REPLICA OF THE BATAVIA

Back in 2008 on the 2sd of August I took the evening sailing from Hull to Rotterdam on the P & O PRIDE OF ROTTERDAM on a business trip to Paris, I had the following day off so I decided to do a short trip to Lelystad to visit the replica of the amazing BATAVIA, a sailing ship replica of the original vessel which was built in HOLLAND for the Dutch East India Company for the spices trade in 1628, this vessel became famous for ever because she sunk on her maiden voyage, off the Australian coast in 1629 and the mutiny that took place during that voyage and the subsequent massacre of the survivors. Text and pictures taken on the 3rd of August 2008 mine.

BARCELONA TOP OF THE LIST

Barcelona is one of my favourite cities, is also my top priority for ship photography, the moment you step onboard the GOLONDRINAS is magical you can almost touch the ships, the port itself doesn´t have the natural beauty of Lisbon for example but there´s always so many ships, particulary cruise ships almost on daily basis, the place comes a must go destination for ships enthusiasts, I have many pictures to show here, on this occasion the selected are JULES VERNE, ISLAND STAR, AIDA DIVA, MURILLO, MSC MUSICA, VOYAGER OF THE SEAS, SEVEN SEAS NAVIGATOR and DISNEY MAGIC, text and photos mine, dates between the 5th and the 7th of July 2007, pse click to enlarge

FRIGATE "GRAND TURK"

A bit of maritime history now, this post is dedicated to the british sailing frigate GRAND TURK, a replica of the original HMS BLANDFORD from 1741, the ship was built in Turkey and launched in 1997, she was used for the TV series HORNBLOWER filmed between 1998 and 2003 as the INDEFATIGABLE, series based on the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars, today the ship is used mainly on sailing events, my pictures taken at Whitby on the 20.06.2009

FAREWELL TO HMS ARK ROYAL

Following a restructuring of the ROYAL NAVY, flagship ARK ROYAL was decommissioned on the 11th of March 2011 after 25 years in service, the ship was built at SWAN HUNTER was launched in June 1981 but commissioned in November 1985, she had a displacement of 22.000 tons and capable of 30 knots, her homeport was beautiful and historical PORTSMOUTH, my favourite place in the UK for shipping, in this post three pictures of the ship, first one on the 25.01.2011 and the other two on the 3.02.2011 all taken from CAP FINISTERE, also some views of PORTSMOUTH SEAFRONT, one of the images shows the WIGHT LINK ferry ST FAITH on her way to the ISLE OF WIGHT, text and photos mine but for everybody´s pleasure

A NEW QUEEN JOINED CUNARD IN 2007

The new QUEEN VICTORIA joined CUNARD in December 2007 and I was there to greet her, I remember I was pleasingly surprised when I saw the ship on that cold December morning, a lot of new cruise ships today have a block of flats appearance, but not the QV, she is a ship with a lot of character and of course the colours do help a lot, she is 90.000 tons, built in Italy at FINCANTIERI with a capacity for about 2000 lucky guests. All photos here included as well as text are mine and shows the new QUEEN in Southampton on the 7th of December 2007, also the AURORA and BOUDICCA were in port, three beautiful vessels one terrific experience, to end this post two further pictures also mine with the QV leaving Lisbon on the 29.4.2008

CAP FINISTERE LATEST ADDITION TO THE BRITTANY FERRIES FLEET

Built in Germany in 2001 for SUPERFAST FERRIES in Greece, the ship changed hands in 2010 to become the latest cruise ferry operating for BRITTANY FERRIES, for me the best European ferry company, she has a lenght of 203 meters, 32.728 GRT and can carry 1600 passengers and 712 cars, she is also fast the ship can get to over 30 knots, I myself have travelled at 28 knots from Santander to Portsmouth, she is employed to do Portsmouth to Santander and Cherbourg and since the 27th of March this year also to operate on the Portsmouth to Bilbao route left vacant last September by P & O with the PRIDE OF BILBAO, the interiors of the ship are very cosy and also appropriate for travelling in warmer climates, the outside decks are a must for hot weather, however very different to all other ships with BF, I understand the company is adapting the vessel to the new market and a lot of changes occurred during the February/March refit, will keep this blog updated asap, included on this post photos by this author on the 27th of November 2010 leaving Santander and docking at the same port on the 2.2.2011. CAP FINISTERE is a beautiful, sleek, seaworthy and fast cruise ferry, text and photos mine, please click at pictures to enlarge

TALL SHIPS AT LIVERPOOL

The year was 2008,  Liverpool was blessed by the visit of TALL SHIPS from all over the world, here is a visit down memory lane with several pictures, there were 66 ships, this year Liverpool will host the BOAT SHOW 2011 from the 29th of April to the 8th of May, this wonderful spectacle will be held at the surroundings of the historic Albert Dock, please enjoy the pictures included, don´t  forget to click on the image for a more detailed view, the names of the ships are well spotted, the brazilian vessel is the CISNE BRANCO text and photos mine