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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2015 20:59:42 GMT
I am really happy that the shipping industry is still the primary way to move most goods around the world. It would be horrifying if air freight had totally taken over the field. When I worked for the Saudis, they would fly in tons and tons of things from Caterpillar or Case, just because they didn't want to wait.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 27, 2015 5:21:25 GMT
Super picture, Mossie. Any idea of the draft on that thing? It must be pretty shallow, or the water that close to shore is really deep!
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Post by mickthecactus on May 27, 2015 15:52:45 GMT
Great report Mossie, thanks.
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Post by mossie on May 27, 2015 18:29:47 GMT
Bixa, the dock is currently carrying out improvements which will see the quays and approaches dredged to a depth of 18 metres (59 feet), to allow the largest container ships envisaged to use the port. This will involve the removal of 1,000,000 cu metres of seabed.
The large container ships at present draw some 40 to 45 feet, but there has to be a safe margin to allow for the tide, and shingle washing into the traffic lanes. There is a constant need for maintenance of any seaway to keep boats safe. Grounding one of these monsters would be a major incident and, contrary to appearances, they are quite fragile and could easily suffer a broken back.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 27, 2015 21:15:09 GMT
Thanks, Mossie. Very impressive!
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Post by mossie on Jun 22, 2015 15:20:53 GMT
This ugly lump is a small dredger employed in the dock. He came fussing round after this had passed, with attendant tugs Here they are assisting it to turn alongside the berth. Note the ship has full power on for its side thruster to help, 90 odd thousand tonnes takes some shifting The foot ferry from the other side of the estuary had been patiently waiting to collect the next load of passengers
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2015 16:58:43 GMT
I have always had a fantasy of working on a cargo ship. I guess it's a bit late now since I don't want to work anymore, but whenever I see all of these ships, I imagine how things could have been.
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Post by mossie on Sept 20, 2015 18:53:10 GMT
This morning I was lucky enough to capture another one of these monster Maersk Triple E class boats as it left the berth at Felixstowe, bound for its next drop off port of Bremerhaven in Germany. Called Triple E class for "economy of scale, energy efficient and environmentally improved", capable of carrying up to 18,000 boxes. They run a routine service to Malaya, Suez and various European ports from China. They can transit the Suez canal which has been widened and deepened to accommodate them. They are too big for the Panama canal, but efforts are being made to dig another canal across Central America, to be financed by the Chinese in their rush to get their exports to our markets Here is another shot with a yacht appearing to tow it uphill (I know, I just can't hold the camera straight) There was only one tug with it to assist with steering. Here you can see the tug on full power just pulling the stern to guide it round the fairly sharp turn that the channel takes past Landguard Point, where the Orwell Estuary meets the open sea. It was being followed out by the Harwich to Hook of Holland ferry. Here you see the little ferry rushing to get ashore at Felixstowe before the ferry hits it. All safely under the control of the harbour authorities of course In itself a monster not to be argued with
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Post by htmb on Sept 20, 2015 19:04:07 GMT
18,000 boxes. Boggles the mind!
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Post by mossie on Sept 21, 2015 7:32:41 GMT
Well it is 400 metres long x 66 wide, and gross tonnage 195,000
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Post by mossie on Sept 28, 2015 20:29:45 GMT
I went into the town of Felixstowe today and took this shot of boats laying offshore waiting for their turn to enter the port Here is one of the monster boats well offshore, hull down below the horizon. The horizon is well cluttered with windmills, generating grossly overpriced electricity. I guess we have more windmills in the sea now than existed on land in their heyday around 1700 From my viewpoint on top of the low cliff behind the seafront it is possible to see the port offices and floodlight towers standing out beyond the town Also one of the large cranes The Dock Company has provided this orientation panel set in the path Together with a table of distances to other ports etc., plus a tale of local sailors from the past.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2015 4:26:49 GMT
I find upside down maps fascinating because my eye refuses to recognise anything at first until my brain adjusts.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 29, 2015 5:04:39 GMT
Fantastic pictures, Mossie. The container ship is downright scary with all the stacked up boxes. The huge boats are impressive, but the work those tugs do is downright miraculous.
It looks as though people have been rubbing the Felixstowe location on the orientation plaque. For good luck?
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Post by mossie on Sept 29, 2015 18:55:41 GMT
Yes Kerouac, it took me a while to sort out where things were. It is logical however because as you stand looking straight out to see that is how the land lies. I guess the plaque is bronze and people walk over it, the area polished around Felixstowe is possibly where partners are pointing out the town to people like me who are finding difficulty sorting out the map. I forgot to show you this wonderful contraption the other day. It is in fact a dredger working on the main channel in and out of the port. The machinery is massive pumps which pump up the shingle mud and muck. vast quantities of water also are pumped into the dredgers hold but are screened straight out. When I was at work and we were using large quantities of sea dredged gravel, I visited one of these and the captain gave me a tour. These vessels are generally Dutch and the captain and crew live on board while they go from job to job as independent contractors. They don't always strictly obey all the rules, and one of these was a real pirate who would dredge where he knew he could quickly get good quality gravel. Unfortunately not always where such dredging was permitted! With the result that several times we got explosions in the asphalt plant and elsewhere as a result of him going to areas where large quantities of ammunition had been dumped after the war. As well as in the plant these live rounds would go off in the lorries as the asphalt was been carried to site, the heat of the asphalt would gradually cook the rounds off. I had my men scouring the fresh heaps as new supplies of gravel was brought in and would present the rounds to our suppliers. Normally it was machine gun ammo which is not too dangerous unless you are holding it when it goes off. However we had a session of finding German 20mm cannon rounds which was very dangerous and which led to strong words and a threatening letter from me to the supplier.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 29, 2015 19:40:33 GMT
Geeeeez, Mossie -- that is a harrowing story!!! When you said the guy would dredge where he shouldn't, I figured it was dangerous because it would make marine charts inaccurate. But live ammunition-- sheesh!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2015 4:56:05 GMT
That's amazing, Mossie. I would never have thought of old ammunition being mixed in the gravel. I would hope more for a few lost gold dubloons from an ancient shipwreck.
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Post by mossie on Oct 4, 2015 8:44:47 GMT
I must admit that the old ammo didn't worry me, I had played with all of it as a boy. During the war our area was used as a training ground for the eventual invasion of France because the countryside was similar to much of northern France. We would have convoys of trucks and tanks roll through the village, sometimes taking hours to all pass through. The army played soldiers, with tanks charging across the fields, and men digging trenches, let alone firing off all sorts of gun. We boys would follow them about, scrounging, or stealing, anything we could get, ammo was much prised! So much so that we collected a large amount, some 300 rounds of varied stuff, including German, as there were sometimes aircraft crash sites which could yield good stuff missed when the RAF cleared them up.
So we got a bit nervous and decided to dispose of it. We knew of a pair of trenches dug in the edge of a wood, so lit a big fire in one, retreated to the next one, and enjoyed our little fireworks display! Great fun.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2015 21:38:13 GMT
At least you were intelligent enough to retreat.
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Post by mossie on Nov 8, 2015 19:39:58 GMT
Visited Felixstowe dock again this morning to see what I could see now they have put the extended deep water quay into use. Alongside was another Maersk monster ship. These boats are frightening even to look at It was passed by a normal sized container ship en route from Harwich to Antwerp
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Post by htmb on Nov 8, 2015 20:57:35 GMT
"Monsters." A good way to refer to those enormous ships! Incredible how huge they are!
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Post by mossie on Feb 21, 2016 11:26:24 GMT
Here is another Maersk monster at Felixstowe being unloaded. It was rather a windy day but seeing the ship was being worked I thought I'd try out the cine function on my little camera. I just hope it all comes out on here
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Post by htmb on Feb 21, 2016 12:05:13 GMT
Clicking on it allowed me to see the video.
That's a huge ship!
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Post by mossie on Mar 17, 2016 15:24:11 GMT
As I often do I spent the morning in the nearby coastal town of Felixstowe. We have the coming of the railways in the Victorian era and the drive of a local property developer, Colonel Tomline, to thank for this town and port. The story is better told in this website put up by the Dock Co. www.felixstowedocker.blogspot.co.uk But eventually a prosperous Edwardian town appeared, here is part of the main shopping street. This is Hamilton Road which runs from the railway station which was later built on a spur from the original line serving the dock area, and named after Colonel Tomline's successor. Along the top of the low cliff overlooking the sea front at the end of Hamilton Road one looks down onto the recently refurbished gardens And the road parallel to the sea has some of the bigger Edwardian villas On the seafront stands the War Memorial erected after WWI Almost opposite the Town Hall The beach has recently had much money spent on it to prevent the tides washing the sand down to form a bar across the Orwell Estuary which serves the vitally important docks of Harwich Ipswich and Felixstowe. This explanatory map shows the area, note the channel has to turn sharply round Landguard Fort which stands on Landguard Point, where I have shown a tug working hard to swing one of the giant container ships round the corner Granite blocks, generally cut to weigh 4 tons, have been brought over from Norway by barge and dumped on the shore to be formed into protective groins to halt the work of the tide. The firm I worked for pioneered this work. Some are still being positioned as in this distant shot This is a closer view of a completed groin Give us both a rest now and continue my tour of the town later.
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Post by tod2 on Mar 17, 2016 18:07:32 GMT
I am enjoying this immenseley Mossie - Nice to go through from the beginning again. Beautiful brickwork on the buildings...I don't think it could be done so perfectly today. Tradesmen don't have that pride in their creation any longer, and of course the cost.... It looked like a perfect calm sea.
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Post by htmb on Mar 17, 2016 19:37:37 GMT
Wonderful pics, Mossie. I'd love to live near the sea. I spent my first ten years a block from Tampa Bay and your pictures reminded me of that for some reason.
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Post by tod2 on Mar 18, 2016 12:09:16 GMT
A very good reason htmb.....
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Post by htmb on Mar 18, 2016 12:11:20 GMT
Lolol....that will teach me not to recheck posts entered using my "smart" stupid phone.
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Post by mossie on Mar 18, 2016 15:24:48 GMT
To continue after my being interrupted yesterday. Here are the completed groynes heading off down towards Landguard. ( I managed to spot that the Apple whizz kids had corrected my spelling as well) To access the seafront from the Hamilton Road means descending Bent Hill, so named because it turns sharply At the bottom stands what was once the Grand Hotel, which is where I was introduced to my wife to be on a blind date, the other NCOs wives were desperate to get me married off and she was no doubt considered a suitable candidate, having been babysitter to some. It lasted 55 years so somebody must have got it right. There are two other connecting hills, of which this is one, what it is recovering from I have no idea. I can remember this block of flats being built in the 60s and thinking one would be nice, but we had too many kids round our necks. here is the end of South Hill which has one of the old Martello Towers hidden at the top. These were built to deter Napoleon when He was getting adventurous. Returning to the top of Bent Hill, before you are totally bored to death with hills, is this super, much modified Villa in a superb position Now skipping right back to Hamilton Road, at the end of the shopping section these villas stand out amongst the rage toggle modern. Conveniently carrying dates for 1904 and 1905 And I will finish off with the aptly maned Treasure Chest which sells secondhand books in an absolute rabbit warren of rooms, all crammed floor to ceiling. He has a marvellous election and sells through a website as well.
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Post by mossie on Mar 18, 2016 15:27:14 GMT
Sorry I see the last two have been transposed
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Post by htmb on Mar 18, 2016 15:44:07 GMT
The first picture in the last series, the one featuring the groynes, shows quite an interesting view.
I'd love to spend time browsing that book store. It looks like the name is very appropriate.
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