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Guest 640
- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
15 December 2012 08:21205841
#221 report
That is an interesting one Karlos..who'd have thought it..well I never.
Glad Ed was able to answer that one. No offense to Ramsgate but it seems a sad end for our dear old veteran. This was the last we saw of her those few weeks ago as she sailed away..we assumed she was heading for the boneyard..or ferry heaven!

As we all know it was horrendous yesterday weatherwise...severe gales and no mistake.
It was totally gloomy all day. Then for one brief tiny interlude the light went intense yellow. It only lasted two or three minutes but here it is. No touching up employed... exactly as nature..took the picture through the window as it was too dangerous to open the blinking thing.

There are colours there that even Rembrandt would have been proud of...

Sobering to hear that even veteran seamen are cautious about the Bay of Biscay.
email: dover7@msn.com
howard mcsweeney1
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
15 December 2012 09:56205855
#222 report
had a brief moment like that where i was, couldn't get a decent picture though, just a pocket camera with me.
Guest 640
- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
16 December 2012 10:58205958
#223 report
Busy harbour these days..some real activity both yesterday and today.

Saw this one, the Atlantic Princess struggling in the rough weather of saturday. It came into the harbour for shelter, then went promptly out again and if I'm not mistaken came back in again. The ship must have had difficulty of some sort but was helped eventually by the pilot boat back into the open seas. A fishing vessel, so must surely be used to rough weather..so a bit of a mystery

Early this morning (sunday) in the gloomy early light, the Esmeralda below made her way out from the dock here. Fully loaded and heading for Hamburg in Germany. No doubt called the Esmeralda in homage to that heroine much admired by..yes indeed..
The Hunchback of Notre Dame himself. He is still up there you know..creeping around the vast hidden complexes in the roof and rafters of that Parisien church of churches. His cry can still be heard to this day
"esmeralda...esmeralda..."
so there you are. not a lot of people know that.

As Ed said earlier..the cargo vessels are coming thick and fast these days. trade must definitely be on the up. No soon had Esmeralda winged her way towards the North Sea when this one showed up to berth in the slot just vacated. The Eastern Bay.

Last but not least as the light got better the Dieppe Seaways came across the front of the harbour to come in by the now much used western entrance..eastern entrance was busy busy...all was happening at the same time.

email: dover7@msn.com
Guest 710
- Registered: 28 Feb 2011
- Posts: 6,950
16 December 2012 11:43205969
#224 report
BTW
Spoiler alert!!!!!
Esmeralda was hanged in the end and her body taken off to be laid deep in the bowels of a Parisian municipal building, there to be sealed-up and left in perpetuity.
Many years afterwards the chamber was broached, when the building was to be demolished. A curious sight met the eyes of the workmen; the skeleton of a young woman was found entwined in an embrace from a much larger skeleton...one with a misshapen and hunch-forming spine.
Ignorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
Guest 673
- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
16 December 2012 13:37205982
#225 report
Atlantic Princess is a deepsea trawler and would just have been popping in for a crew change or to take stores, probably just pausing briefly in the outer harbour. Another regular deepsea trawler visitor is Cornelis Vrolijk, seen here berthed on the Dover Cargo Terminal.
howard mcsweeney1
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
16 December 2012 14:06205985
#226 report
fairly choppy sea over at folkestone earlier.
howard mcsweeney1
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
16 December 2012 14:08205986
#227 report
Guest 640
- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
17 December 2012 14:01206083
#228 report
Enjoyable pix lads..similar fishing vessel there Ed in that pic and again glad to get that info.
Are all those trucks in Dover Howard? cant quite make it out...or is it Folkestone? great load of trucks there/ That looks like the edge of the dover harbour wall sticking out there but maybe not. Wonder if its a new truck stop..

Will just add this new picture from a couple of hours ago... lots of cargo ships coming in now as we said.
Similar looking. This one is the Star Service.. in the background the Delft Seaways shooting across front of harbour to again come in through the western entrance.

This one might have been in recently of course..coming and going...getting mixed up with the Star Trust, Star First, Star Service...
Had to brighten the pic up a wee bit as was shooting into dazzling light. I might have overdunnit..
email: dover7@msn.com
howard mcsweeney1
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
17 December 2012 15:03206092
#229 report
certainly busy in dover, my ones were taken from the leas cliff in folkestone, not much sea traffic around there.
Guest 673
- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
18 December 2012 23:32206348
#230 report
The old Dunkerque West train ferry berth has finally been dismantled this week. A new RoRo berth was built outside it many years ago and it was left sandwiched inside, rusting away with its rail connection cut off by the roadways to the new berth linkspans, as seen in the first two photos. The final three show one of the last bits of sheet metal being carried away.
Guest 651
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
19 December 2012 08:59206375
#231 report
Seems like people don't think that Rail/Ferry Freight is the way to go, think it is just Alex !
Been nice knowing you :)
howard mcsweeney1
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
19 December 2012 09:12206384
#232 report
i thought there were big plans to link up calais with the trans siberian railway as part of their port expansion with help from eu funding.
Guest 673
- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
19 December 2012 13:03206426
#233 report
Calais has been linked to the Trans Siberian Railway ever since it was constructed and joined to the continental railway network. Dover has been linked to the Trans Siberian Railway since 1994 when the Channel Tunnel rail tunnels were opened.

I put the following post on another thread some time ago in response to this statement by Roger: " What you say about Calais and the berths there may well be true Ed. but I understand that they are accessing EU funds to also build a massive rail-head there to match the freight traffic that will be coming through from the railways that stretch back to China."

Not sure that the "massive railhead" has much relevance to Dover, Roger. The continental railways have always been connected to the Trans Siberian Railway, albeit via a change of gauge. Since the Channel Tunnel was built, the British railways have also been connected so there is no problem running trains from Glasgow to Vladivostok should anybody see a need.

The Russians are spending billions on upgrading the Trans Siberian Railway to improve access to imports from China. There is a niche market there for France or the UK to obtain high value goods in a week or so instead of the three or four weeks a container ship takes, but at a premium. The latest boxboats carry 18,000 TEU which is equivalent to a line of 9,000 forty foot containers on articulated trucks stretching from Dover to London. This with a crew of less than a score as compared with the countless trains that would be needed to carry all this with a cast of thousands of train crew, signalmen, track layers and the rest. Therefore the rail option is always going to be very expensive.

The railhead at Calais is, of course, not for transferring railway wagons onto ships. The railway berths and ferries are history, replaced by the direct rail link under the Channel. It is for transferring freight from rail to road. The photos mainly show serried ranks of cars which are driven onto a ferry service which has been transporting export cars from Calais to Sheerness for many years.
howard mcsweeney1
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
19 December 2012 13:07206428
#234 report
that bit from roger about eu funding for the railhead is what i remember.
Guest 653
- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
20 December 2012 06:26206560
#235 report
That is exactly what I said Ed - thanks for your explanation.

I understood at the time of writing my previous piece, that the rail-freight was to be transferred to lorries to be put on the ferries, which would also guarantee Dover's future.

Roger
Guest 673
- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
11 January 2013 05:38209470
#236 report
Pride of Canterbury in the floating drydock at Arno's in Dunkerque. Having a long refit which includes changing a gearbox.

Brittany Ferries vessels Barfleur and Bretagne laid up in Dunkerque.

Barfleur resumes on Poole-Cherbourg later this year. Her charter to DFDS in the guise of Deal Seaways ended some time ago and she has been repainted in Brittany Ferries livery.
Guest 653
- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
11 January 2013 07:01209471
#237 report
There must be good work (and of course money) for the Ports that provide the refits. Do you know Ed. if there are no Ports around the U.K. that could do it ?
I guess being just 20 odd miles across the water, helps.

Roger
Guest 673
- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
11 January 2013 11:24209502
#238 report
P&O used to use Falmouth or North Shields but seem to use Dunkerque a lot now. Arno's have been very busy for some time now and the refit season has just started so fully occupied.

The three DFDS 'D' class vessels have started their refits with the Dunkerque Seaways presently in the graving dock. I am onboard helping out for refit. We are flooding up now and going back over to Dunkerque West ready to resume on the run tomorrow. Delft Seaways next then Dover Seaways, five days each.

Some older news:

Pride of Dover arrived at Aliaga in Turkey a week or two ago after the long tow from Tilbury. She was beached the other day and demolition has commenced.

Pride of Calais was chartered to TEF for three years with possible subsequent purchase. She left Tilbury a couple of weeks ago, called at Ramsgate, had a few days in Ostend, and is now in Antwerp being refitted. She is now named Ostend Spirit and will start on Ramsgate - Ostend on conclusion of refit.
howard mcsweeney1
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
11 January 2013 13:44209508
#239 report
good to know that the "calais" will still be operating,rather ignominious end for the "dover"
Guest 640
- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
13 March 2013 07:16220114
#240 report
Not only was the oul weather rough on dry terra firma but it was equally rough out at sea..reports said a force 10 was blustering up the channel at one point, and i could well believe it as it looked very rough indeed. The ferries here managed to keep going by and large. But an Irish ferry, called Oscar Wilde I believe, made the news because it was caught in the thick of the gales. Having crossed from Ireland, presumably from Cobh or similar, with a party of French school children, it failed to dock at Cherbourg despite four attempts..last I heard it was still out there with everyone sick onboard. Doesnt sound too appetising but hopefully all will end happily.

Just below we have the arrival of the Hope Bay here in Dover, it too was held up and was sheltering off Deal for a good chunk of the day. First picture shows the Dauntless tugboat preparing to do the necessary while harassed by a large army of gulls, with a wintry France on show in the background...and a rough sea.

Below we have the Hope Bay, she finally manages to get into harbour late in the day around 4pm..weather being too rough earlier. Out came the sun late afternoon and all went okay from then. You can see tugboat Doughty giving her a gentle shove.

Zoomed in close up of the ship below...no doubt the crew were relieved to have made harbour. In the background a wintry rough sea and a wintry France to match. Weather was fierce the other side too. Belgium and France saw horrendous snow with the resultant dire traffic problems almost everywhere. Its not just England that suffers when the snow falls. Nowhere can cope it seems.This led to big traffic tailbacks here as we know.

email: dover7@msn.com

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