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Post 7320

  Sea News, Dover

Norwegian Dawn arriving here with us yesterday morning early...not long after our Dover dawn in fact..... striking ship...we had another picture ready showing her full length but it was mysteriously mangled by Microsoft when we tried to make a minute extra adjustment....pic gone..

Sunday, 9 October 2022 - 07:59

 

Post 7319

  Sea News, Dover

Pic above there of the delightfully petite AIDAaura arriving with us here in Dover yesterday morning (Friday Oct 7) very early. It was actually quite dark but we brightened the picture up for easy reading as it were... time of shot..06.42.

She is on a 14 day round trip from Bremerhaven ...mostly Spain and France... Gijon, Bilbao, Saint Malo, Honfleur and so on...sounds very nice too. Hope they get good weather...

The magnificent Norwegian Dawn arrived here a short while ago as we speak...doesn't appear on yours truly's schedule but what the heck..nice to see it. Will have a pic hopefully in due course...

Saturday, 8 October 2022 - 07:57

 

Post 7318

  Sea News, Dover

HMS Mersey - just to add an extra one above there taken moments before the pic in the post below...
so of course, see also the post below.....

Friday, 7 October 2022 - 07:22

 

Post 7317

  Sea News, Dover

HMS Mersey again - this time pictured in the rough oul weather on Tuesday this week. It was probably a quieter day for them on Tuesday or indeed on even-rougher Wednesday, as it was unlikely small dinghies would risk the crossing in the conditions... anyway our worries are over as the newly-in-place politicians will fix it all....!!

Friday, 7 October 2022 - 06:58

 

Post 7316

  Sea News, Dover

Seamec Gallant left us here in Dover a few days ago after a very long stint here. She was delivering steel we understand and in considerable quantity. Although we didnt actually see Seamec Gallant leaving, we got these shots when she changed pier a short while back. Due to the busy nature of things here in Dover, cruise and cargo, Gallant needed to move several times...the pictures show her during one of these manoeuvrings...
Seamec Gallant

Wednesday, 5 October 2022 - 07:43

 

Post 7315

  Sea News, Dover

HMS Ranger and HMS Smiter on Channel Patrol


Two of the hard-working Royal Navy patrol vessels shown above there, picture taken a few days ago...late last week in fact. The one closest to us is HMS Ranger and the one further afield by a shortish margin is HMS Smiter....both towing dinghies as you can see. We used to assume the dinghies regularly being towed were from migrant incursions but...not sure lately as many, not all, have a remarkable similarity...they may well be the Royal Navy's own. Makes them ever ready for the inevitable we guess....

Monday, 3 October 2022 - 17:38

 

Post 7314

  Sea News, Dover

Balmoral moves away...
A few days ago we had a FRED OLSEN double whammy in Port...both Balmoral and Bolette delighted us with a visit. The pictures here show them at evening as they departed. They were in the Port all day as per the norm and when they left they played an in-family musical horn-greet with each other...
The top shot shows Balmoral making her way westward having just left us here in Dover.
Below we have Bolette just beginning her move out of the Port of Dover.
Bolette at Dover on Tuesday the 27th September. She is off on an exciting 15-day Mediterranean trip calling at top places like Cagliari and Naples...not bad at all !!

Balmoral also gone mad on Med and on a 28-day trip...wow!..major destinations in Croatia, Greece, Spain.... not bad either..!!

Sunday, 2 October 2022 - 07:04

 

Post 7313

  Sea News, Dover

HMS Mersey

HMS Mersey: On Tuesday morning HMS Mersey took a break from endless patrolling and came into Port. The naval vessel was greeted by the tug and made her way slowly to the old cargo terminal at the eastern end of Port. Somewhat unusual ... so we are assuming there was a problem of sorts to sort. The naval vessel remained there for a number of hours...and then she seemed to go back on patrol, although we haven't seen her since in the immediate area....maybe the problem was worse than initially thought...
Time of first picture 09.35
The tug in supportive action is Dauntless.
(More pictures of HMS Mersey further down the page)

Thursday, 29 September 2022 - 07:18

 

Post 7312

  Sea News, Dover

Costa Fascinosa
The Fabulous Costa Fascinosa at twilight here in Dover.
Yes the sun had just gone down and the light was soft gentle and colourful...and just as we went to take a further picture Costa Fascinosa switched her lights on too...we hope we captured the moment.
She is currently on a one way eight-day trip...Kiel to Lisbon...calling at Copenhagen, Dover, Le Havre, etc
Picture taken Sunday Sept 25. ..alas the pic has gone a wee bit soft in transition...hmmm...
We're blaming the Twilight..ermm Zone...

Wednesday, 28 September 2022 - 07:57

 

Post 7310

  Sea News, Dover

Above we have....the Spirit of Discovery
Balmoral
Seabourn Ovation

The above cruise ships all visited Dover in the past week or so...it has been an exciting time with yet more to come. The huge and magnificent Costa Fascinosa was also in Port yesterday Sunday along with Discovery...so, much more to come picture-wise...

Balmoral gone to Rouen and Honfleur, 4 days...very nice...
Seabourn Ovation on a long one.. 21 days of British Isles ..with Ireland France Denmark also added...
Spirit of Discovery on a 9 day round trip of the British Isles ...


Monday, 26 September 2022 - 15:31

 

Post 7309

  Sea News, Dover

Dover Lifeboat - Migrant Crises
The picture above was taken on Wednesday the 21st, and you can see above there the Dover Lifeboat packed with yet more migrants coming in. Media outlets this week are reporting that more than 30,000 have come so far this year... record breaking numbers indeed. It has been a frantic week, we've said that before, well okay, this week has been frantically frantic. Border Force powering in and out all day fully laden...vessels like BF Typhoon and BF Defender and indeed others carrying in large numbers, as did the Lifeboats again (there's a support Lifeboat too) and indeed presumably the Royal Navy who are also highly active.

Below.... well speak of the Royal Navy, the picture below isn't the best quality or indeed very sharp. We were focusing/waiting for the Lifeboat to turn into Port (as per pic above) and we got a shock when the Navy powered by at speed so close in the background. Yours truly jumped and the camera went off on its own...
HMS Express and Dover Lifeboat

Saturday, 24 September 2022 - 07:34

 

Post 7308

  Sea News, Dover

Fred.Olsen Cruise Lines' Bolette beginning her move away from Cruise Terminal Two in the gentle sunlight here in Dover Yes Bolette readying for departure on Wednesday evening (21st Sept), pilot boat in attendance there as you can see, and then away she goes....off on a six-day exciting, but perhaps chillier now, Nordic City Break...Copenhagen, Oslo etc etc ...

Friday, 23 September 2022 - 06:54

 

Post 7307

  Sea News, Dover

Disney Magic : Final shot of the Disney Magic above, for now, as we see her leaving us on Sunday evening at 18.30 or 6.30pm if you prefer...exiting above there through the western exit and as mentioned previously heading to New York with brief calls to France and Spain first .... of course before she left she gave us a rendition or two of "When you wish upon a star" and we wouldn't have it any other way.
And sure we cant resist including one more super colourful dawn arrival shot below from the very same morning as she gently moves stern-first into Cruise Terminal Two....see the sister pics in the post below....
Disney Magic

Wednesday, 21 September 2022 - 15:27

 

Post 7306

  Sea News, Dover

The Disney Magic arriving with us just after dawn on Sunday morning, as you can see it was a very colourful arrival under a dazzling sky, you might say .. in keeping with the colourful Disney tradition..... lots of very excited kidz in the hotels waiting to climb aboard... We believe she is on a one-way cruise to New York this time with brief calls in France and Spain en route...
It's Magic.... Yes the Disney Magic.



Tuesday, 20 September 2022 - 06:17

 

Post 7305

  Sea News, Dover

DOVER The picture...for The Queens funeral tomorrow Monday.

The image shows the flag flying today on Dover's Western Heights..well done to the guys there.
(See also todays earlier post below...)

Sunday, 18 September 2022 - 17:16

 

Post 7304

  Sea News, Dover

Viking Mars and THV Alert
Evening shot (Thursday 15th) shows Viking Mars leaving us in the background there as the ever-busy Trinity House Vessel Alert arrives here in Port...Viking Mars currently doing the Irish, Scottish run up the Irish Sea...with some Welsh and English added to the exciting mix.
We are still having many cruise visits, not possible to keep up with them all but we get most. Today just arrived...Disney Magic with us again.

Sunday, 18 September 2022 - 07:11

 

Post 7303

  Sea News, Dover

To follow along immediately from the post below..now we see HMS Mersey arriving at the Port ...

Friday, 16 September 2022 - 21:22

 

Post 7302

  Sea News, Dover

HMS Mersey approaching the Port of Dover

It has been a frantic few days in the Channel with a great surge once again in migrant crossings. Both the Royal Navy and indeed Border Force have been hugely busy...we particularly notice the Border Force boats dashing in to Port then dashing outwards again as yet more people need rescuing. The numbers are record breaking. The picture shows HMS Mersey earlier in the week coming for a short stay in Port, perhaps for a crew change and then away again...

Friday, 16 September 2022 - 07:40

 

Post 7301

  Sea News, Dover

A couple of shots now of the dredger DC Vlaanderen 3000 leaving the Port on Monday evening. The pictures might look a little odd as we discovered afterwards the camera settings were monumentally askew, and as a consequence so were the pictures when we looked later .....but...but.. the computer brought them back....ermmm somewhat! The evening was grey here in Dover at the time, but as you can see the French coast was ablaze with warm evening sun. DC Vlaanderen 3000 didnt stay with us long but delivered another load of sand/gravel to the working pier WD4.
The pilot boat moves alongside DC Vlaanderen 3000 as they exit the Port of Dover ...

Thursday, 15 September 2022 - 07:44

 

Post 7300

  Sea News, Dover

The striking Costa Fortuna relaxing here in Dover on Monday before moving south to continue her tour to Spain and Portugal ... a magnificent ship for sure...

More pix below...

Wednesday, 14 September 2022 - 07:16