Comments (Newest First):

 

Post 5708

  Colette B, Dover

Andrew, that's a Brain Teaser for sure... Now let me see ....I think the cruise ship on AP3 is the Astor (not seen here since July 2016), the MSC Armonia at CT2 (now cruising the Caribbean & Cuba from Miami), and the Fred Olsen ship at CT1 could be the Braemar or the Balmoral well something beginning with a 'B' anyway lol!

Great to see a hovercraft on Dover beach albeit small and 10 years ago

Brollies at the ready chaps..... it's Regatta Day!

Sunday, 26 August 2018 - 09:51

 

Post 5707

  Sea News, Dover

Above there we show Boudicca reversing out of Port on...lets see ...what day was it...yes Friday evening about 17.10 ( we have so many cruise calls now its like that old sixties adage...if its friday it must be Boudicca ) and as she goes you can see how rough/choppy the sea is as the pilot boat manoeuvres manfully alongside, bobbing and weaving all the while.

Very enjoyable post below Andrew, both words and pictures. Great to see that Hovercraft for sure. We will all have to do a bit of headscratchin' while wondering which cruise liners they are.

And speaking of Cruise Ships...the magically majestic Disney Magic is in with us today...a gentle giant for sure, also in Port the more modest sized Pacific Princess.

PaulB - Yes Regatta Day today.

Sunday, 26 August 2018 - 07:28

 

Post 5706

  Andrew, Broadstairs

Three photographs taken a decade ago by my friend of even more years Mike our ‘inshore correspondent’. Dated 26 August 2008 they show part of the beach and Prince of Wales Pier that this year, has changed forever. The Griffon hovercraft 038 was being filmed by the BBC, Griffon, based in Southampton, had just been formed from two pioneering hovercraft companies, they use marine diesels for propulsion to give more robust reliability in sea water and have found use all over the world, delivering mail in Alaska to airport emergency support in Singapore.

Colette, it was a three cruise ship day, can anyone identify them? Looking eastward the view has changed little, with Paul’s observation tower prominent! Today this part of the beach will be filled with people enjoying the Regatta, I am sure the forecast weather will not dampen their spirits.


Sunday, 26 August 2018 - 00:44

 

Post 5705

  Colette B, Dover

Thanks Guys, that's great glad you like it

Saturday, 25 August 2018 - 17:32

 

Post 5704

  Sea News, Dover

The VIKING SUN departs ..
Some shots here of the departing Viking Sun from Thursday evening. She moved off across the bay to leave by the eastern exit, presumably because of the strong crosswinds. Always welcome when they leave that way as it gives us an extra angle or two. As she moved away the Coastguard Helicopter passed over close by...as you can see below.


Thanks Vic .. yes some great pictures below there of the Blamann. Excellent stuff!

Great and comprehensive cruise listing from Colette below there too..

PaulB - Don't forget its REGATTA DAY tomorrow sunday 26th.

Saturday, 25 August 2018 - 15:01

 

Post 5703

  vic matcham, dovor

STill great photos coming out from this page

Saturday, 25 August 2018 - 13:04

 

Post 5702

  Cyril Jackson, Dover

Glad that you liked the BLAMANN pix, Colette - here’s a couple more of this attractive vessel.
Thanks for the most useful cruise ship itinerary.



A nice-looking sailing vessel was in the background in Paul's view of the departing SAGA PEARL 2 in post 5166.
Perhaps there is a closer view ?

Paul mentioned the GRANDE SAN PAOLO who is one of many similar 'combination' container/RoRo vessels in the Grimaldi fleet.

They trade a lot to West Africa where there is a high demand for boxes & vehicles.
Many of the vehicles are secondhand or older, destined for a much longer life than they would have had in Europe.

The ketch MAYBE, towed into Dover on 12/8 after nearly going aground on the Goodwins safely made it to Ireland after she sailed from Dover on 15/8.


Saturday, 25 August 2018 - 00:29

 

Post 5701

  Colette B, Dover

CRUISE VISITS
_____________

It’s wonderful to see the variety of photos on Sea News this week. Great to see that the British woman who spent 10 hours in the sea after allegedly jumping from the Norwegian Star was rescued safely by the Croatian Coastguard, Well Done!

Wonderful shots of the traditional wooden hulled Baltic Fishing boat ‘Blamann’(Well Done, Mike) and I love the photo of 8-year-old Dover Marina Open Day Winner Lauren Jolliffe, she looks so happy cuddling her white seal on the steps of Harbour House

I didn’t think I’d be saying this so soon, but here is the last of the Cruise calls for the month of August.

Once Again Ladies & Gentlemen we have an interesting brace of Double Whammies!

Tomorrow, Saturday 25th August the Saga Pearl ll arrives at CT1 08.00 hours to start her 6 night ‘Summer Regatta’ Round Trip. Her first port of call is Ringaskiddy in the Republic of Ireland, it’s really somewhere special and is not far from Cork. Whilst there you may like to visit the French inspired Gothic Cathedral Saint Fin Barre’s and also the famed Blarney Castle where there’s a certain stone which you might like to ‘pucker up’ & place a big kiss on lol!

She then sails on to St Mary’s, Scilly Isles, with its quaint fishing harbours, charming hidden coves and white beaches. Then on to Dartmouth, the Elizabethan town that’s steeped in Maritime history and a sight to behold. Also the Dartmouth Regatta will be in full swing with dozens of sailing ships competing on the River Dart and crossing the finish line right beside Saga Pearl ll. She departs at 17.00 hours, T/R.
She returns to Dover on Friday 31st August.

The following day Sunday 26th August ‘Regatta Day’ is the first of our ‘Double Whammies’ when Disney Magic glides into CT2 at the early hour of 04.00 so you would need to shake off the ‘Pixie Dust’ to capture her arrival. She begins her ‘7 night Norwegian Fjords’ Round Trip.

Her ports of call are ‘Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen’ then the Norwegian ports of Oslo, Kristiansand and Stavanger before returning to Dover on Sunday 2nd September. When you wish upon a Star …..She leaves us at 17.00 hours, T/R.

Two hours later Pacific Princess draws into CT1 at 06.00 hours to start her 15 night ‘Iceland & the British Isles’ Round trip. Her first port of call is Lerwick (Shetland Islands), then on to the Icelandic ports of Seydisfjordur, Akureyri, Grundarfjordur & Reykjavik before visiting Oban, Belfast, Dublin and Cork and then returning to the White Cliffs of Dover on Monday 10th September.
She will be leaving at 17.00 hours, T/R.

You haven’t got long to wait for the second of our ‘Double Whammies’, as on the following day Monday 27th August Saga Sapphire arrives at CT2, 08.00 hours. She is on her 17 night ‘Rhythms of the Baltic’ Round trip. With musical aplomb aplenty her ports of call are Skagen and Kalundborg, Zealand island (Denmark), Stockholm, Helsinki, St Petersburg, Kotka (Finland), Tallinn, Gydnia (Poland) and Kiel before dropping anchor in Dover Thursday 13th September.
She leaves us at 16.00 hours, T/R.

At the same time 08.00 hours, Viking Sun arrives at CT1 on her 12 night ‘One Way London Tilbury to Bergen’ cruise. She left Tilbury for Dover yesterday and calls at the following ports Dublin, Holyhead, Liverpool, Belfast, Ullapool, Kirkwall, Edinburgh, Invergordon and Lerwick in the Shetlands before arriving at her new home the Port of Bergen, where she will be based for the month of September. She departs at 18.00 hours, PoC.

Then on Wednesday 29th August we have the third of our ‘Double Whammies’, firstly, Boudicca graces us with her presence at CT2, 08.00 hours to start her 7 night ‘Scenic Fjords of Norway’ Round Trip. Her ports of call are Eidfjord, Hardangerfjord, Flam and Bergen before returning to our shores on Wednesday 5th September.
She leaves us at 17.30 hours, T/R.

At the same hour 08.00 AIDAAura sails into CT1 with her everlasting smile, she is on her 14 night ‘Great Britain & Ireland’ Round Trip from Kiel where her first call was Newcastle-upon-Tyne. After visiting us here in Dover she sails on to the following ports, Dublin, Liverpool, Belfast, Invergordon then the Danish port of Aarhus before dropping anchor in her home port of Kiel on Saturday 8th September.
She departs at 21.00 hours, PoC.

Finally on Friday 31st August Saga Pearl ll arrives at CT1, 07.00 hours where her passengers disembark after finishing their ‘Summer Regatta’ cruise. She leaves us at 12.00 noon and sets course to Southampton for her ‘Adult only’ Mini-Cruises, Ooh-La-La
She returns to our shores Tuesday 2nd October.

That’s it for now, Chaps!


Friday, 24 August 2018 - 14:00

 

Post 5700

  Sea News, Dover

Also from Thursday morning some pictures of the two cruise ships arriving. It was a 'double whammy' day once again for the Port of Dover, this time with Viking Sun and Europa on show... striking ships once again..




It was early morning arrival time for sure...somewhere around 06.30 and even earlier for the one below...the Europa. The camera wouldn't wake up for this one below...way too early

Just caught her reversing in towards Cruise Terminal One.


Nice collection below Mike...excellent clarity there on those inshore shots. Good to see all the happenings.

PaulB

Friday, 24 August 2018 - 06:33

 

Post 5699

  Mike J., Dover

Thursday morning found three very smart VSBW RIBs in the Tidal Basin - immaculate, they looked ‘fresh out of the box’



Presumably here for VIP trips to the DWDR works or other PR work - during the afternoon they took out a party of office staff for a ‘choppy’ trip.



Maybe they’ll be performing at the Regatta in a few days altho’ I also heard that they were only here for one day.

We’ll see . . . . . . .


Friday, 24 August 2018 - 00:23

 

Post 5698

  Sea News, Dover

Just a general catch-up now with all pictures here taken within an hour or so of each other on Tuesday evening...
First up the Lifeboat guys. Time of pix about 8pm, so it was getting darkish as the guys did their regular Tuesday evening training exercises, had to force the pictures a wee bit due to the poor light .. but here we are...



A tad earlier in the evening saw the Grimaldi Lines Grande San Paolo, called after yours truly of course...amble on by. She was not toooo far out so thought it worth a shot or two as she passed the rolling hills of France. The Grimaldi Lines are normally vehicle carriers or so I thought, but not sure about this one. She had left Antwerp earlier and was calling at le Havre but no doubt destined for ports further afield.



Lastly for the moment the Saga Pearl moves off on another grande tour..


It had been very foggy earlier in the day Tuesday with the tolling bell wailing through the mist like a lost banshee ...so it was a delight to have a clear evening.

PB.

Thursday, 23 August 2018 - 06:38

 

Post 5697

  Sea News, Dover

Port of Dover tour for prize winning Lauren
_______________________________________


VIP visit to the Port for local girl

Lauren Jolliffe, aged 8, of Dover was this year’s lucky first prize winner of the Dover Marina Open Day kid’s competition winning an exclusive VIP tour of the Port of Dover.

Mum, Sharon and Lauren were shown around by the port’s CSR Officer, Jenny Beacon. First stop was a visit to the port’s Eastern Arm and Port Control. Situated close to the Eastern Entrance where ferries enter and leave the port she learnt about VTS (Vessel Traffic Service), the marine traffic monitoring system used by the port which is similar to air traffic control for aircraft. She learnt how Port Control Officers manage over 140 vessel movements per day, including Cruise ships, ferries and yachts, in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. And from here she also exchanged a friendly wave with a ferry Captain on his Bridge as his ferry left the port on one of the 60 crossings per day.

To find out how shore side operations are monitored and managed, Lauren called into Terminal Control, the operational nerve centre for the Port of Dover. From the Control Room, on the top floor of the building she had a great view of the port in action and learnt about the sophisticated traffic management system and port of Dover Police.

For the last stop on the VIP tour, everyone took to the sea on the Dover Harbour Patrol Launch (HPL), one of the Port’s dedicated vessels that patrols the Harbour 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in all weathers. The HPL’s duties include guiding vessels safely into the Harbour and ensuring that, for safety, everyone using the Harbour abides by its rules.

At the end of her tour, Lauren was presented with a cuddly Sammy the Seal and a book about environment and the planet to remind her of her special day. "It was really good and lots of fun, I especially enjoyed going out on the Harbour Patrol Launch" She said.

Jenny Beacon, CSR Officer at the Port of Dover said: "It was a real pleasure to show Lauren around and explain how Europe’s busiest ferry port operates. She was given a detailed insight into the day-to-day running of the Port and the many different jobs and people working together to keep this vital transport hub moving."



ENDS

Looks like Lauren enjoyed her exciting day there.

Wednesday, 22 August 2018 - 06:26

 

Post 5696

  Sea News, Dover

Thanks for the excellent info below Andrew. That's a route I used to be familiar with in the old days.
Have some pleasant memories of those times - as long as we don't mention the Princess Maud...Yikes!

Great to know our featured ferry is still in action Andrew.
PaulB

Don't Miss the DFDS Special below with the new ferry expansion news.

Tuesday, 21 August 2018 - 18:23

 

Post 5694

  Andrew, Broadstairs

Good Morning Paul, Thanks for picture from the past of DIEPPE SEAWAYS she is still in UK waters on the Dublin / Holyhead ferry route as STENA SUPERFAST X.

Tuesday, 21 August 2018 - 08:16

 

Post 5693

  Sea News, Dover

DFDS SPECIAL

NEW FREIGHT FERRY ORDERED TO ACCOMMODATE GROWTH IN ROUTE NETWORK
___________________________________________________________________________

DFDS has today (Aug 16) ordered an additional freight ferry (ro-ro) new build from the Chinese Jinling Shipyard.

The new build is similar to the five previously ordered freight ferries and likewise designed to carry 6,700 lane metres of freight equivalent to around 450 trailers. The large capacity decreases unit costs as well as the environmental impact per transported unit.

This, in addition to the recently ordered ferries will help DFDS customers grow their business and increase DFDS’ operational efficiency in the route networks in northern Europe and the Mediterranean. The new ferries will be deployed in the route network according to customer demand for capacity. The first two new ferries are expected to be received in the beginning of next year, the third and fourth in the second half of 2019 and the last two in the first half of 2020.

DFDS’ fleet extension and renewal programme also includes two combined freight and passenger ferries (ro-pax) to be delivered in 2021 for deployment in the Baltic route network. In addition, two ro-ro ferries are being lengthened to increase capacity, and a chartered combined freight and passenger ferry (ro-pax) will be delivered in 2021 for deployment on The English Channel routes.


ENDS

Many thanks once again to the DFDS Team for all the info. Very welcome.
While we are having a DFDS Special, there's time to show two extra DFDS pictures. Firstly above there we have...well very much a current one, as we see the Cote des Flandres leaving the Port of Calais on a gorgeous sunny morn quite recently. While below...and who remembers this one...the Dieppe Seaways also at Calais. Just came across this striking ferry in the time distant files. Where is she now??


* *

A couple of pictures now from a few of days ago which show the Pacific Princess just after she left the Port here...the Port of Dover this time....Twas a wee bit choppy...

Yours truly zoomed in below..straining every sinew of the poor oul camera..


Further speculation on the Norwegian Star incident has reached the media. Stories are now emerging that the waterborne resilient British lady who was in the sea for 10 hours, allegedly actually jumped from said ship after an altercation with her boyfriend. Initial reports said she had fallen in. Oh dear...the plot thickens. No doubt it will all emerge in due course...


Picture plus re the Norwegian Star below.

PaulB



Tuesday, 21 August 2018 - 06:42

 

Post 5692

  Sea News, Dover

The Norwegian Star has been in the news today bigtime. A British woman fell off the back of the glamourous cruise ship and was in the waters of the Adriatic for at least 10 hours .... and lived to tell the tale. She was rescued eventually by the Croatian Coastguard. Its a big story today. More on the BBC both TV and internet.

That's a picture of the very ship above there on a visit to the Port of Dover in 2015.

* *

A nice collection in the post below from Mike our 'inshore correspondent'...great general coverage and pictures there of all the happenings.


PB

Monday, 20 August 2018 - 15:08

 

Post 5690

  Mike J., Dover

Sometimes you're lucky - I was heading for Headcorn on Saturday morning & took a quick look into Western Docks & noticed relief lifeboat 17-38 moored ahead of 17-09 & preparing to sail.

No time to get to a ‘preferred location’ so I was obliged to poke the snout of my camera thru the mesh of the security fence to record the departure.



Sarah tells me that the DANIEL L GIBSON was heading for Harwich.

Supplementing Paul’s pix of the BLAMANN here’s a couple more.




Actually she’s not as old as she looks, having been built in 2002 & is based [according to the internet] on a Baltic ‘rescue boat’ which itself is probably based on a Baltic fishing boat.

Very nice & quite a contrast to THE two plastic Sunseekers who were also in the Tidal Basin on Wednesday morning.



Monday, 20 August 2018 - 01:37

 

Post 5689

  Sea News, Dover

The Baltic Klipper arrived in with us yesterday and there she is pictured above...have just checked and she is still there at the Cargo Terminal. An image below of the same ship from 2017 and you can see the differences ( apart from the cooler colour balance ).
She will be off to Flushing before too long ….

PaulB

Sunday, 19 August 2018 - 18:12

 

Post 5688

  Sea News, Dover

Thanks Mandy for the info...we often feature the sailing yachts/boats ambling about the harbour. We don't particularly focus on ladies...there are many ladies on the beach for example. Its the boats/yachts we are after essentially. We even occasionally get requests for pictures from these yachts themselves. Hope that clarifies the situation. PaulB.

Sunday, 19 August 2018 - 08:23

 

Post 5687

  mandy, na

Are the pictures of jolley roger not an invasion of the ladies right to their privacy.Do you take photos of any boat that leaves the marina and publish them without their consent if so this is a criminal offence just making you aware.

Sunday, 19 August 2018 - 07:58