The Port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, may be getting a new lease on life with the arrival on August 3 of the CMA CGM Vivaldi at Halterm International Container Terminal.
The 8478-TEU, 334-metre long Vivaldi is the largest container vessel to berth at Halterm and on Canada’s East Coast. Up till now, the biggest container vessels calling at Halifax were in the 7500-TEU range.
CMA CGM Vivaldi docked with a cargo of containers from China, Vietnam and Malaysia for import into Canada and outbound containers for the ship’s next ports of call — New York, Norfolk and Savannah. The ship then would return to Port Klang via the Suez Canal.
An even bigger ship, known as a super post-Panamax ship built for 9200 TEU is scheduled to arrive in Halifax next month.
Both of these larger vessels are owned by CMA-CGM of France, the third largest container shipping company in the world with 445 ships.
The port of Halifax has seen its volume of containerized cargo drop by about 10 per cent last year and nine per cent during the first half of 2015.
"Vietnam, Malaysia, and southern China, so it opens up new opportunities for the importers and exporters of Atlantic Canada," said Ashley Dinning, the CEO and managing director of Halterm.
"We need more wins like this for Halifax, it's great news for everybody. For the labour here, for our investors, for the people of Nova Scotia."