What does the UN’s “wish-and-a-prayer” shipping emissions target mean for Halifax?
LLast week, the International Maritime Organization – the UN’s authority over the global shipping industry – was launched what it described as a “revised” goal of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions “close” to 2050. Emissions have been a thorny issue for shipping regulators: in 2020 alone, bulk carriers, container ships and oil tankers bumped together 790 million tons of carbon dioxide worldwide – or roughly the equivalent of 171,739,000 cars. It is estimated on the industry could account for 10-13% of global greenhouse gas emissions within decades. That’s a problem for cities, counties and countries – and the millions of people within them – who bear the brunt of global warming. (And in this Nova Scotia is not immune.)
Unsurprisingly, conservationists are not happy about this: John Maggs, chairman of the Clean Shipping Coalition, called the IMO’s announcement a “wish-and-a-prayer agreement” with “no excuse.”
What does it mean for Halifax? Ultimately, the ships entering and leaving the port will have to run on greener electricity (a concern for the shipping companies, but not so much for the ports themselves). But today it seems that very little is changing.
On to the ships entering Halifax this week:
Monday July 10
Welcome back to the Zaandam cruise ship, which arrived from Boston around 8:30 a.m. Monday. It departed late Monday night for Sydney, NS and is now on its way to Quebec City. The 1,430-passenger ship is Halifax’s only cruise ship this week.
Photo: Martin Bauman / The coast
The 1,430-passenger Zaandam cruise ship, seen in Halifax on May 4, 2023, returned to Halifax on July 10, 2023.
Three container ships and an oil tanker completed Monday’s arrivals: the Warnow Master, Atlantic sky And Bakkafoss container ships entered the port from New York City, Liverpool, and Reykjavik at around 6:30 a.m., 4:30 p.m., and 5 p.m. respectively; While the TRF Mongstad oil tanker arrived just after 9 p.m. from Albany, NY. The longest crossing of the bunch is that of the Sky, which completed an eight-day Atlantic voyage and departed Halifax for New York on Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, the Warnow Master will arrive in sunny Kingston, Jamaica on Saturday.
Tuesday, July 11
What is the furthest arrival on Tuesday? That would be the 364 meters A falcon container ship, which entered Halifax harbor just after 9:30 am. It completed a three-week crossing from Colombo, Sri Lanka, departing Halifax for New York early Wednesday morning.
Hasenpusch Productions / Port of Hamburg
The container ship ONE Falcon arrived in Halifax on Tuesday, July 11, 2023.
The 138 meters BBCVirginia The cargo ship arrived earlier Tuesday, docking at around 7am after an eight-day crossing from Pembroke, Wales – the birthplace of King Henry VII and former siege site during the first English Civil War. (A side note: if you’re ever in the UK, next time forget about England and head to Wales – not just for the charmingly long place namesor the fact that Ryan Reynolds has a football team there. Go for the mountains and the beaches. Spend a few days on the Gower Peninsula and Brecon Beacons National Park. You won’t regret it.) The Virginia departed Halifax for Philadelphia on Tuesday night anyway. It is expected Friday morning.
The last two ships of the day, the NYK Nebula container ship and Algoscotia oil tanker arrived around 8:30 am and 4:30 pm respectively. The former completed a nearly nine-day crossing from Antwerp, Belgium, while the latter arrived from Corner Brook, NL. The Nebula heads next to Port Everglades, FL, while the Algoscotia heads for Sydney.
Wednesday July 12
The 294 meters MSC Cornelia The container ship entered Halifax early Wednesday morning. It docked in port just after 5:30 a.m. after an eight-day crossing from Sines, Portugal. The ship left Halifax late Wednesday and is on its way to Boston.
How’s this for a ship name? The Great Halifax vehicle carrier arrived in Eastern Passage around 6 a.m. Wednesday. Built in 2018, the 18,353-ton (summer deadweight) vessel can carry up to 6,700 cars on board. It is currently docked at the Autoport after an eight day crossing from Valencia, Spain. The ship then departs for New York.
The 177 meters X Press Irazu container ship entered port from Lisbon, Portugal about 40 minutes later. It departed Halifax on Wednesday night for Mariel, Cuba.
finally, the Oceanex Sanderling ro-ro/freighter arrived at the South End Container Terminal for its weekly Halifax-St. John’s, NL trip. It is expected to leave early Friday evening.
Thursday, July 13
Two regulars from Halifax Harbor return Thursday: The Nolan Av ro-ro/freighter and Atlantic star container ship are both expected in port later today. The former is en route from St. Pierre and Miquelon, while the latter is currently cruising up the coast from New York. Neither stays long: the Atlantic Star departs for Liverpool around 1 AM on Friday morning, while the Nolhan Ava departs for Argentia, NL around 3 AM on Saturday.
Friday, July 14
The 260 meters ZIM Monaco The container ship is expected to reach the South End Container Terminal around 6 a.m. on Friday. It left Valencia on July 8 after previous stops in Barcelona, Genoa and Athens. The ship will continue to New York later Friday evening.
On his heels – or rather, stern – the Nor’easter The oil tanker will reach Halifax shortly before 1 p.m. Friday. It is en route from Saint John, NB and scheduled for the Irving Oil Terminal. The ship then continues to Charlottetown, PEI.
finally, the NYK Rigel container ship is on its way from Cartagena, Colombia. The 294-foot ship had made a swing along the Pacific coast through Oakland and Los Angeles, CA before traversing the Panama Canal. It will arrive at the Fairview Cove Terminal around 3.30pm and depart for Southampton, UK on Saturday.
Saturday July 15
The largest ship to arrive in Halifax Harbor this week is the 366-foot-long CMA CGM J. Madison. The ship has a deadweight tonnage of 147,966 tons in summer — shipping jargon for total cargo capacity — which is less than the largest container ship to arrive in Halifax in 2023, but it surpasses Saturday’s other arrival, the 293-foot-long MOL experience (62,953 tons) by a country mile. Or maybe that’s a nautical mile.
The J. Madison is en route from Tanger Med, Morocco, and is expected to arrive around 4am, while the MOL Experience is en route from Antwerp and is expected to dock around 5am.
Sunday July 16
Two more container ships complete the weekend’s arrivals, and they’re both from family-owned shipping company Mediterranean Shipping Company: The MSC Sandra And MSC Amalfi are both expected in the Port of Halifax, arriving from Sines, Portugal, and Bremerhaven, Germany respectively.
The former is expected at the Fairview Cove Terminal around 5 a.m., while the latter is expected at the South End Container Terminal by 10 a.m. Both ships head to Boston after their stop in Halifax.
