Comments (Newest First):

 

Post 5123

  Del Styan, Norwich

Wow - rainbows and moons - lovely pics.

Sunday, 4 February 2018 - 23:10

 

Post 5122

  Sea News, Dover

This is the cold scene over the channel and port an hour or so ago...we have sleet, then sun, then drizzle. Its a changeable day for sure. Possiblilty of further rainbows...

Its a quiet day. Got the cobwebs and dust off the ancient Nikon for that pic above. Some of you will remember me mentioning the ancient Nikon in the past. The lens is good but the old programs are, by todays standards, so unusable and indeed difficult. Its only use-able as a novelty...but worth a run now and again. Its a wee bit of a classic and it captured the mood today.

Glad you are enjoying the variety Colette. If I see a mermaid I will certainly get a picture...Yikes..
Yes indeed - get your shovel Jan - there's gold out there for sure..

PaulB.

Sunday, 4 February 2018 - 15:05

 

Post 5121

  Colette B , Dover

Lovin the recent Port photos.....from Supermoon to gold chasing Rainbows......you are spoiling us Mr B.
What next I wonder...... Unicorns, Mermaids can't wait


Terrific array of photos Ed

Sunday, 4 February 2018 - 10:36

 

Post 5120

  Jan T, Dover

Gold at the end of the rainbow wow get me that shovel.
Some where over the rainbow love the pictures.

Sunday, 4 February 2018 - 09:59

 

Post 5119

  Sea News, Dover

Lots of gold-chasing rainbows peppering the Port currently..they are all over the place, as we are getting ( you might have noticed!) lots of sunshine and very damp showers.

There's gold on that thar ship somewhere...I'm sure of it so I am. Get yer shovel !
Yes we get lots of rainbows, this is one below from a previous time.


Another shot below of the DWDR working tugboats.
Llanddwyn island and Afon Lligwy. Similar to the previous shot in 4610 but Grumpy has slid out of the picture.


Well done below Ed. Excellent shots of Luzon Strait approaching Dover. Nice images for sure. I might be able to add one or two to that when I catch up. Just to remind all...the GEEST LINE now operating through Dover has leased the following ships from SEATRADE ....
Luzon Strait, Lombok Strait, Royal Klipper, Baltic Klipper and Atlantic Klipper. Exciting times ahead catching up with those guys.
Gawd Sunday again - where did that week go... PaulB.

Sunday, 4 February 2018 - 07:36

 

Post 5118

  Ed Connell, Dover Strait

Luzon Strait approaching Dover at lunchtime, now berthed at the DCT.



Saturday, 3 February 2018 - 18:06

 

Post 5117

  Sea News, Dover

The morning charge to the 'office'...we caught them in convoy above there.. Llanddwyn island, Afon Lligwy and Grumpy all coming for another days work in and around the piledriving. Life in the fast lane eh...



Below...well its the day after the supermoon and the tide is high..all that surging water swallowing up the piling. Tips of it barely showing and other bits swallowed completely ...



Ahh nice shot that below Ed...and very welcome too. PB.

Saturday, 3 February 2018 - 06:49

 

Post 5108

  Ed Connell, Dover Strait

Spirit of Britain on the Eastern Arm yesterday.


Friday, 2 February 2018 - 10:21

 

Post 5107

  Sea News, Dover

JENNY EVANS BECOMES THE SECOND FEMALE TO CAPTAIN A P&O FERRIES SHIP
_____________________________________________________________________
KENT local Jenny Evans has become only the second woman ever to captain a P&O Ferries ship after being promoted to the rank of Master on the Spirit of France.

The 30-year-old, who joined P&O Ferries straight after taking her GCSE's, now has responsibility for up to 200 crew members and 2,000 passengers who sail on the 47,000 ton ship between Dover and Calais.

Jenny, who lives in Rochester with her husband David, said: "I wanted a career at sea from the age of 13. My dad, Jim Grove-Quinn, also worked for P&O Ferries and whenever we went to Calais on our holidays I spent most of my time going up to the captain's bridge to see how the ship was being run."

"At my dad's suggestion, I joined P&O Ferries straight from school and took a cadet course at South Tyneside College which set me on the path to becoming an officer. Since then I've worked on most of the ships in our English Channel fleet. I love the job, which is very busy and always has something going on."

"My dad still works for the company on our sister ship the Spirit of Britain and is very proud that his daughter has reached the rank of Master. Although he's made me promise never to tell him what to do if I ever see him on board."

P&O Ferries, which is this year celebrating the 180th anniversary of the founding of P&O, appointed its first female captain in 2015.

John Garner, the company's Fleet Director, added: "Jenny's progression through the ranks illustrates the remarkable career opportunities which are available to young men and women who choose a career at sea. We are all proud of her and wish her many years of happy and safe sailing with P&O Ferries."

P&O Ferries is a leading pan-European ferry and logistics company, sailing 27,000 times a year on eight major routes between Britain, France, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Holland and Belgium. It operates more than 20 vessels which carry 10 million passengers and 2.2 million freight units annually.

Together with its logistics division, P&O Ferrymasters, the company also operates integrated road and rail links to countries across the continent including Italy, Poland, Germany, Spain and Romania. P&O Ferrymasters also owns a rail terminal in the Romanian city of Oradea, which facilitates the onward movement of goods to Britain from Asian countries via the Silk Road.

ENDS


A couple of shots above there of the Spirit of France from the files...showing the ferry in different conditions. Great news above there about Jenny Evans. Well done Jenny and P&O.

That's a cracking shot of the waiting trucks below there Mike. Nice work.
Like the other one too.

Thanks again for the info Vic...glad you are enjoying the DWDR pix.
Hope you didn't do too much howling at the moon Jan...once you start you cant stop... so they tell me...

Many thanks to P&O Ferries for the info above. PaulB.

Friday, 2 February 2018 - 05:14

 

Post 5106

  Mike J., Dover

Freight congestion on Thursday afternoon may have been partly due to the SPIRIT OF BRITAIN being on the Eastern Arm for about eight hours.
She was back on the run by 2000.





New January 2018 DWDR drone footage - very interesting, DWDR is really taking shape.

Go to YouTube & ask for -

Dover Western Docks Revival (DWDR) Latest Progress January 2018

This should give you earlier films in the series as well.


Friday, 2 February 2018 - 00:43

 

Post 5105

  victor matcham, Dover

Well they have done a very good job up till now down at the western end piling was done very well alot more easy then the days I done it great to see all the work being done on this page. THe D.H.B, got their act together on doing it ,the only thing was the sand being taken from the Good wins which now looks that will not happen.And if they get a move on I will still be about to see it all done.

Thursday, 1 February 2018 - 15:45

 

Post 5104

  Jan T, Dover

The moon certainly was impressive last night, the cloud cleared enough to see it, really expected to hear those werewolves.
Very creepy.
Like the picture of the super moon over the docks

Thursday, 1 February 2018 - 08:47

 

Post 5103

  Sea News, Dover

Homage to the Supermoon.

The fabulous supermoon is blazing overhead as we speak at 06.30. It was too high this time around, when it arrived from behind thick cloud, to get a shot of it over the harbour...however...here's one I ermmmm.. made earlier, from a recent visit.
Woof! One gets this urge to howl...I don't know why ...


Some further shots below of the blue efficiency/safety device currently in use with the piling. There are two ( maybe three) of these blue devices in use. The pictures below show one of these in further action ...giving some scale of the device. First shot shows some near piling about to be hammered powerfully into position, the second one shows scale, and the third pic shows the other blue device with the new land mass behind once again.




Nice all-round collection and info below from Mike our 'inshore correspondent'
Don't miss those ones...

PaulB.

Thursday, 1 February 2018 - 06:31

 

Post 5102

  Mike J., Dover

Dover lifeboat returning to her berth midday Wednesday after a busy time over the last 18 hours with two ‘shouts’ & three 'jobs'

Tuesday evening she was sent to Folkestone after reports of someone in the water & from there she went directly to the vicinity of the Sandettie lightvessel to help a disabled yacht.

At about 0900 this morning she was sent, with the Dungeness lifeboat, to a small craft reported drifting off Dungeness.
Eastbourne lifeboat was also involved & TV reports mentioned that a number of [presumed] asylum-seekers from a RIB were landed at Eastbourne.
Interesting AIS tracks of these operations, although they will disappear soon.



As the lifeboat was being checked-over & readied for service the GRUMPY paid a brief visit to the Crosswall to pick up another DWDR customer.

Of the other crewboats the PAMPERO seems to spend a lot of time tied-up recently, perhaps the work has eased off, & the CRC ATLAS rarely shifts from the piling barges, presumably working as a safety boat there & the SMIT YOUNG remains in the Granville Dock.



Thursday, 1 February 2018 - 00:58

 

Post 5101

  Sea News, Dover

Following along from the Lifeboat post below (4598) when we referred to the guys retrieving a simulated person from the water...there we are with an extra pic above of them doing the necessary. It shows the situation a bit better. I missed this picture in the upload file first time around...

Thanks for that knowledgeable information below Vic...always useful and always welcome. PB.

Wednesday, 31 January 2018 - 19:31

 

Post 5100

  victor matcham, Dover

That lorry going to Whitfild only does about 4miles per hour with a full load When working building a crane at parkers at Canterbury we had to wait 5 days for one to get to us and then a day just getting it into parkers yard. there is a drivers mate at the back of the long trailer who has a conrol box and he can lift the back up so the trailer can get over the walls great to see how it is all done.

Wednesday, 31 January 2018 - 09:13

 

Post 5099

  Sea News, Dover

The near exotic sunrise a few days ago. A gorgeous golden red globe rises through the gloom. I thought the shot was semi unique until uploading now and found we had virtually the same thing from exactly 2 years ago...that's it below in January 2016 in the different size picture we were using then. The one above...4 days ago.

The pounding grinding and drilling goes on...this shot below is from yesterday morning when yours truly noticed a different 'hammer' in operation. As is clear to all I'm sure...yours truly doesn't know his sledgehammer from his jackhammer but the whole thing is fascinating to watch all the same. Great progress is being made and at great speed.

We have had a busy few days at the Cargo Terminal. The picture below shows the Timor Stream. Not a great view of the ship alas but we will do better when the days grow longer and brighter. There have been new callers and that's one of them...doesn't show much of the ship but bear with...we will get there in the end.

Yes indeed a very busy few days. The Geest line now calling too, adding to the busy-ness...we had the Baltic Klipper first while the Atlantic Klipper waited off Deal. Then we had the Atlantic Klipper while Timor Stream waited off Deal...then she was in at last. Now the ship has left us and is on her way to Hamburg.


Hi Del...ah yes very slow moving. I think the thing moves a few feet a minute or something...if I see anything happening will let you know but it all happens slowly and in the dead of night. Watching it could be heralded as an instant cure for insomnia.


PaulB

Wednesday, 31 January 2018 - 06:22

 

Post 5098

  Del Styan, Norwich

Several hours to get to Whitfield!! Are they going via North Korea?

Tuesday, 30 January 2018 - 23:17

 

Post 5097

  Sea News, Dover

That's the Lifeboat in high speed action on Sunday morning. Just caught her above there as she powered out into the channel at considerable speed. You can see her there blasting through the rough oul surf with considerable panache. We believe they were out on a training session, something they do regularly on a Sunday morning.

From a creative artistic point of view, yours truly would have needed her to pull to the left or right for a better shot....but no doubt they had deeper things on their mind...

Below and its a little time later in the morning, the Lifeboat had returned and was carrying out some exercises in the harbour...there we are below. It looked like they were practising retrieving an object/person from the water.
Always good to see them...




Raising the Roof on New Dover District Leisure Centre


Roof beams for the new £26m Dover District Leisure Centre are set to make their way from the Port of Dover to Whitfield in a special overnight operation on Wednesday, 31 January. The glulam beams have been manufactured by Rubner Holzbau in Austria and are being shipped to Dover by ferry.

Glued laminated timber (glulam) has a high strength to weight ratio ideal for spanning large distances such as swimming pools without the need for columns. Five 34m long, 9 tonne spruce beams will support the roof of the new leisure centre, with a further eight larch columns as a feature of the main entrance canopy.

Transporting the beams from the Eastern Docks Ferry Terminal to the site of the new leisure centre in Whitfield is a major logistical exercise that has taken many months of planning. The abnormal load is expected to leave the port around midnight and will take several hours to reach Whitfield. Motorists are advised to avoid the route of the convoy which will be accompanied by escort vehicles.

Cllr Trevor Bartlett, portfolio holder for property management, said: "The delivery of the roof beams is another exciting phase in the construction of the district’s new leisure centre. The use of PEFC* certified glulam beams is a great example of how we’re striving towards a very good BREEAM rating for the building by using sustainable materials."

ENDS

PaulB


Tuesday, 30 January 2018 - 05:52

 

Post 5096

  Sea News, Dover

Geest Line's Dover arrival heralds new era of trade links
_________________________________________________


The Port of Dover has welcomed its first Geest Line vessel, heralding the start of a long-term partnership with the expanding Europe-to-Caribbean freight firm.

The 14,000-ton Baltic Klipper is the first of a newly strengthened fleet of five Geest Line ships to discharge its eastbound fruit cargo in Kent following loading in Colombia and the Dominican Republic.
The call follows a relocation of the firm’s south of England cargo handling from Portsmouth, prompted by the need to accommodate a revised rotation schedule and more shipping capacity.

Geest Line initially joins other commercial shipping lines operating from Dover’s eastern docks cargo terminal.
Operations will move to new, state-of-the-art specialist handling facilities at the western docks once a major development project is completed in 2019.

Captain Peter Dixon, Managing Director of Geest Line, who was dockside when the Baltic Klipper came in, said:

"The arrival of our first vessel is truly the start of a new era of imports and exports for UK and European trade through Dover. As well as being able to handle our requirements immediately, Dover offers the prospect of further growth through its exciting port development on the western docks. This potential makes Dover an ideal partner for Geest Line operations."

Captain Dixon added:

"Our move to Dover has been achieved and accommodated smoothly and professionally thanks to the Port of Dover and our agents George Hammond plc. They couldn’t have been more helpful. The welcome we have had has been extremely positive and we look forward to being an active member of the port community here."

Geest Line’s move is good news for the Port of Dover which already supports 22,000 jobs, many of them in east Kent.

Barbara Buczek, the Port’s Director of Corporate Development and Operational Business, said:

"Geest Line’s fleet expansion and increased capacity have inevitably changed the necessary logistics for their transatlantic sailings, inter-island stops in the Caribbean and European calls. We’re delighted that the Port of Dover is their choice for cargo operations in the south of England.

"We look forward to a long, positive relationship with Geest Line as we grow our cargo facilities with Dover Western Docks Revival providing ongoing employment stability and significant future job creation opportunities as well as facilitating a prosperous outlook for the economy."

The move to Dover comes as Geest Line replaces its fleet of four charter vessels with five larger and newer ships, increasing container and breakbulk capacity by over 40%.

As well as the Baltic Klipper, the new vessels, all chartered from Seatrade, are the Lombok Strait, Luzon Strait, Atlantic Klipper and Royal Klipper.

Two port calls in Colombia have been added for fruit loading while a new stop at Flushing in The Netherlands will help with northern European freight handling.

Headquartered in Fareham, Hampshire, Geest Line handles all kinds of general cargo from tiny perishables to large project machinery, returning from the Caribbean with fruit, mainly bananas, for markets in the UK and across Europe.


ENDS


The Atlantic Klipper arriving above there at a previous time. She has been in Port for the past couple of days. ..
Top shot shows the Baltic Klipper.


* *

Ah..tis great to see the kids out sailing despite the January conditions



Great news above there re GEEST. Very welcome.
Ace posts below there from Sarah and Mike. Cracking stuff all round. Well done teamsters
Great pictures to enjoy below there.
Yours truly is lucky this morning to be able to get a post up at all...plagued with TALK TALK outages currently Grrrrr

PaulB




Monday, 29 January 2018 - 07:05