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| Shipping news from around the Solent area |
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Item Posted: 22/05/13 18:05 |
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Item Posted: 22/05/13 08:50 |
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Item Posted: 21/05/13 16:34 It has been reported that the Split 3 is aground near St Helens. The dredger had not been damaged is expected to refloat this evening. |
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Item Posted: 21/05/13 07:45 Another one of Ark Royal showing tug change over from harbour tugs to tChristos 23. |
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More pics of Ark Royal final departure Item Posted: 20/05/13 19:42 |
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Item Posted: 20/05/13 18:12 See link on messageboard from maritimephotographic.co.uk for more pictures. Ark Royal left for the breakers today. The Royal Navy's former flagship was decommissioned early following the 2010 defence review and is being towed to Turkey for scrap. As part of a £2.9m deal she will go to the same yard that took her sister ship Invincible. The Invincible Class aircraft carrier saw active service in Bosnia and led UK naval forces during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Formally decommissioned in 2011, the Harrier jets that flew from Ark Royal were sold as spares to the US. New carriers using the joint strike fighter will not enter service for nearly 10 years. A bid to sink Ark Royal and turn it into an artificial diving reef off the Devon coast was rejected as were plans for a commercial heliport in London, a nightclub and school in China and a casino in Hong Kong. The Ministry of Defence said the bids were judged either "not feasible or appropriate", or carried "too much risk". |
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Item Posted: 18/05/13 18:13 Artania seen here entering Portsmouth today. At over 44,000 gross must be about the largest commercial vessel to enter the harbour - unless anyone knows any different. Ex Artemis, ex Royal Princess. |
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Fred Olsen adds ports but drops Portsmouth Item Posted: 17/05/13 16:55 Fred Olsen Cruise Lines will add two new U.K. ports to its 2014/15 season, giving it one of the highest number of regional departure points of any U.K. cruise line. The line will add Tilbury and Avonmouth, but will be dropping Portsmouth, taking the total number of ports to 10 next year. |
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Item Posted: 17/05/13 16:47 Rigging the chain for the Ark Royal tow. Leaving Monday 20th May. |
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Item Posted: 17/05/13 07:13 Oceana made an unscheduled stop at Charlie anchorage this morning due to a generator problem. |
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Item Posted: 17/05/13 07:11 Christos 23 with Ark Royal in Portsmouth this morning preparing for tow to scrapyard. |
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Item Posted: 16/05/13 20:30 |
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Brittany Ferries new high speed route between Portsmouth and Le Havre Item Posted: 16/05/13 16:09 Brittany Ferries’ new high speed route between Portsmouth and Le Havre has been launched. It will operate four days a week, from Thursday to Sunday, until September 16. At other times the Normandie Express will serve the Portsmouth to Cherbourg route. Brittany Ferries has never run a route to Le Havre, and it was historically formerly served by P&O and then later by LD Lines – now called DFDS – which continues to operate the route once a day. But the Normandie Express is not new to Brittany Ferries – it served the Portsmouth to Caen route until last August. |
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Item Posted: 16/05/13 15:37 Tug Christos 23 entering Portsmouth this morning for Ark Royal tow. |
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Item Posted: 16/05/13 08:04 To listen to my live marine radio streams on your phone try VLC player for Android (free). Still in beta but works for me. I use equaliser for Android (free) in the background to boost the sound level. Unfortunately no balance control yet but I have asked for one. No sure if they do one for iphone but they probably do. |
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Item Posted: 15/05/13 14:44 HMS leaving Portsmouth this morning on her final tour of the UK before returning in June for decommisioning. HMS Edinburgh has made an emotional final trip to its spiritual home. The Type 42 destroyer has dropped anchor in Leith docks where it will stay for six days. During their stay the crew will take part in a parade down Edinburgh's Royal Mile to mark the ship's decommissioning. The ship will be open to the public on Saturday. After Leith, HMS Edinburgh will continue on to Liverpool, where it was built. She is sailing round the UK in a farewell tour, which will end in Portsmouth next month. Around 250 crew are on board but will be redeployed across the Navy at the end of the tour. |
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Item Posted: 15/05/13 14:26 The biggest cruise ship ever to be built for the British market started to take shape today, as Cunard managing director Carol Marlow gave the order for the first section of the vessel's hull to be lowered into a dry-dock in Italy. A 408-ton steel block, already fitted with pipes, cables, insulation and other equipment, was lifted by a giant crane at Fincantieri's Monfalcone yard near Trieste Scheduled to sail its maiden voyage in 2015, the 141,000-ton P&O ship will carry 3,600 passengers. It is being built with a near-identical hull to Regal Princess - and sister Royal Princess which will be christened by the Duchess of Cambridge next month - but with twin funnels painted in the trademark buff colour. The interior layout and designs are likely to be considerably different, although details are still a closely-guarded secret. No name has yet been announced, and there has not yet been much in the way of clues. As far as the shipyard is concerned, it remains Hull 6231 for now. |
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High Court throws out legal appeal against ferry operations at Lymington Item Posted: 15/05/13 14:20 Wightlink has today learned that the Lymington River Association’s latest legal challenge to its ferry operations at Lymington has failed. The Association had applied to judicially review the Secretary of State’s decision not to overturn the outcome of the 2011 Planning Inquiry. The Inquiry gave consent for Wightlink to carry out berth works, operate the W-Class vessels and undertake habitat creation works. |
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Item Posted: 15/05/13 10:12 A 1:25 model container ship has been completed by Composite Manufacturing (Design) Ltd (CML) based in Southampton for the Warsash Maritime Academy. Warsash Maritime Academy will reaffirm its place as a world-leading training platform for seafaring pilots, masters and ships officers when it adds the model to its fleet this month. It will be the first container ship to join the existing fleet at Southampton Solent University’s Ship Handling Centre when it is officially launched at a special ceremony. Industry leaders, dignitaries and University staff will be present at the launch and naming ceremony which will be presided over by Admiral, The Right Honourable Lord West of Spithead, at the Centre in Timsbury, near Romsey on Thursday 16 May 2013. Modelled on a real 13,300 TEU container ship that is 365 metres in long, the scaled vessel replicates the most widely used container ship size trading globally by major shipping companies such as CMA CGM Group, Maersk and MSC. The 1:25 scaled model is 14.62 metres long, weighs 12.5 tonnes, has operational power anchors, electric hydraulic steering, bow thrust and main propulsion systems. Transferable water ballasts enables it to operate in light or loaded conditions. One of only three major centres in the world, the Ship Handling Centre provides a world-class training platform for pilots, masters and ships officers, using various manned models, accurately scaled to that of a real ship. Since the opening of this 20-acre lake facility at Timsbury in 2011, the Ship Handling Centre has been operating a fleet of seven scaled models, including a Panamax vessel, twin screw Ro-Ro Ferry, Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), 40,0000 dwt Product Tanker, Twin Screw Shuttle Tanker, Suezmax and an Ultra Large Crude Carrier (ULCC) . In addition to the new container ship, WMA is undertaking the build of a sister ship to the popular Panamax vessel, to be named ‘Intrepid’. Due to be operational this summer, it will increase the fleet to nine models. |
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Winds cancel HMS Illustrious return to Portsmouth Item Posted: 14/05/13 07:59 Strong winds have delayed HMS Illustrious’ departure from London. The Portsmouth-based helicopter carrier was due to leave the capital after taking part in days of commemorations for the Battle of the Atlantic. Strong crosswinds prevented the ship from leaving yesterday afternoon. She is now due to leave London at some point today 14th May. The warship is expected to arrive in Portsmouth early tomorrow morning. |
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Item Posted: 14/05/13 07:38 Single cabins are all the rage at the moment. P&O's Ventura has just gained 18 during its recent refit and newcomer Norwegian Breakaway has followed big sister Norwegian Epic by having 59 studio cabins for solo passengers. Some cruise lines have had them all the time and are now realizing that they should be shouting about them. Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines have even announced that in addition to the stock of 109 single cabins on their fleet of four ships, twin cabins on a number of cruises next year will be available for single occupancy with no single supplement. Helping to achieve this are gentlemen hosts who partner single women on the dance floor and get-together gatherings to help solo travellers to meet and make friends. Black Watch and Boudicca each have 43 single cabins, Braemar has 40, and Balmoral, 64. |
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Item Posted: 14/05/13 05:49 In the 175th year of the port this lecture will look at some of the history of the port during the long and fascinating story of the most famous port in the world. |
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Hovercraft tests new propeller Item Posted: 13/05/13 07:22 Trials are continuing on a new design of propeller to replace the type that broke up on the Solent Express 18 months ago. Solent Express was tested on Ryde Sands several weeks ago, but has not yet been certified by the Maritime Coastguard Agency to return to passenger service. She was withdrawn in November 2011, after the mechanical failure and Hoevertravel said it has planned its 2013 timetable using its two other craft — Island Express and Freedom 90. "The trials will include transits in The Solent and static tests on Ryde Sands. The latter will require an additional hovercraft — destined for an overseas customer — to be present. |
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Item Posted: 11/05/13 16:51 Brittany Ferries executives say the company could fold if the firm’s pleas to delay the date a new anti-pollution fuel regulation comes into force are ignored. The company, which is launching its fastcat service from Portsmouth to Le Havre next Thursday, says the European Union regulation will see its fuel costs soar by 60 per cent. The knock-on effect could mean it can’t afford to run its services from Portsmouth, resulting in the loss of 100 jobs and the £10m berthing costs it pays to Portsmouth City Council every year. The aim of the new rule is to reduce fuel sulphur levels from 3.5 per cent to 0.1 per cent by 2015. Those levels are specifically for the heavily-congested English Channel, North Sea, and Baltic Sea which are Sulphur Emissions Control Areas. Brittany Ferries says it has no problem with the principle of the regulations but the timescale for implementing them is too tight, While it might be able to fit sulphur scrubbers on its ships, which travel between Portsmouth, Poole and Plymouth to the continent, it said there was no proof the scrubbers will reduce the sulphur content in the fuel. As a result, the companies will have to pay for the more expensive low-sulphur fuel, while they build new ships with new technology that means they can be powered on liquefied natural gas (LNG). Stephen Tuckwell, director of communications and Portsmouth port operations for Brittany Ferries, said: ‘The 2015 deadline will leave insufficient time to invest in alternative technologies. ‘We are already looking at other fuel solutions such as LNG, but there is no supply chain in place and this is only likely to be viable for new ships from 2020. ‘Fuel accounts for a huge proportion of our costs – around £65m a year. If these changes go ahead as planned then we’ll see our fuel costs rise by 60 per cent – to more than £100m a year. ‘We would be faced with no alternative other than to raise our passenger fares and freight rates, which is obviously undesirable. ‘We’d also have to consider reducing services as demand falls and we trim capacity – this could potentially affect any of our ports, including Portsmouth.’ Mr Tuckwell said the cost rises would be ‘unsustainable’, adding that it ‘could well lead to the collapse of the company’. Other ferry firms which operate out of Portsmouth – LD Lines and P&O Ferries, are also calling for the extension. The French authorities have agreed to the delay until 2020, as long as the British government, which has to sign the EU directive, agrees. |
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Item Posted: 10/05/13 17:36 |
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RCC homeports five ships in UK Item Posted: 10/05/13 16:47 Royal Caribbean Cruises will homeport five of its ships from UK ports during the 2013 summer season, marking the first time five of the line’s vessels have sailed from the UK at the same time. Royal Caribbean International’s (RCI) Independence of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas and Celebrity Eclipse called at Southampton this month. The Port of Harwich will also act as a homeport for Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Infinity and RCI’s Brilliance of the Seas during the summer 2013 season. |
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HMS Protector returns this morning Item Posted: 10/05/13 11:57 HMS Protector seen here returning to Portsmouth this morning. Its work included supporting inspectors in upholding the Antarctic Treaty, which states the continent can only be used for peaceful purposes. In January, Protector broke through thick ice to free Norwegian cruise liner MS Fram when it became surrounded by fast moving floes in Antarctic Sound. She also returned a stone taken from Sir Ernest Shackleton's grave 76 years ago. The stone returned to Shackleton's grave in South Georgia was taken as a souvenir by a sailor in 1937. Protector will deploy to the Antarctic again this autumn. |
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Navy carrier jetscannot land in hot weather Item Posted: 10/05/13 06:41 The hi-tech jets that will be flown from the Royal Navy's two new aircraft carriers cannot land on the ships in "hot, humid and low pressure weather conditions", a report warns today. The version of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) that has been bought for the £5.5bn carriers is still in development but currently cannot land vertically – as its predecessor the Harrier jump jet could – in warm climates without jettisoning heavy payloads, the National Audit Office says. Though the Ministry of Defence insists the problem will be overcome by the time the first carrier is ready for service in 2020, it is one of a number of concerns pointed out by the NAO over a project that has been bedevilled by delays and cost increases. The spending watchdog says the early warning "Crowsnest" radar needed by the carriers will not be fully operational until 2022, meaning the ships will need protection from other navy vessels for two years while trials are completed. Despite the difficulties, the NAO says the MoD avoided further financial calamity last year by choosing a different version of the JSF to fly from the carriers, the biggest warships ever built for the navy. Originally the military decided it wanted the so-called "short take off, vertical landing" (STOVL) version of the JSF, which is being built and tested in the US. But in 2010, the MoD dumped the plan, with David Cameron arguing in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) that another type of the fighter-bomber was much more capable and compatible with the UK's allies. The coalition changed position again in May last year, reverting back to the STOVL aircraft because the cost of refitting the carriers to accommodate the superior planes was running out of control. Today's report castigates the 2010 decision, saying it was "based on immature data and a number of flawed assumptions". Persevering with the refitting of the carriers would have cost £1.2bn more than the MoD had bargained for, and left the first ship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, without any aircraft until 2023 – three years after it is due to go into service. The NAO praised senior defence officials for "acting quickly" once the scale of the costs became clear, but said the MoD will still have to write off at least £74m as a result of its second U-turn. "This cost could have been 10 times higher if the decision had been made after May 2012," the report says. The NAO warns the carrier project is still vulnerable to delays and cost overruns because the "highest risk phases of construction and integration are yet to come", including the laying of 2.5 million metres of cabling throughout the 65,000 tonne ship. |
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Item Posted: 09/05/13 15:12 The Tres Hombres on her way with 50,000 Grenada Chocolate bars on board and due to arrive at Gunwharf on 11th May at 1300hrs, weather and wind permitting. Looks like she is now anchored off Cowes. |
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Item Posted: 09/05/13 09:01 HMS Ark Royal is expected to be towed to Turkey in the coming weeks to be scrapped. The Ministry of Defence says a date has not yet been confirmed, but it is thought the ship could leave Portsmouth for the last time on May 20. HMS Ark Royal’s sister ship, HMS Invincible, has already been taken apart at the same yard in Turkey. Some suggested Ark Royal could be preserved as a museum ship, but the Ministry of Defence said she was in too poor a condition. Instead, HMS Illustrious will be preserved when she finishes active service. |
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