Mozu Arrow Comes to Baltimore September 2, 2020

This 185x30m (607x98ft) Bahamas flagged TEFC (Totally Enclosed Forestry Carrier) was built in 1992 by Mitsui Tamano Engineering & Shipbuilding in Tamano, Japan according to scheepvaartwest. She is one of Gearbulk‘s 4 TEFCs. Check out their data sheet on her.

The G2Ocean on her funnel is a joint venture between Gearbulk and Grieg Star. This company’s purpose seems to be to efficiently manage the resources of the two companies. G2Ocean also has a data sheet which includes a hold diagram.

This 2010 article on ship.gr indicates the ship had been converted into a multi-function vessel to carry both forest products and be a fruit juice tanker by COSCO Nantong Shipyard. My guess as to the reason for this is to backhaul cargo instead of going empty in one direction.

An unfortunate tragedy occurred on this ship when the ship’s bosun fell into a tank on the 26th of January 2013 according to this Casualty Investigation Report by The Bahamas Maritime Authority.

This video taken in 2009 shows a bit of a Christmas celebration aboard the ship. Another video uploaded in 2013 in the same room shows more fun times on this ship. I wish more videos like these could be found for the various ships I have done blog postings for.

This video from 2014 shows the ship looking heavily loaded in the canal of Port of Santos. This 2017 video shows her being assisted in departure from Baie-Comeau, Quebec, Canada. This 2017 video is of a sister ship, the Grouse Arrow, being unloaded of forest products.

In my 8 minute 44 second video below she can be seen approaching on the Patapsco River towards Baltimore, Maryland. I pilot boat is Baltimore. Pilots can be seen boarding the Mozu Arrow if you look carefully. Tugs seen are the Ms Debbie and the Island Lookout with a barge. She bears a resemblance to a RoRo ship, especially from the front, but lacks the ramps used by that type of ship. The cutouts on the side of the ship are the loading bays shown in the Grouse Arrow video above. I wonder if the red pipes on the deck ahead of the bridge are involved with the fruit juice tanks.

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