The ancient Greeks had a thing for swans. Zeus, it is said, turned himself into a swan to seduce the Spartan queen Leda. The former king Cycnus transformed into a swan after his death. So, too—depending on the story’s teller—did Orpheus, after he was murdered. If you look into the night sky in summer and fall, you can see the stars aligned to form a swan’s neck and wings. Cygnus, the constellation is called. This week, the ONE Cygnus arrived in Halifax Harbour—and while it may not match its namesake for sheer brilliance, it’s a large one, as container ships come: 364 metres long and with a summer deadweight of 138,611 tonnes.
The Cygnus left Halifax early Wednesday for New York, but it’s not the only big arrival in Halifax this week. Here’s a look at what else is coming into port, the week of June 5-11:
Monday, June 5
The Tropic Lissette container ship arrived at the South End Container Terminal just after 6:30am, one week behind schedule from Philipsburg, Sint Maarten. It left Halifax Tuesday afternoon, and is currently en route to Palm Beach, Florida.
Halifax’s first cruise ship arrival of the week, the 490-passenger Seven Seas Navigator, reached port at Pier 23 just after noon, following stops in New York, Boston, Bar Harbour and Saint John. It left Monday evening and arrived in Charlottetown, PEI on Wednesday.
Rounding out the bunch, the 296-metre Atlantic Sky container ship touched down in Halifax just after noon and left after midnight. It’s currently in Newark, New Jersey.
Tuesday, June 6
Tuesday’s entry is fittingly brief, given the lone arrival—the Algoscotia oil tanker—performed the nautical equivalent of the Grandpa Simpson door scene this week. The double-hulled tanker is back in Halifax, having returned just two days after it left for Corner Brook, NL. It’s currently docked at the South End Container Terminal.
Wednesday, June 7
If you can count on the Germans for one thing, it’s usually to be punctual. (I say this as a descendant of Germans.) So time-obsessed is the country that asking a Deutschlander for the current hour quite literally translates as follows: “How late is it?” In the case of the Sunshine Ace vehicle carrier, the answer is two days late. The ship was originally scheduled to arrive from Emden, Germany on Monday—most likely with a load of Volkswagens—but instead berthed in Halifax around 7am Wednesday. Spät, indeed.
Joining it is the 364-metre-long ONE Eagle container ship—a sister of the Cygnus. The ships aren’t just twins, but part of a near-identical set of 15 vessels built in Kure, Japan. (The Eagle is the third-oldest, having been completed in September 2016.) It arrived in Halifax from Norfolk, Virginia just after 6am on Wednesday—eight days behind schedule.
The day’s arrivals wrap with the Asian Empire vehicle carrier and the Oceanex Sanderling ro-ro/cargo ship. The former reached the Fairview Cove Terminal around 9am from Bremerhaven, Germany (also two days behind schedule), while the latter is set to arrive Wednesday afternoon from St. John’s, NL.
Thursday, June 8
Thursday brings the biggest cruise ship arrival of the week: The 1,430-passenger Zaandam returns to Halifax for the seventh time in 2023. It’s en route from Montreal, Quebec City and Sydney. The ship is expected to reach port around 8am and leave by 4pm.
There’s a packed slate of arrivals to round out the day: The Nolhan Ava ro-ro/cargo ship, ZIM Virginia, Warnow Master, Atlantic Star and NYK Constellation container ships are all scheduled to come into port. The Nolhan Ava, Star and Constellation are all Halifax regulars, more or less, but the ZIM Virginia and Warnow Master are rarer arrivals. The former spent much of March in Thailand, Vietnam and China, while more recently it’s been in Greece, Italy and Spain. Meanwhile, the Warnow Master makes just its second Halifax stop on a new CFZ route between Nova Scotia, New York and Jamaica. Get used to seeing it more often: According to Shipfax’s Mac Mackay, it’s scheduled to stop in Halifax every second Thursday.
Friday, June 9
Remember the Vivienne Sheri D cargo ship? The Eimskip-chartered ship is coming back to Halifax for another stop on its circuit from Reykjavik, Iceland; to Portland, Maine; to Halifax; to Argentia, NL and back. It’s expected at the South End Container Terminal around 9am.
Saturday, June 10
Saturday’s first scheduled arrival just barely edges out the ONE Cygnus and ONE Eagle as the largest container ship in port this week. The 366-metre-long CMA CGM Adonis is set for a 4am arrival. It’s inbound from Tanger Med, Morocco, after earlier stops in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. The ship can carry a staggering 15,000 20-foot steel containers.
Meanwhile, the comparatively smaller Volga Maersk container ship (200 metres long, room for 3,600 steel containers) is expected to reach the South End Container Terminal at 6am. The ship is on its way from Montreal, after earlier stops in Antwerp, Rotterdam and Bremerhaven.
Sunday, June 11
The week’s arrivals wrap with two more behemoths in the NYK Nebula and MSC Elma container ships. The former, at 294 metres long, has been running since 2007. It arrives in Halifax after stops in Saint John, NB—and before that, Colombia, Panama and Oakland, California. The Nebula is set for a 7am arrival at Fairview Cove Terminal.
The Elma, meanwhile, is expected at the South End Container Terminal around 8am—a day ahead of its schedule. It comes to Halifax by way of Bremerhaven, Germany, after earlier stops in Zeebrugge, Belgium and Rotterdam, Netherlands.
