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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 2, 2017 16:07:38 GMT
Oh -- that's nifty! Your distilling of that information on this thread is something that really adds to the interest.
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Post by mossie on Aug 6, 2017 14:15:59 GMT
Thanks Bixa. A beautiful summer morning for my visit today, East Anglia is notably flat. Just to orient you here is a copy from the Ordnance Survey map. For scale note that the blue lines are on a grid of kilometre squares. The Viewing area cafe is where the viewpoint sign is. (The radiating blue lines) The Dock has grown considerably since this 1933 picture. It shows in the foreground the original Dock Basin, as set out by Col Tomline at the end of his new railway from Ipswich connecting to the main London line. Sorry about the angle and the reflections, but this is a photo on display in the Viewing area cafe. It shows the time when the RAF had the seaward end and used it to test every type of seaplane and flying boat produced in Britain in those days. here is a brief history taken from the Dock website www.portoffelixstowe.co.uk/company-information/history/Here is my viewpoint from the cafe and here a view showing how the cafe terrace gives a super view into the Dock I had taken my usual stroll along the beach and spoke to a couple of beachcombers I had spoken to this lady as she passed me. I could see she was collecting bits of wood in her kids seaside bucket and asked if she had enough to start a fire. I spotted this map of Treasure Island on a pebble. The grains of sand no doubt show where the treasure is buried. But this stone shows the impression of a prehistoric plum Enough stupidity, I was frightened out of my skin when I came upon this monster as I was returning to my car Sorry
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 6, 2017 16:18:05 GMT
Mossie, I just love looking at your photographs, even the scary monster. I can see why you like strolling on that beach.
Fascinating history of the port. It prompted me to do some googling, as I was curious as to why the port of Felixstowe wasn't much, much older, especially considering the history of Harwich. Colonel Tomline certainly saw the opportunity to fill a need. Looking at the timeline in your link, the growth in use of the Dock between 1886 when it opened and 1980, when it became the largest container port in the UK, is almost mind-boggling.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 7, 2017 14:34:17 GMT
All of us have seen spectacular photos on some of the reports on this site, and Felixstowe Dock is not one of them. Wait, wait, that is not a criticism at all! This is one of my most favourite threads because of all of the life and activity in it, not to mention my continuing desire to take a cargo ship somewhere. So every little scrap that is posted here increases my determination to get on one of these container ships and see the world (or actually not the world, if one considers the world to be the land masses). As a child, going between Le Havre and New York multiple times on an ocean liner (and once from New York to Cannes!), I am sure that I am one of the passengers who spent the most time on the deck, at the stern, watching the huge propeller churning the water in a wake that went all the way to infinity. I am pretty sure that I will do the same when I finally manage to take a cargo ship. The ocean terrifies and thrills me, so absolutely any report mentioning ships that go places totally mesmerizes me. I know that a link exists somewhere on this site, but here is another link that shows you exactly where every ship is on the oceans of the world: www.vesselfinder.com/ The more you zoom on it, the more fascinating it becomes. If you click on any arrow, you will be informed of the name of the ship and usually get a photo of it.
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Post by mossie on Aug 13, 2017 19:28:11 GMT
As a change from my normal Sunday morning coffee trip to the Dock viewpoint cafe, decided to visit the seafront instead. One cannot escape the big beasts however, the containers just show above the horizon, if you're wondering what this is. 500mm of zoom just pulls it in. The visibility was pretty good, but not the best. Thew windfarm about 20 miles out is very shadowy here, the boat is about half that distance. This is our local seaside resort, and on a day like today gets plenty of locals and some holiday makers. Families were already enjoying the beach, the sea and the weather. I had arrived just before 10am and the parking spaces along the side of the beach road were getting full up. I also wanted to look at the Sunday market which lurks around the amusements, it was not as busy as it used to be so only took time out for a coffee. The amusements were originally started by Butlins, a well known resort company in the UK, and locals always knew this as Butlins, but in fact it had been owned and developed by Charlie Manning and his family. It spreads quite a way along the seafront, with slot machine arcades as well as kids rides etc. One of the market stalls has this typical jokey solicitors name, but actually sells secondhand stuff and odds and ends. So I had a stroll along the prom and sat down for a nice soft ice cream cone, the first I'd had for years, and then it was home for lunch
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Post by mossie on Aug 13, 2017 19:34:10 GMT
In the background to that last snap you can see a medium sized tramp just entering the channel into Felixstowe Dock, although it could perhaps be heading to Harwich or Ipswich.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 13, 2017 21:05:23 GMT
I regret the total disappearance of amusement arcades in France. They are so delightfully sleazy.
I like those distant sea skylines.
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 13, 2017 21:12:35 GMT
Botchett and Leggitt............. excellent.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 14, 2017 2:19:50 GMT
You really had a beautiful day for it! Killer pictures & amazing that you captured those very long shots. You may have enjoyed the beach and its arcades in the nick of time. From what I've been reading, some of the better-known ones on the English coast are being rediscovered, as it were, and enjoyed with hipster irony.
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Post by mossie on Aug 20, 2017 14:05:58 GMT
Another beautiful Sunday morning, so with the laundry finished, folded and put away, it was off for a coffee at the Felixstowe Dock viewing area. Initially disappointing because the nearest monster berth was empty, so I had my usual stroll along the beach. While returning to visit the cafe I noticed the pilot boat setting out into the estuary so hoped he was picking up something interesting. So I sat inside with my coffee to wait and it wasn't long before this one rolled up The Madrid Maersk, a so called megamax, capable of carrying about 21,000 boxes, and on its way from China via Algesiras in Spain to unload more desirable junk for us. This shot taken as I sat inside the cafe showing that we had a grandstand view of the whole operation It had two tugs in attendance because it had to turn round in order to enter the berth. This was quite an operation, taking over half an hour, with one tug shoving from the land side and the other one pulling from the sea side, while the boats main engine was also being used to assist. Nearly round All the while Trixie was sorting out stones to throw at it But at last it was almost home and the Harwich to Hook of Holland ferry, just visible on the left, had been impatiently waiting to pull out into the channel. That's enough excitement for the day
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 20, 2017 14:58:22 GMT
Mossie, you have given me something to anticipate every Sunday besides just Game of Thrones. Today's wonderful sequence shows very clearly the enormous efforts necessary to move products around the world. These giant boats don't just pull into port the way we slide into parking spaces at the supermarket. I adore your pictures of the tugs at work and it sure looks like you have a fine morning for it. In the first picture, on the far right -- are those dangling things claws for picking up the containers?
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Post by mossie on Aug 20, 2017 18:40:24 GMT
Yes Bixa, the crane operator drops the claws onto the top of the box and the teeth fold round to pick up corresponding slots in the container, then it is securely locked and can be picked up and deposited where the crane operator directs. All possibly computer controlled? The loading and unloading schedules must be extremely complex, with loading and unloading at different ports, the balance of the ship has to be maintained, and containers have to be accessible to the crane when they are required. With over 20,000 the mind boggles at the complexity.
What I also forgot is that the boats have side thrusters to help in turning.
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Post by mossie on Sept 10, 2017 21:37:34 GMT
Today's visit produced the boat with the greatest capacity so far, 21,413 TEU. (TEU is 20 ft equivalent unit. Note many containers nowadays are 40 ft long, 20ft was the original standard, but it gives a method of comparing these monsters, or 'megamaxes' as the trade has it.). It made me think "how much bigger can these boats get?. But I realised that there are many constraining factors, this thing is a quarter of a mile long, and few ports can handle it. Note from the picture that there is a danger of the bridge being hit by the crane jibs and those cranes are £multi million. Also they have to come through the Suez Canal, which has already had millions spent on it in adding additional by pass canals and deepening and widening the existing canal. There was talk at one time of an alternative Paname Canal being dug, but that seems to have dropped out of the reckoning. The existing Panama cannot handle the current big boats. And then I thought "we will soon have spent all our money in China and will have none left, having breached our borrowing limits". What acrazy world we live in. Anyhow here is the boat. I then noticed that the little ferry from Harwich was coming across soon so stupidly wondered how many bicycles the Hong Kong could carry Regaining a little bit of sense, I noticed various flowers/weeds rooted firmly in the shingle beach. perhaps the keen gardeners among us know what breed they are? or in this little self sown garden must be nettles?
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 11, 2017 1:34:04 GMT
It's SO big that only by concentrating on how many containers it holds could I get a sense of its giantness. That first darling plant is chamomile. You should have picked it & taken it home to make a soothing tea after all that cogitating on the Chinese. I'm pretty sure the second one, the one that looks like kale, is sea kale. It's edible, so could accompany your cup of chamomile. www.victoriananursery.co.uk/Seakale_Plant_Lillywhite/And you identified the last one correctly, good old henbit. The leaves, stem, and flowers of the plant are edible and have a slightly sweet and peppery flavor, similar to celery. Henbit can be eaten raw or cooked. -- according to Wikipedia. See ~ you didn't need to buy your lunch today!
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Post by mossie on Sept 11, 2017 8:25:29 GMT
Bixa, my lunch yesterday was steak and Cotes du Rhone. No contest!
The yellow flag in my second shot is where the foot ferry is now forced to pick up and set down its passengers, they were able to land right at the viewpoint cafe but were forced to move up the beach when the quay was extended to cater for the biggies. It means quite a walk across the shingle beach which must make shoving a bike through quite difficult.
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Post by mossie on Nov 12, 2017 15:29:06 GMT
It has become a habit that I visit the dock viewing area most Sunday mornings for my coffee. Last week produced this unexpected sight of a practically empty container ship entering the port But this morning produced another one of the recently built 'megamaxes', the website tells me that it only ranks No 8 by size. Incidentally these boats are listed as 399.990 meters long. Why the odd 10mm is chopped off I have no idea. As I sat in the cafe having my coffee I noticed a tug being hitched up in preparation for the boats departure. He was really going to earn his money because there was an extremely stiff cold wind blowing down the estuary, which made the times I spent taking snaps very hurried. But it was not long before the boat was dragged out into the channel to set off for the next port of call, Rotterdam, which is Europes largest container port. I was soon glad to be back in the warm.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 12, 2017 16:04:54 GMT
I'm glad you keep posting about Felixstowe Dock because it reminds me every time that I still have a project to take a trip on a cargo vessel. And some of the ones that I have considered make a stop in Felixstowe. Maybe I'll be able to wave to you.
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Post by bjd on Nov 12, 2017 17:15:34 GMT
Perhaps they chop off a few millimetres in order to come in below a certain length? Perhaps the rules about docking or something change if the ship is bigger than that?
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 13, 2017 5:25:31 GMT
Hooray ~ it's Sunday, so time for more Felixstowe Dock. Wonderful pictures, which of course is expected of you, Mossie and I absolutely love seeing the tugs at work. these boats are listed as 399.990 meters long. Why the odd 10mm is chopped off I have no idea. I was guessing it might have something to do with vessels using ports that aren't on the metric system, in order to be able to make calculations based on feet. However, 399.99 meters doesn't come out evenly -- there is .3 foot left over. Is it possible that the boats are 399.9 0 meters long? That works out to 1312 feet.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 13, 2017 6:08:06 GMT
I googled it and 399.990 metres is indeed that standard size for the big ones, although I did find a mention of one ship only being 399.87 and another one being 399.999, and one is mentioned as being 400 metres, but that might just be rounded up.
My own guess about the maximum length of these ships was perhaps the size of the locks in Suez and Panama. This led me to discover that the Suez Canal does not have locks because the Mediterranean and Red seas are at the same level. And none of these big container ships will be going through Panama because the Panamax dimension (official term) was 289.56 metres in length in the old days and the new Panamax dimension since 2016 is 366 metres.
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Post by tod2 on Nov 13, 2017 12:24:40 GMT
You are one lucky man Mossie. How I would love to be watching the 'comings and goings' of those big monster ships. Besides the cargo their containers are stuffed with, I look at them and see all the little businesses that have opened in a container. Take out food and barber shops mainly but it seams trendy these days to create a home by joining several together, cutting out windows and doors and making the container look almost un-recognisable when finished. This Sunday we traveled through an area of cane fields and new houses. Dotted alongside the road were these converted containers. I will try and post some scenes that I know Bixa and Kerouac will like. But not here...'nother slot on Anyport.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 13, 2017 12:42:01 GMT
France even has some student housing creations made of containers.
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Post by tod2 on Nov 13, 2017 13:15:40 GMT
Seems to work very well. Instead of hiring a 'storage locker' a lot of people are buying old containers and shoving all their excess furniture etc., into it. Mossie - I could not help notice that the blue ships of Maersk Line feature quite a bit in your photos. The first one you posted on 22nd June 2015. Then again it seems to be the same ship but I can't make out the name, appeared on the morning of 20th September 2015. Next one you snapped was the Marete Maersk on 8th November 2015. Followed by another appearance of I think...the Maersk Sealand on 4th May 2016. Then we have on 5th June 2016 the Morten Maersk. On 20th July 2016 you captured a spill from a Maersk but all we can see is it's stern this time. This time on 24th July 2017 another blue monster cruises in to port but I can't make out whether she is a repeat customer or a newbie. Coming up to 6 August 2017 you had a cafe` view of yet another Maersk heavyweight. Finally the latest Maersk to make a show was on 20th August and I can just see one docked ahead of the MSC Rifaya on 11th September 2017. Does this mean they are busier than all the others? Does it mean it's just the luck of the Sunday photographer?
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Post by mossie on Nov 13, 2017 19:22:04 GMT
Maersk is the largest container shipping company, and does other shipping jobs as well. It claims to run 639 vessels and covers the globe. The boats you see at Felixstowe tend to be operating on regular timetabled schedules from China to Europe, via ports in Malaysia and other Far East countries, generally stopping at the Suez container Facility while transiting the Suez Canal to then call at various ports around Europe. They have a fleet of these 'megamax' boats in the course of construction. Any increase in size is constrained by the Suez Canal, which has recently been widened and deepened to accommodate them, and by port facilities. Felixstowe has built a new quay to take them, you can see in my snaps that two of these ships can be lined up alongside and bigger cranes were bought from the Far East to handle the cargoes. The whole is a multi million pound business enabling the Far East to supply us with all the cheap goodies we crave.
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Post by mossie on Feb 19, 2018 19:25:45 GMT
Having almost recovered from the last of my recurring colds, I decided on coffee at the Dock last Sunday. This 19,000 box hulk occupied the nearest berth, but I wondered what the tug was doing lurking close to it. i noticed what I thought was a floating boom of the type used to contain oil spills and then went for my coffee While sitting there this odd looking dredger slowly made its way into the dock. This is the type which uses very powerful pumps to suck up the sand, shingle, or whatever, which explains the odd pipes and junk on deck. The little tug is also a workboat for odd jobs and hooked up the 'boom' to the dredger, which then got the pumps going in reverse to discharge its load down the pipe. Not easy to see what is happening, but the pipe went up onto the new quay. I can only assume they were filling a hole caused by the recent rough weather and high tides, which had caused some damage along the shore path I had taken earlier I was getting late for my lunch so left them to it.
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Post by mickthecactus on Feb 20, 2018 8:29:23 GMT
How wonderful to be able to haver coffee in such a fascinating place.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 20, 2018 16:45:26 GMT
Yaaay ~ so happy to see you back at your Sunday post, Mossie, and sharing the sights with us.
Of course I particularly liked this sequence. Tugs -- small but mighty.
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Post by mossie on Mar 30, 2018 14:52:53 GMT
Took a trip down to the dock viewing area this morning, first boat out was this rustbucket, the Sealand Washington, built in 2000 and badly in need of a repaint. Anyone handy with a brush?? But the real prize was this one, the Zhen Hua 23, a special boat built to carry the massive cranes built by its parent company in Shanghai. Two are in the process of being delivered to Felixstowe by this boat. Because the cranes overhang so far they cannot come through the Suez, but have to take the long way round the bottom of Africa. One crane is still on board which is the nearest to us in this shot which gives an idea of the massive overhang, the ballasting of the boat must be a tricky business. Last time I showed a dredger pumping gravel ashore, although it was not easy to see what was happening. This is being done because a new container park is being constructed by filling in behind the new berths now in use for the 'megamax' boats Not easy to see from this angle, but Neptune still rules the waves. The large heap of gravel at the left side is stockpiled in readiness for filling in behind the new dock wall under construction to form the base for the new area. To finish up here is another megamax on its way. I include this shot because it shows the new crane on the Zhen Hua, standing at a lower level than the existing cranes, but it will finish up level once completed.
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Post by mickthecactus on Mar 30, 2018 15:35:09 GMT
Is it Sunday already?
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 30, 2018 20:36:04 GMT
That crane-toting boat boggles the imagination!
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