Comments (Newest First):

 

Post 2448

  Sea News, Dover

Thanks for that tip about the ship Mike
- will watch out for it for sure and hopefully get a pic or two.
Enjoy your trip away but .. you know what they say...come back soon! PB.

A colleague has just pointed out to me that we have completed 100 pages in the current Sea News setup - well I never!

Tuesday, 29 September 2015 - 15:50

 

Post 2447

  Mike J., Dover

I hear that an unusual cruise ship is coming into Dover on Thursday.

The SEA DISCOVERER was built in 2004 for an unsuccessful coastal cruise operation in the U.S of A.

She later crossed the Atlantic & was involved in windfarm projects, one of several vessels anchoring in the various windfarms & acting as 'floating hotels' during the construction phase.

She has been in this area before & I attaches a rather distant view of her anchored off Margate on 17/7/12.






Much better photos available if you Google 'sea discoverer photo'

She now seems to have returned to 'conventional' cruising & AIS shows her Tuesday morning about to enter Poole Harbour.

The unusual aspect of the SEA DISCOVERER is that although she is only 11 years old she was a built in a 'retro' style to vaguely resemble an American coastal passenger ship of the 1930s.
Below decks, of course, she is fully modern & 'up to date'

A ship well worth a look - sadly I shall be away on Thursday, but nae doot the Gateway Flats Shipspotting Service will be keeping a beady eye out for her.


Tuesday, 29 September 2015 - 12:00

 

Post 2446

  Sea News, Dover

They said the Supermoon was going to be big - but jeeez!!




See also the latest post 1992 below...
Thanks Vic !

Tuesday, 29 September 2015 - 07:23

 

Post 2445

  vic matcham, Dover

In and out within hrs that that is why the cargo ships like Dover unlike the big ports where they could be there days.Great photos and some very good comments with them(I do not mean mine)

Tuesday, 29 September 2015 - 07:16

 

Post 2444

  Sea News, Dover

The Baltic Klipper arriving here at the Port of Dover yesterday morning around 09.00...after a long voyage all the way from Columbia, and very welcome she is/was too..as ever. She has since left us for Vlissingen in the Netherlands.
The AIDA Bella is approaching as I write. PB.

Tuesday, 29 September 2015 - 06:52

 

Post 2443

  Sea News, Dover

All the media and perhaps everyone else have become very animated and excited about the moon over the past few days..or about the 'supermoon' as they are calling it. These pictures below are from both Saturday night and Sunday night and to yours truly the moon appears to be just the same as normal. There was however an eclipse in the dead of last night and of course that's what got everyone excited. The moon reportedly turned red before and after and appeared larger. Top two pix Saturday night late, next two with the Spirit ferry Sunday night late.






Interesting to see that picture below Ed. There have been a number of very good pictures of spitfires flying over the white cliffs lately. All looking very good indeed because of the unique angle. Now we know how they are achieved. Ace!

Oh dear! one of the pictures above came out twice...I guess it all adds to the spookingly engaging lunar lunacy!! No barking now!

Monday, 28 September 2015 - 14:52

 

Post 2442

  Ed Connell, Dover

This pair circled over the port and town several times on Saturday. A Spitfire together with a De Havilland Devon which was the RAF Transport Command version of the De Havilland Dove short haul airliner introduced immediately post war. Google shows that they are operated by Aero Legends out of Headcorn giving eight passengers the opportunity to photograph the Spitfire against the White Cliffs and Castle.



Monday, 28 September 2015 - 02:21

 

Post 2441

  Sea News, Dover

The Artania at rest yesterday afternoon in the glorious sunlight. The ship enjoyed another sparkling visit with us here and we had lots of passengers ambling about and enjoying themselves .. both near and further afield. Saturday is a great day for yachting here in Dover Harbour and you can see one of those fab yachts in the foreground in the picture. Artania left about 7pm and off into the dark chilly night she went heading for St Peter Port in the Channel Islands.

Sunday, 27 September 2015 - 06:52

 

Post 2440

  Sea News, Dover

Yesterday we had another visit from the impressive AIDA Bella. She arrived later than usual...around 11am and as there were free slots at the ferry terminals we were able to get some pictures looking across the harbour capturing her approach in the blazing but hazy sunlight. She left very late last night as presumably running behind schedule because of the later than usual arrival... she departed about 10.30pm under the autumn moon showing a million dazzling lights onboard.

Below we have the Sailing for Jesus yacht called Elida which visits us here in Dover from time to time. At a guess it probably comes once a year and here she is again. The yacht looks....well, heavenly!

"
Elida is a Swedish all-Christian organisation, working under the motto "Sailing for Jesus" with the goal of spreading the message about Jesus Christ via a sailing boat with the same name. During spring and autumn, it sails with mainly youth, but also corporations and other groups. Summertime it tours along the Swedish west coast with singing and music and the Christian message through people's life stories and testimonies. Wintertime it sails in southern Europe. The boat is berthed in Gothenburg, Sweden.
"



Extra: In Port today ...The Artania, looking good.

Saturday, 26 September 2015 - 06:45

 

Post 2439

  Sea News, Dover

IS BLUE THE NEW GREEN.......???

Find out at the final Pro-Tide Conference
________________________________

A major international conference to investigate ways of harnessing the power of the sea is heading to the Port of Dover next week. Experts from across North West Europe will be unveiling the findings of a three-year study into generating energy from the tides.

More than 20 speakers – leaders in their field - and in excess of 40 delegates will be staying in the town for the two day Pro-Tide event.

They will be scrutinising the results of tests and analysis carried out in Dover, the Isle of Wight, the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

Vicki Jago, the Port of Dover’s enviornmental manager, and organiser of the conference said: "Tidal power is an important form of green energy. Unlike solar or wind energy, tidal doesn’t rely on specific weather to be effective – it is predictable 365 days a year.

"However, harnessing this power is a real challenge. That’s why the Pro-Tide research has been so important and why we in Dover have been keen to play such an important part in it.

"This conference marks the end of the project and will be an opportunity for delegates to learn from the experiences of the study and leaders in the field."

The Pro-Tide project has been focussing on drawing power from sites that have relatively low flow rates and tidal ranges. Experts behind the pilot scheme say it’s different from other tidal energy projects because it’s been studying systems that could work closer to the shore, in estuaries and tidal rivers, and alongside coastal defences.

The final Pro-Tide Conference will be at Dover’s Cruise Terminal Two from September 30 to October 1.

ENDS


* *


HMRC CIGARETTE HAUL - Pair jailed after 4m cigarettes found in lorry at the Port of Dover

Two smugglers who plotted to flood the North East with a shipment of four million illicit cigarettes have been jailed after an HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) investigation revealed their scam.

Brian Storey, 28, of Ryhope, was stopped by Border Force officers at the Port of Dover after arriving on a ferry from France in July 2013. Inside his HGV, they discovered cigarettes worth £919,000 in unpaid duty – hidden among pallets of toilet roll. The find triggered an investigation by HMRC that revealed Storey’s accomplice, 38-year-old Richard Watt, of Sunderland, had obtained a credit card under a false name that he used to make Storey’s travel arrangements.

Alan Tully, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said:

"This was a calculated and audacious bid to profit from the sale of illicit tobacco. But conspiring to sneak four million illegal cigarettes through Dover proved to be Storey and Watt’s undoing – it was a greedy gamble that has cost them their liberty.

"Disrupting criminal trade is at the heart of our strategy to clamp down on the illicit tobacco market, which costs the UK around £2.1 billion a year. This is theft from the taxpayer and undermines legitimate traders."

During interview, Storey said he believed the HGV only contained toilet roll and dried food, and that he didn’t know the identity of the man who had made his travel arrangements. Analysis of his unregistered pay-as-you-go mobile phone revealed calls with an unknown contact regarding the tobacco shipment.

Attention then turned to the ferry booking, which had been made using a pre-paid credit card supposedly belonging to a ‘Paul Kaye’. But enquiries with the card issuer established that a bank statement and driving licence used in the application process were counterfeit. Paul Kaye, it seemed, didn’t exist.

Richard Watt was arrested in October 2013 after the address used on the Paul Kaye credit card application was found to be his own. During interview, he denied any knowledge of the cigarettes seized from Storey’s HGV and said he hadn’t created the Paul Kaye alias.

Both were charged with the fraudulent evasion of excise duty and pleaded guilty to the charges at Maidstone Crown Court in February and June 2015. Watt was sentenced to three years in prison, Storey to two years, by His Honour Judge Norton at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday 18 September 2015.

ENDS

Friday, 25 September 2015 - 07:30

 

Post 2438

  Sea News, Dover

Yes Vic it is certainly a fast turnaround - the Magellan Strait has already left us for Rotterdam.

Friday, 25 September 2015 - 07:22

 

Post 2437

  vic matcham, Dover

Yes they like Dover because they are in and out within hours .

Thursday, 24 September 2015 - 20:29

 

Post 2436

  Sea News, Dover

Pictures above show our newer old friend the Magellan Strait arriving this morning here with us at the Port of Dover with a huge load. Conditions were a tad abysmal for her arrival, so much rain, so much gloom, but we have seen worse to be sure. Good to see the Port's cargo trade going ahead in super strong mode. The reefer arrived here from Vlissingen and will be away again to Rotterdam afore too long.

Thursday, 24 September 2015 - 14:56

 

Post 2435

  JanT, Dover

Agree nice to see P&O doing their bit to give the children an unforgettable trip.
And good to hear the port is working hard to promote our port and our area,which could bring in more cruise ships and we have seen some splendid ones this summer.

Those cargo ships seem to get bigger and bigger.



Thursday, 24 September 2015 - 10:15

 

Post 2434

  Sea News, Dover

This huge monster, the Eugen Maersk, was heading down the channel yesterday afternoon in the blazing sunlight...worth a picture for sure thought I as she is one of the biggest container ships afloat. She was on her way from Felixstowe to exotic Tangier carrying everything I guess from a needle to an anchor...of sorts. Yours truly has never seen Felixstowe but it must be one heck of a container port to accommodate ships on this scale.

I remembered later that we might have featured Eugen Maersk before and indeed here she is ...but little more than a shadow in the background to Dole Europa last frosty February. PB.


From Wikipedia....
"The Eugen Maersk is a container ship owned by the Danish shipping company Maersk. The eighth and newest of the Mærsk E-class, built in 2008, she and her seven sister ships are among the largest container ships ever built. She has a total TEU capacity of 11,000 TEU containers; however, with other ratings she can hold 13,500 containers. This rating goes by physical space rather than weight. Her beam is 183 feet (56 m), her length 1,302 feet (397 m), and she has a deadweight tonnage of 156,907."


See also the posts below for the latest...nice story there about P&O and the kids..
and also good to see the team from the Port cementing our cause at Cruise Week.

Thursday, 24 September 2015 - 07:42

 

Post 2433

  Sea News, Dover

P&O FERRIES 100 CHILDREN WITH ILLNESSES TO DISNEYLAND FOR THE HOLIDAY OF A LIFETIME
____________________________________________________________________________________


P&O Ferries welcomed more than 100 poorly children on board the Pride of Canterbury for the trip of a lifetime to Disneyland Paris.

The Magical Taxi Tour is an annual event organised by the Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers, with P&O Ferries providing the ferry crossings. For the past 22 years the charity has taken children suffering from a range of illnesses and life-limiting conditions to Disneyland Paris to enjoy a break away from treatment accompanied by family and friends.

Members of the P&O Ferries merchandising and buying team handed out soft toys to the children on board donated by Posh Paws International.

The event started in London's Canary Wharf with a welcome breakfast, followed by two nights at Disneyland Paris. The convoy of more than 90 taxis stretched three miles long and was supported by the City of London Police, Gendarmerie Nationale, London Ambulance and AA breakdown services.

Pictured from left to right: Charlie Crampton aged 8; Kristina Crampton; Davey Crampton aged 6 (from Ramsgate); Natalie Hall, P&O Ferries and Michael Parchment, Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers.

(ends)


* *



DOVER IS ONBOARD FOR CRUISE WEEK
________________________________

The UK’s second biggest cruise port has thrown its weight behind an international drive to boost the globe-trotting industry.

The Port of Dover has joined forces with the Cruise Lines International Association to promote Cruise Week, which encourages new travellers to take to the seas.

In Dover, port chiefs are currently ploughing £120million into renovating the Western Docks adjacent to the cruise terminals, which will include a new marina and piazza. The redevelopment will complement the recent £10million restoration of Dover’s cruise terminal one, built in 1914.

Tim Waggott, the port’s chief executive, said:
"Dover is the premier hub port for cruise lines in the South East of England and already an iconic destination for world travellers. So discover Dover and take the opportunity to explore England’s oldest county – a perfect choice for pre and post cruise clients.

Dover is one of the busiest cruise ports in Northern Europe. It welcomes around 250,000 passengers each year and hosts more than 25 ship operators.

"Cruising is the ultimate way to travel," said Mr Waggott. "And we’re fortunate here in Dover that we’re in a county that has ancient castles, awe-inspiring cathedrals, breathtaking scenery and world class shopping. Who wouldn’t want to visit?"

Cruise Week, which runs until Saturday, has special added-value offers throughout the week, and is holding daily competition prizes.

Andy Harmer, director of Cruise Lines International Association UK and Ireland, said:
"This is our eighth year of celebrating cruise holidays. "The reason behind Cruise Week is that we want to share with travellers the vast range of options available on board a cruise, from the ship size and facilities, to the choice of destinations, both on oceans and rivers. A cruise holiday offers a fantastic mix of experiences on-board and on-shore, whether for families, couples or solo travellers, with great value included."

ENDS




Wednesday, 23 September 2015 - 06:49

 

Post 2432

  Sea News, Dover

Our two visitors yesterday...in the pic the Saga Pearl II has just departed...see also the post below.

Wednesday, 23 September 2015 - 06:43

 

Post 2431

  Sea News, Dover

The Ocean Princess departing a short while ago, leaving us here and heading off south to Cherbourg as have a number of other liners recently. Let us hope that the weather is better down there in delightful Cherbourg than it is here. Cripes! what a day! Gloom gloom all is gloom! ...weatherwise.

We had a double header today...both Ocean Princess and Saga Pearl were in Port. It was very interesting to see all the soon-to-be passengers leaving the local hotels to join the ships. Lots and lots of people, waiting for local taxis, waiting for mini buses, mini coaches and so on and so on...keeping the local hotels very busy and buoyant and the local economy moving along. Great to see.

Tuesday, 22 September 2015 - 18:52

 

Post 2430

  Sea News, Dover

Mobile technology helps streamline Europe’s busiest passenger port
______________________________________________________


The Port of Dover is turning to a raft of futuristic traffic sensors to keep billions of pounds of trade and millions of passengers on the move.

The state-of-the-art equipment, known as BlipTrack, developed by Denmark-based BLIP Systems, is helping controllers at Europe’s busiest ferry port to reduce bottlenecks and improve vehicle movements by predicting potential traffic congestion on Dover’s coastbound A20.

The technology, installed at key locations within the port, feeds officers with live data throughout the boarding process, not only helping them ensure traffic flows but also flagging-up trouble spots and times when queues are in danger of forming.

The sensors work by detecting anonymous signals from Wi-Fi or Bluetooth devices which are in "discoverable" mode - giving traffic controllers a general picture of how smoothly the devices (and the vehicles they are in) are moving through the port.

The new system is being used in conjunction with the successful Dover TAP (Traffic Assessment Project) – a freight management measure which holds port-bound lorries outside the town on the A20 to prevent queuing in central Dover during busy periods.

The combined measures are already helping to reduce bottlenecks outside the port – easing the impact this crucial national and international sea route has on communities living nearby.

Port of Dover chief executive, Tim Waggott, said: "While we keep Dover, the port and the UK economy moving, we are also working hard to ensure we have the latest equipment to handle £100 billion of UK and European trade each year.

"In the last 20 years, roll-on, roll-off ferry freight traffic has more than doubled as a result of the efficiencies and capacity provided by the industry. In the past two years alone, these volumes have increased by 20 per cent, with 2014 seeing the highest ever number of freight vehicles coming through the ports."

Tim Godden, the Port of Dover’s general manager of strategy and risk management, said:

"BlipTrack has been an extremely useful tool in the months since its implementation. It has helped us get a better understanding of the dynamic traffic system and provides quantifiable data to support the improvement measures we’re making to traffic flows. This will allow us to continue to provide a world-class service to our customers and community by efficiently managing traffic flows in and out of the port, and reduce traffic congestion around the town."

Peter Knudsen, chief executive at Blip Systems, said:

"We are happy to be able to provide Port of Dover with operational data that can be used to optimise processes to the benefit of both the port and the passengers. BLIP Systems are pleased that BlipTrack is able to gather useful data, and provide valuable analysis within the Europe’s busiest passenger port"

Highways England asset manager for Kent, Kevin Bown, said:

"Working collaboratively with partners like the Port of Dover, we aim to help keep Kent’s roads moving and its economy growing. It’s great to see the port using innovative technology like this to help manage traffic arriving at Dover in the best way possible."


ENDS

* *
Fascinating info above there..and great picture at the top from the guys at the Port.
The Nederland Reefer just below departing yesterday afternoon for Hamburg..
... we had something of a Nederland (Netherlands) special yesterday hearing from Ko at the same time.





FURTHER NOTE: In addition to ease traffic at Dover Port, BlipTrack is also employed in optimisation efforts in road traffic in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, UK and Switzerland, at railway stations in the Netherlands, and over 23 international airports, including Manchester, Dublin, JFK in New York, Toronto, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Dubai, Auckland, Oslo, Helsinki, Milano, Brussels, and Copenhagen airports. There you have it...

Tuesday, 22 September 2015 - 06:34

 

Post 2429

  Sea News, Dover

Huge thanks for that great piece of information Ko re post 1972. Good to hear from you over there in IJmuiden. Very welcome. Best wishes to all over there. Could bad weather be the cause of holdup.
Paul.

Monday, 21 September 2015 - 17:28