CSL deploys largest conventional geared bulk carrier in Canada

Canadian Steamship Lines’ 15-year-old, 615-foot vessel MV Ferbec, which previously served in the ocean carrier’s Australian fleet, now operates in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.    MV Ferbec, a 49,502 deadweight (DWT) conventional geared bulk carrier that previously operated in Canada Steamship Lines’ (CSL) Australian fleet as the CSL Melbourne, has now become the largest vessel of its type in the Canadian domestic shipping market, CSL said in a statement.
   The 15-year-old, 187-meter long (615-foot) vessel, which now operates in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence after being put into service recently by CSL, is equipped with four cranes and grabs.
   The Ferbec, which arrived in Québec City in May, subsequently underwent modifications to adapt to its new operating environment, according to CSL, and is now operating under Canadian flag in the Havre St-Pierre to Sorel corridor for long time customer Rio Tinto.
   “It is by design and with great pride that we revived the name Ferbec for this vessel,” CSL Group President and CEO Louis Martel said. “Like the original Ferbec – a 56,000 DWT ocean bulk carrier – the new Ferbec is plying the same trades along the same Saint Lawrence routes.”
   “Unfortunately, just like her predecessor, the new Ferbec will never be seen on the Great Lakes. Built as an ocean-going vessel, her hull is too wide for the locks of the St. Lawrence Seaway,” Martel explained.
   The arrival of the Ferbec in the Canadian fleet is part of an optimization and capacity management program that’s seen the introduction of six new state-of-the-art vessels and the retirement of older, less efficient ships, most recently the 33,197 DWT bulk carrier Pineglen, CSL said.
   Pineglen, CSL says, was sold “as-is where-is” in July for $615,000 to a vessel broker who’s towing it to a ship recycling yard in Turkey.