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Post 7221

  Sea News, Dover

The Pride of Canterbury

P&O's Pride of Canterbury was given the all-clear to return to active duty just prior to the weekend....the picture above shows her on a trial run on Sunday at 4pm approx as she re-enters the Port of Dover through the western entrance. The ferry has been active since, although we dont believe she is carrying passengers as of yet, but we're watching to see...

Delighted to report that the horrible traffic situation we all lived through at the weekend has eased....it appears to be free flowing as we speak...touch wood... lets hope it stays that way.

Tuesday, 31 May 2022 - 05:37

 

Post 7220

  Sea News, Dover

Dover Chaos...


This was the scene early Sunday morning at 06.58 on the approaches to the Port of Dover... at 6.58 in the evening the situation was exactly the same. The whole thing was abysmal and appalling...families stuck for hours and hours. Yes the cars were different at evening of course, as although crawlingly snail-like slow, they did filter through eventually...but heavens it was grindingly slow and at a solid standstill for ages.. Why do the Port and ferries accept bookings on this scale when they clearly cant cope? Spread the load!

We have a wider shot too showing Jubilee Way jammed as well ... its all so disruptively depressing both for those travelling and for local people....

Address the problem.



Monday, 30 May 2022 - 05:26

 

Post 7219

  Sea News, Dover

Those extra pictures now of the Spirit of Discovery...showing her arrival in fine style on Thursday morning ...
The Spirit of Discovery
The Spirit of Discovery - early manoeuvring above towards her eventual position on Cruise Terminal Two...you can just see her there in the post below behind the Jewel of the Seas.

Sunday, 29 May 2022 - 06:09

 

Post 7218

  Sea News, Dover

Wide view ..Jewel of the Seas and Spirit of Discovery
and below zooming in...
As mentioned in the previous post, the dynamic duo Jewel of the Seas and Spirit of Discovery were in Port on Thursday. You can see the Jewel above there unusually at the 'grain pier' WD4 ...however from our point of view great to see her there.. The last time a cruise ship was there was early pandemic when the P&O cruise ships were resting here in Dover... think that's right.... the Disney Magic also had a spell there..
Also in the pix you can just see the Dover Sea Safari tour boat heading out....
...will have some extra pictures of the Spirit of Discovery to follow ..

Saturday, 28 May 2022 - 07:19

 

Post 7217

  Sea News, Dover

Some pictures now of Dover's wild and natural seafront flowers, worthwhile getting down to Dover Seafront to have a look and enjoy as they are in full delightful bloom right now. These pictures were taken just a couple of days ago and sent in by an enthusiastic wild flower contributor... all taken on a mobile phone too, yours truly always thought you needed a great big clunky Nikon for pictures like these but times have changed..obviously...

Dover Seafront Wild Flowers
Dover Seafront Wild Flowers
In top shot you can see the flowers of course with Harbour House behind, that's the headquarters of the Dover Harbour Board. In the second shot...let your eye follow the gorgeous path to the Clock Tower Square....


EXTRA: Two cruise ships returning this morning (Thursday)...Spirit of Discovery and Jewel of the Seas

Thursday, 26 May 2022 - 05:35

 

Post 7216

  Sea News, Dover

And now...one of the many Cormorants in Dover
Cormorant on Dover Beach
Pictured a few short days ago.

" ........... Spread your Wings and Fly "


AIDAaura arriving Dover yesterday. 'Twas a very grey oul' morning here in Dover...
On a 14 day round trip from Hamburg...many highlights including Dublin, Liverpool, Honfleur....

Tuesday, 24 May 2022 - 07:13

 

Post 7215

  Sea News, Dover

While taking some pictures of the gentle sky early on Sunday morning...noticed there wasnt a single ferry in Port, nor one approaching either, save for the lonely out-of-service Pride of Canterbury at the old cargo terminal...you can just see the ferry there in centre of shot. Time of picture about 5am... is there a strike or something we puzzled? but no..just a lull in proceedings..

A few hours later and we see the Pride of Canterbury again, this time manoeuvring into Dover9 time 11am. Tug standing by just out of shot. We werent sure..was she coming back into service? The answer was no, she now languishes once again over on the eastern arm as we write....
P&O's Pride of Canterbury ...misty Sunday mid-morning.

Monday, 23 May 2022 - 05:56

 

Post 7214

  Sea News, Dover

Jewel of the Seas arriving in Dover on Thursday May 19....
Jewel of the Seas: We had some problems with the pictures of this one but hopefully they are at least presentable now...the camera went haywire unbeknown to our delightful (sometimes!) crew.... its always easier to blame the camera!! However eventually the computer saved the day. Yes its great to see ships like this in the Port of Dover so we were delighted to see this one too....she's on a 7-day Irish Sea round trip from Amsterdam calling at Cork, Holyhead, Greenock and of course Dover...

Jewel of the Seas

Sunday, 22 May 2022 - 05:45

 

Post 7213

  Sea News, Dover

An extra pic now of Hurtigruten's expedition vessel Maud to follow along from yesterdays shot. It shows Maud paused just outside the Port here, before seriously getting underway, with the pilot boat/pilot in close attendance. We zoomed in and cropped to show the pilot and also to note the busy top deck with the expedition enthusiasts....

We have small delay with posting the Jewel of the Seas pix as there's a slight problem with them...but will fix...

So here we go....Maud....
Maud

Saturday, 21 May 2022 - 06:19

 

Post 7212

  Sea News, Dover

Picture of Hurtigruten's Maud there as she leaves us here in Dover on Wednesday evening, off she goes on another Norwegian Fjord expedition, and very popular she is too...you can just see the many enthusiasts gathered there on the top deck. Will have another picture following along...running a bit behind..

The exciting Jewel of the Seas was also in Port yesterday...more on that one in due course..

Also just to add this slightly different shot of the Celebrity Apex as we head back to several days ago. You can see her here as she edges out of the mist. We look across the Port's eastern docks with this one...not a shot we can get often these days, packed as it is with ferries, some of whom/which weren't/aren't working (!)...however things are freeing up as we know...
Celebrity Apex at Dover.

Friday, 20 May 2022 - 07:24

 

Post 7211

  Sea News, Dover

Just an update now on yesterdays post below:
We watched P&O's Pride of Kent arrive back in Port yesterday Wednesday at 3.30pm approx...we wanted to see for sure if she was back working...and indeed she was. She delivered a large load of trucks here to the Port of Dover as per former times. So it looks like life is back to normal for the Pride of Kent...
So currently we have two P&O Ferries working on the Dover-Calais route ...Pride of Kent, Spirit of Britain.

Thursday, 19 May 2022 - 06:56

 

Post 7210

  Sea News, Dover

Some pictures above there of the currently non-functioning P&O ferries...you can see them above there on manoeuvres yesterday Tuesday 5.30pm...and they did a lot of musical manoeuvrings during the day... The Pride of Canterbury moved away from the eastern arm over to Dover9 berth, but vacated the berth during the day when the working Spirit of Britain needed it. Incidently you can just see the Spirit of Britain approaching in the distance in one of the shots as Canterbury moves away from Dover9, while the tugboat oversees the situation. In the background to the left the Pride of Kent vacates Dover8 and heads to Calais...still just a trial run by the looks of it.

At the time of writing...06.00 Wednesday.. Pride of Canterbury back at the old cargo terminal. Pride of Kent on way back from Calais.... the saga goes on...

Wednesday, 18 May 2022 - 05:55

 

Post 7209

  Sea News, Dover

As promised there we are with the extra shot of the now departing Celebrity APEX...time of picture 8pm on the button Sunday evening. Off on her round Britain tour before returning to Amsterdam. The picture needed brightening up a tad because it was dark and very gloomy at the time...great ship, great to see it here in Dover..

Back to the morning now for an extra shot of the fully-dressed-for-the-occasion tugboats...Doughty and Dauntless as they wait and greet the huge ship...

Dover tugs Doughty and Dauntless in full celebratory attire...
See also post below....

Tuesday, 17 May 2022 - 06:47

 

Post 7208

  Sea News, Dover

The totally magnificent ultra modern cruise ship CELEBRITY APEX arriving with us here at the Port of Dover yesterday morning Sunday 15th May for the first time. She was greeted with big bold enthusiastic spraying from the ever welcoming tugs. Time of first shot 07.35 .... What a ship! All magnificent 130,000 approx tons of her...




Celebrity Apex arriving at Dover
She is on a 12 day round trip from Amsterdam of the British Isles....calling at Dover, Cork in Ireland, Liverpool etc etc... We might also have a shot of her leaving. She left about 8pm, it was a bit dark and gloomy but will see if the pix any good...

Monday, 16 May 2022 - 07:24

 

Post 7207

  Sea News, Dover

These guys doing a bit of light fishing on the pier and look what they caught!!...quite a whopper !
Some catch!! but okay the 'catch' is actually HMS Tyne just off the Port of Dover yesterday Saturday...
was a bit misty but....

Terrific cruise ship has just arrived in Port this morning Sunday....literally minutes ago, the Celebrity Apex. Truly magnificent ship! well done Dover. Will have pictures in due course ....

Sunday, 15 May 2022 - 08:01

 

Post 7206

  Sea News, Dover

Spirit of Discovery
Late-in-the-day picture of the Spirit of Discovery heading off from Cruise Terminal Two Port of Dover on Thursday just before 8pm. Off on another Irish Sea cruise calling at Dublin, Holyhead, Belfast, Isle of Skye and many other places along the route... she went across the harbour and left through the eastern exit because of the strong winds...

Saturday, 14 May 2022 - 06:49

 

Post 7205

  Sea News, Dover

Significant moment for the Pride of Kent. Yes the picture above shows the Pride of Kent making her way to Calais yesterday for the first time in months. Time of picture 5.30pm approx (early evening Thursday 12th May 17.28 to be precise). After a day spent shuffling about the Port here from one terminal to the other, she left finally from Dover8. As you can see the ferry appears to be somewhat empty, so its obviously just a much needed trial run....

Friday, 13 May 2022 - 06:19

 

Post 7204

  Sea News, Dover

The Pride of Kent

P&O's Pride of Kent given the all clear to resume services: The pictures show the Pride of Kent on manoeuvres on Tuesday evening close to 8pm. She had been 'resting' at the Dover9 berth for most of the day but vacated around this time as the Spirit of Britain approached. The Pride of Kent, with both tugs in attendance (although only one featured in the pix above) were there to guide her return to the former cargo terminal where she remains as we write....06.24 Thursday morn.
More in the post below....

UPDATE: Minutes after we posted the info above re the Pride of Kent being still at the former cargo terminal, we nonchalantly gaze out, as you do.... to see she has just returned to Dover9 again minutes after the words above.. its now 06.40..
....its all happening!

Thursday, 12 May 2022 - 06:25

 

Post 7203

  Sea News, Dover

"I dont know who these guys are but its probably best not to ask"


More on P&O's Pride of Kent. Yes indeed...the Pride of Kent moved away from ye olde cargo terminal yesterday to take up residence at berth Dover9 for almost the entire day, only vacating about 8PM last night when the Spirit of Britain took up the slot. Dover9 seems to have become the P&O permo slot once again. Tugs stood by for the Pride of Kent as she manoeuvred around. We have some very grey late-in-the-day pix, will have a look to see if anything worth including....
Just to conclude, the Spirit of Britain is still the only P&O ferry operating on the Dover Straits.
The Pride of Kent has returned to the old cargo terminal.

Wednesday, 11 May 2022 - 05:25

 

Post 7202

  Sea News, Dover

Late last week and we just caught the tail end of this Fire Brigade Convoy heading to Ukraine..pictured above there just about to enter the Port of Dover. We believe this is the third such convoy....and that's just a section there, the rest had already gone through to the Port we believe.

Tuesday, 10 May 2022 - 09:33