Comments (Newest First):

 

Post 4810

  Sea News, Dover

P&O FERRIES HELPS 170 CHILDREN WITH SERIOUS ILLNESSES CROSS THE CHANNEL TO FRANCE .....
.... ON THEIR WAY TO DISNEYLAND PARIS


MORE than 170 children with life-threatening illnesses enjoyed a trip to Disneyland Paris via a P&O Ferries ship last week (Friday 6th October).

The children were driven from Canary Wharf in London to Dover in 100 black taxis driven by members of the Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers. The convoy was seen off in the capital by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman Dr Andrew Parmley, and embarked P&O Ferries' Pride of Burgundy ship to cross the English Channel.

The event - now in its 24th year - is known as the Magical Taxi Tour and involves more than £100,000 of funds raised by the Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers over the course of an entire year being used to give the children a special day out at Disneyland Paris.

Jacqueline Burns, Corporate Communications Officer at P&O Ferries, said: "We have been supporting the Magical Taxi Tour for 24 years and try to give every one of these children and the carers accompanying them a crossing to remember. Our captain and his crew set-up a photo booth, which proved extremely popular, where the children could have their picture taken wearing either a captain's hat or a pirate's hat and cuddling a P&O Ferries' teddy bear."

The children were chosen by the doctors and nurses at hospitals including Great Ormond Street, the Royal Marsden and Chase Farm. Their trip to Disneyland Paris included two nights of hotel accommodation and special 'queue jumper' tickets, provided because some of the children were too unwell to queue for the rides and attractions. They returned to England on P&O Ferries' Spirit of Britain ship on Sunday afternoon.

Alec Robertson, a driver participating in the Magical Taxi Tour for the ninth consecutive year, said: "P&O Ferries were absolutely brilliant. We have used them every year for 24 years and they look after us so well. The crew are very friendly and great with the children."

In addition to working with the seriously ill children on the Magical Taxi Tour, P&O Ferries' stakeholder project offers visits to schools, colleges and businesses within the local community. This is a totally free initiative. The visit is tailored to school requirements and their current projects. It can be a talk, with learning materials and other artefacts, judging a competition or providing an insight into the world of ferries and logistics.

Left to right: back row - Captain Nick Jones, Food & Beverage Manager Sean Smith and Alec Robertson; front row - brothers Henry and Sam Maceachen.


ENDS




Many thanks to the team at P&O...that's a grand story above for sure.

A couple of pictures now of Blue Marlin heading down the channel two evenings ago with another of those huge drilling platforms. En route from Norway and going all the way down to Turkey at a slow steady pace.




Following on from Ed's shot of the Elsebeth at the DCT...here we are with a couple of pix of her moving off last night...bound for Flushing in the Netherlands. Time of pictures: 6PM or 1800 hours if you prefer. It was gloomy and rough so was lucky with the pictures.



Well done Ed - nice shot of Elsebeth below there. Glad I was able to follow up on that one.

Yes indeed Del..Amazing tale from the past Vic...rough tough times for sure. Very brave work.


PaulB.



Thursday, 12 October 2017 - 07:00

 

Post 4809

  Del Styan, Norwich

Vics experience sounds terrifying.

Wednesday, 11 October 2017 - 23:04

 

Post 4808

  Ed Connell, Dover Strait

Elsebeth at the DCT today.


Wednesday, 11 October 2017 - 12:08

 

Post 4807

  victor matcham, Dover

A night I will never forget, yes it was the night of the big storm in 1987, I was working at sea on the E/Clearway a very small ship carrying H.G.V. from France a Tug HELPED us to get longside in the pens,but then had to pull away from us to go to the aid of a small ship coming in the Western end of the port, sad to say it went down with the loss of all crew.

I was call on deck by the Capt/because some of the lorry,s had turned over on their sides which was stopping us getting long side ,I was asked what can be done ,I said there is only one thing we can do in a wind like this,put a rope round me and I can then burn off the bend handrails and any part of the lorrys which was hanging over the side,they did not like that plan but as I said it is the only thing I can do,and the skipper said"What happens to the steel you burn off.? "It will drop into the sea sir." and that is what we done.Two of us was on there working 4days,sleeping when we could,because we had to weld a tem/handrail back up so the ship could go off to refit on the Sunday.

Wednesday, 11 October 2017 - 09:24

 

Post 4806

  Sea News, Dover

A short sequence above there of old favourite the Trinity House Vessel Alert arriving back in the Port of Dover late Monday afternoon with the central shot showing one of the P&O Spirits approaching in the distance.

Below we have a picture of high tide on Monday afternoon....very high with the recent full moon...which shows the way the tidal surge swallows up ( or nearly does) the piling, leaving just little stubs visible, and that piling aint little...nosireee Bob!


The picture below is for mild amusement only as we can see nothing. Its an 'artistic interpretation' of the Schweiz Reefer departing for Hamburg through the rain and darkness on Monday night just beyond 7PM...make of it what you will..

PB.

Wednesday, 11 October 2017 - 06:55

 

Post 4805

  Sea News, Dover

The Port of Dover is thrilled to announce the return of its popular White Cliffs Christmas Event at Dover's historic Cruise Terminal One for the second year.


The Old Marine Station will be decorated in a traditional English Christmas style for the Grand Opening on at 12pm on Saturday 25 November 2017.

Father Christmas and his friendly elves will be making a welcome return on a sleigh pulled by real reindeer. Taking up residence in his grotto, the grand old man of Christmas will once again greet children and hand out presents. His special post box will also be available for everyone’s festive wish lists.

Adding to the seasonal mood, will be last year’s favourite, the hugely popular undercover real ice-rink – only this time it will be bigger and better. With it growing by 100m² this year, skaters can again enjoy the atmosphere and excitement of gliding on 400m² of real ice without the worry of inclement weather. Booking early to secure skate times and dates is recommended, so keep an eye on the Port of Dover website and Twitter feed for the launch of the online booking site in mid-October.

The Traditional English Christmas Market will be open once more, offering a wide range of Christmas gift ideas, complemented by live music, a variety of children’s rides, and concessions serving tasty food and beverages.

Open until Monday 1st January, lots more information on the wonderful treats in store at this years’ event (including opening times and dates) will be available soon.

Port of Dover Chief Executive, Tim Waggott said: "Following the huge success of the first White Cliff’s Christmas in 2016, we are delighted to be hosting this popular event again for 2017. Last year, we welcomed in excess of 100,000 people. This year, we’re planning a bigger and better experience and I am looking forward to seeing both our community and people from all over the U.K come together to share in the festive spirit and support our local economy.

"Dover is currently undergoing unprecedented regeneration with the Dover Western Docks Revival and many other projects. The White Cliffs Christmas event is part of this drive for a better future and will assist in placing the town firmly on the map as a leading family destination."



PICTURES: The top two ace pictures are from the guys at the Port and they show that we can all look forward to a fantastic time down at the Cruise Terminals again this Christmas. Yours truly was down there several times last year and it was great and no mistake.

Many thanks as ever to the guys at the Port for both those pictures above and for all the info.

Next picture was taken by yours truly and shows the Sea Cadets playing their hearts out....once again at Cruise Terminal One... Great stuff!



* *

A couple of extra general pix...
First one shows a bit of short lived rough oul sailing on Saturday. Only one yacht ventured out and you can see how miserable it was...miserable and rough, but it made for an enjoyable picture. Chop chop choppy...


Below the Schweiz Reefer has been in with us....not possible to get all the cargo ships because of the shorter days and she left last night for Hamburg about 7.30Pm in the dark with drizzling rain..... so here we are from a previous time. Another rough oul day...


* *

Ace work Andrew below there on Islay Trader. Great extensive all round coverage. Great to see those pix.

Great work too from our 'correspondent at large' Sarah herself. Terrific pictures all round guys.
We all enjoyed those scoops there Sarah!

Thanks for the original tip-off info Mike and thanks to Peter Barker for the first shot.
Well done Brian and Vic for the comments and info.

PaulB.



Tuesday, 10 October 2017 - 05:58

 

Post 4804

  Andrew, Broadstairs

Following on from Mike’s comments and Sarah’s great coverage of the grounding of the ISLAY TRADER off Margate’s Turner Centre, I have selected some of the aspects of the day’s events. The Margate lifeboat often does practice launches on Sunday’s but with a real casualty to go too, even if it is only a 100 yards from the lifeboat house, and many more interested spectators than usual, the journey from the boathouse to the harbour launch area proved more difficult than usual.

With just over an hour to go before highwater the tug CHRISTINE gets a towline aboard the stern of the coaster. Attempts appear to be made to swing the hull from port to starboard and back again to loosen the grip of the hull on the sand and rock, aided at one point by using the coaster’s excavator even lightening the laden ship by lowering the anchors to the seabed to finally achieve the desired result, accompanied by cheers and clapping from the shore, the ISLAY TRADER was pulled stern first out to deeper water and safety.



Monday, 9 October 2017 - 01:39

 

Post 4802

  Sarah, Ramsgate

Following on from Mike's post are some photos I took of Islay Trader being assisted by Tug Christine which is seen fairly regularly in Ramsgate & the Margate Lifeboats.











Sunday, 8 October 2017 - 18:20

 

Post 4801

  Mike J., Dover

Ship ashore.
I’ve been sent this photo by the former coxn of the Margate lifeboat of the ISLAY TRADER who went ashore right off the Margate boathouse about 0300 Sunday morning.

Copyright & courtesy Peter Barker



Frustratingly I’m up in London but the ‘Sea News’ Ramsgate correspondent is ‘on scene’ & will probably be posting soon.

Watching the action on AIS the ISLAY TRADER was hauled off at high water by the local tug CHRISTINE about 1400

Not a thing that happens every day - most annoyed that I missed it, but I’m sure that Sarah will come up with some good pix.

The ISLAY TRADER is a regular visitor to Whitstable, having recently taken over from the PLUTO, bringing sand & gravel into the port.
She currently has a cargo of broken glass & was heading for Antwerp before her little problem.

Sunday, 8 October 2017 - 15:07

 

Post 4800

  brian, dover

hi paul, have put it on main forum now.

Sunday, 8 October 2017 - 09:21

 

Post 4799

  victor matcham, Dover

Thank you for that now we know what happen to her,
And thank s again for showing the piles .they are the size I would cut round and take the left over and weld it back on to a end of a pile cut off so it could be used again.

Sunday, 8 October 2017 - 09:14

 

Post 4798

  Sea News, Dover

Some pictures above there from Friday...they show Holyhead Towing's tug Afon Lligwy pushing a platform with more piling into position for further pile-driving throughout the day. The work goes on apace...
interesting to see the wooden stakes above there at the front of the barge/platform...not sure how/why they would use those...


Well done Brian - glad you were able to help Vic re his enquiry yesterday.
ps: the links are not live on here but you can always copy and paste onto your browser.
PaulB

Sunday, 8 October 2017 - 07:26

 

Post 4797

  brian, dover

vic,have put the link on the main forum.


Saturday, 7 October 2017 - 19:39

 

Post 4796

  brian, dover

vic you may have to google the answer as the link wont work here.just type the name of the ship in your google bar,tap enter and click on the wiki link.

Saturday, 7 October 2017 - 19:30

 

Post 4795

  brian, dover

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Codrington_(D65).


here is your answer vic.

Saturday, 7 October 2017 - 19:25

 

Post 4794

  brian, dover

hms codrington vic,thats the only info I could find.

Saturday, 7 October 2017 - 19:23

 

Post 4793

  brian, dover

vic the only war ship/s that blew up are from ww1, I believe if memory serves me well there was 3 that went down in the harbour.

Saturday, 7 October 2017 - 14:30

 

Post 4792

  victor matcham, Dovor

Can you help with this one ,a warship was blowen up in the port in the last war with lose of life a member of my wife family was on it,can you tell me what ship and how it happen thank you.?

Saturday, 7 October 2017 - 12:11

 

Post 4791

  Sea News, Dover

Now .. a touch of barking madness for the weekend, here we are with the latest lot of pix, especially for our longstanding lovers of lunar lunacy. The pictures were taken Thursday night as the full moon did its thing over the Port...all natural this time.

There we are above. The moon spotted over the port early on in the proceedings ...
Then she was ready for her close-up...
And then a little while later watching and shining down from the heavens as one of the P&O Spirits arrives on the still water..
As Tom Petty might say...Full Moon Fever!

Well done Sarah below. Nice pictures all round. Looks like you had a couple of trips on the Waverley below there. Exciting stuff!

Thanks for that Colette re War Horse. Sounds like you enjoyed it for sure. One of the National Theatre's most successful plays ever...that's some doing.

PB.

Saturday, 7 October 2017 - 05:14

 

Post 4790

  Sarah, Ramsgate

A few photos from today's trip on PS Waverley.

PS Waverley



Red Sands Army Fort



Europa 2





MSC Diego & Victor Horta




Saturday, 7 October 2017 - 00:08