29, 2023.
The Italian trend continues later Thursday, as the fratricide of Rome, the NYK Romulus container ship, comes from Antwerp, Belgium. It will arrive at the Fairview Cove Terminal around 3:30 PM. The ship will sail Friday morning to Port Everglades, Florida.
Friday June 30
June ends with two container ships and a freighter arriving in Halifax harbour. The 325 meters long MSC Judith is the first container ship expected to reach port, just after 6 a.m. Friday. It is currently en route to Baltimore, Maryland from Savannah, Georgia. After that, the Vivienne Sheri D container ship is pegged for a 5pm arrival from Reykjavik, Iceland. finally, the Nolan Av ro-ro/freighter stops weekly in Halifax around 10am, after stops in Argentia, NL and St. Pierre and Miquelon.
Saturday July 1
The largest ship to arrive in Halifax this week arrives Saturday, when the 368-foot-long APL Sentosa completes his week-long journey from Tangier Med, Morocco. It’s not the biggest ship Halifax has seen this year – that honor belongs to the 396 meters CMA CGM Marco Polo– but it’s a doozy. The ship has a summer carrying capacity of 150,166 tons and can carry up to 13,892 20-foot steel containers. If all those containers were placed one behind the other on Victoria Road and north to the 101 Highway, they would stretch from the base of the MacKay Bridge to beyond Wolfville.
The next finish seems downright small in comparison: the 200 meters Vista Maersk container ship is expected around 8 am, after completing its journey from Montreal. The ship has a carrying capacity of 40,000 tons, or just over a quarter of the carrying capacity of the Sentosa.
Sunday July 2
If you thought there might be a Canada Day hangover, guess again. Five ships are expected on Sunday, including the 2,620 passengers Queen Mary 2 cruise ship, currently sailing from Southampton, UK to New York. It is set to reach Halifax Seaport’s Pier 22 around 8am and depart at 8pm.
Rounding out the bunch, the ZIM Yokohama, A wren And NYK Remus container ships arrive at 06:15, 07:00 and 17:00 respectively, while the Kitikmeot W. oil tanker reaches the port around 9 pm. The tanker is owned by Coastal Shipping Ltd. from Newfoundland and provides fuel to far northern communities on Baffin Island. The name comes from the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut, which spans more than 443,000 kilometers from east of Gjoa Haven to south of Bathurst Inlet and west of Kugluktuk.
