Is the Koningsdam heading back to the Caribbean

[rjbean4]

On occasion I have been checking to see where all the ships are. Koningsdam had  started the trip around South America to get to the west coast. Yesterday I noticed that she was docked at Fortaleza, Brazil after spending a couple of days just sitting there like she was anchored. So I decided to check again tonight and have noticed that she has turned around and  is heading more north in the direction of the Caribbean and wonder if there has been a change of plans for her to go to the west coast. When I checked the HAL website her Alaska cruises starting in mid May are still listed.but we all know that the Canadian ports are closed at that time and till July 1st. Hopefully Copper will see this and maybe he will be able to share some info on this as her speed at the time of starting this thread is 20 knts.  

Edited April 5, 2020 by rjbean4

[SeaDog-46]

Koningsdam is around the corner of Brasil & heading for Cristobal for bunkers I would think & then through the canal.

[rjbean4]

3 minutes ago, SeaDog-46 said:

Koningsdam is around the corner of Brasil & heading for Cristobal for bunkers I would think & then through the canal.

 She was going to be going around south America to get to the west coast because she is not able to transit the canal. Not even the new locks due to  the overhang of her lifeboats.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

3 minutes ago, SeaDog-46 said:

Koningsdam is around the corner of Brasil & heading for Cristobal for bunkers I would think & then through the canal.

Due to the positioning of her lifeboats the Panama Canal authorities have denied her permission to transit. Now that was assuming a full passenger and crew compliment. Were HAL to want to do the transit with no passengers and minimal crew it may be a different story.

 

As there may be no Alaska season she may just stay in the Caribbean area until sailings resume. They could easily move the Nieuw Amsterdam or Eurodam to the West coast to replace her until she could reposition around the horn at this same time next year. 

[SeaDog-46]

Well maybe just bunkers - Cristobal is a major bunker port in that area.

[SeaDog-46]

There is also a fairly safe anchorage off Cristobal / Colon.

 

Koningsdam would have no problems going round Cape Horn or through Magellan Straits in winter.

I have done it in mid winter - July 1985.

By definition "Going around the Horn" is going through Drake Passage from North of 50 deg. south from either Ocean to the other.  From square rigger days.

No cruise ships do this as they always use part or all of Magellan or Beagle channel.

Edited April 5, 2020 by SeaDog-46

[Copper10-8]

K-dam arrived at the outer anchorage of Fortaleza, Brasil on 31 Mar 2020. The next day, 01 APR 20, she received permission to move to Fortaleza' inner anchorage. On 02 APR 20, after receiving permission to do so, she entered Fortaleza's harbor propper and two hours later, she was safely alongside her berth for provisioning. Three sea containers were delivered by trucks and the palleted contents, after being thoroughly washed and disinfected, loaded onboard and placed inside one of the ship's "cold rooms" for five days worth of isolation. 

 

K-dam was scheduled to depart that day, 02 APR 20, at 1700 hrs however, one hour prior to that departure, received unexpected yet very welcome news, as well as permission from the local authorities to bunker fuel. Her departure was thus postponed, she overnighted in place, and on 03 APR 20 the bunkering process started and was eventually successfully completed, meaning that the ship was able to top her tanks off.  

 

K-dam departed Fortaleza on 03 APR at 2100 hrs however, not in a southerly direction but on a course north back towards the Caribbean, destination Panama! Stay tuned for further as to her intentions upon arrival off the Republica de Panama

 

 

 

Edited April 5, 2020 by Copper10-8

[Belgian fry]

According to her CD, they are going to the Panama canal!

[Himself]

5 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

K-dam arrived at the outer anchorage of Fortaleza, Brasil on 31 Mar 2020. The next day, 01 APR 20, she received permission to move to Fortaleza' inner anchorage. On 02 APR 20, after receiving permission to do so, she entered Fortaleza's harbor propper and two hours later, she was safely alongside her berth for provisioning. Three sea containers were delivered by trucks and the palleted contents, after being thoroughly washed and disinfected, loaded onboard and placed inside one of the ship's "cold rooms" for five days worth of isolation. 

 

K-dam was scheduled to depart that day, 02 APR 20, at 1700 hrs however, one hour prior to that departure, received unexpected yet very welcome news, as well as permission from the local authorities to bunker fuel. Her departure was thus postponed, she overnighted in place, and on 03 APR 20 the bunkering process started and was eventually successfully completed, meaning that the ship was able to top her tanks off.  

 

K-dam departed Fortaleza on 03 APR at 2100 hrs however, not in a southerly direction but on a course north back towards the Caribbean, destination Panama! Stay tuned for further as to her intentions upon arrival off the Republica de Panama

 

 

 

Thank you John.  You have still got very good sources.

[Boytjie]

The Koningsdam's forecasted route:

 

 

 

Edited April 5, 2020 by Boytjie

[rjbean4]

7 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

K-dam arrived at the outer anchorage of Fortaleza, Brasil on 31 Mar 2020. The next day, 01 APR 20, she received permission to move to Fortaleza' inner anchorage. On 02 APR 20, after receiving permission to do so, she entered Fortaleza's harbor propper and two hours later, she was safely alongside her berth for provisioning. Three sea containers were delivered by trucks and the palleted contents, after being thoroughly washed and disinfected, loaded onboard and placed inside one of the ship's "cold rooms" for five days worth of isolation. 

 

K-dam was scheduled to depart that day, 02 APR 20, at 1700 hrs however, one hour prior to that departure, received unexpected yet very welcome news, as well as permission from the local authorities to bunker fuel. Her departure was thus postponed, she overnighted in place, and on 03 APR 20 the bunkering process started and was eventually successfully completed, meaning that the ship was able to top her tanks off.  

 

K-dam departed Fortaleza on 03 APR at 2100 hrs however, not in a southerly direction but on a course north back towards the Caribbean, destination Panama! Stay tuned for further as to her intentions upon arrival off the Republica de Panama

 

 

 

Thanks a million Copper. I knew that after starting this thread that at some point you would find it and be able to find out and share a whats up with this. So yeah maybe somethings up being able to take a shortcut through the canal and will continue to follow her. Maybe we will be sitting in front of our screens glued to the Canal webcams again like so many of us that were watching the record setting transits of Zaandam & Rotterdam.

 

Oh speaking of. Copper, any updates on Zaandam and Rotterdam, How are they doing?

[HALrunner]

Thanks for the update!

We were *almost* on the Koningsdam for her trip around South America. While we were flying to FLL, the cruise was cancelled:(

[catl331]

12 hours ago, rjbean4 said:

Not even the new locks due to  the overhang of her lifeboats.

It has been suggested on another thread that she could possibly remove the lifeboats for the transit and then restore them on the Pacific end.  They could follow the ship through the locks like ducklings behind their mother! Or the lifeboats could go through the old locks.

Edited April 5, 2020 by catl331

[SilvertoGold]

9 minutes ago, HALrunner said:

Thanks for the update!

We were *almost* on the Koningsdam for her trip around South America. While we were flying to FLL, the cruise was cancelled:(

 

We were highly disappointed!  Any news of the refund/FCC yet?

[rjbean4]

15 minutes ago, catl331 said:

It has been suggested on another thread that she could possibly remove the lifeboats for the transit and then restore them on the Pacific end.  They could follow the ship through the locks like ducklings behind their mother! Or the lifeboats could go through the old locks.

Yes I have read about this happening. Just have to continue to follow her and be on the lookout from any updates that Copper10-8 is able to find out and pass on to the rest of us. I was one of the very large number of followers who were tracking the warp speed transits that Zaandam and Rotterdam did. At 3am local time for me I finally gave up and at that time Zaandam was in the lower lock on the Atlantic side and Rotterdam had entered the lake and was throttling up.  If Koningsdam does end up doing a transit then will sit and watch that one too.

[rafinmd]

Would the lifeboats need to go through the canal?  Could they be loaded on a train?  Bow, aft deck, top deck?

 

Roy

Edited April 5, 2020 by rafinmd
Additional options

[cruzingnut]

28 minutes ago, HALrunner said:

Thanks for the update!

We were *almost* on the Koningsdam for her trip around South America. While we were flying to FLL, the cruise was cancelled:(

 

This is why I wish that they would not wait til the last second to cancel cruises.  Many of us have upcoming cruises that we will need to get to as they are in a different location from where we live.  Not all of us fly (even though I just did, after 20+ years of not flying after being disembarked off the Amsterdam in Fremantle! 😱).  For us, we live in Miami and are booked on the Voyage of the Vikings in July.  I need to make arrangements to get there but I am loath to do it as I don't have a clue if it will go or not.  Seriously, I doubt it will but they need to do these cancellations sooner.

 

Linda R.

[catl331]

17 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

Could they be loaded on a train?  Bow, aft deck, top deck?

Probably, but IMO the simplest way would be to just sail them through. I don't know what their fuel range is, but maybe they could be towed by the ship or a tug.

Edited April 5, 2020 by catl331

[richwmn]

36 minutes ago, catl331 said:

Probably, but IMO the simplest way would be to just sail them through. I don't know what their fuel range is, but maybe they could be towed by the ship or a tug.

Unless the Panama Canal Authority makes a concession, each of the Tenders/Lifeboats would then have to pay a fee for using the Canal. I don't know what this would amount to as opposed to storing them on deck where there would be no fee.

 

[catl331]

Would they all fit on a deck someplace? According to THIS it looks like about $2000 each to float them through.  We'll just have wait and watch!

Edited April 5, 2020 by catl331

[RMLincoln]

Storing them on deck requires more than space... they'd need a crane or cranes to place them, and cradles so the hulls and props are not damaged.  Probably cheaper and less risky to put them in the water, JMHO.  m--  

[rjbean4]

Now that this is becoming a possibility wonder if the lifeboats would be lowered into the water prior to the transit and go through in the lock with the ship. Hopefully their would be enough room for all of them. Then when the ship completes each set of locks they would all be brought back on board. Then repeat the process to do the locks on the pacific side. As mentioned before, Copper10-8 is our go to for info related to this and sure when he finds out anything will pass it on.

[richwmn]

4 minutes ago, rjbean4 said:

Now that this is becoming a possibility wonder if the lifeboats would be lowered into the water prior to the transit and go through in the lock with the ship. Hopefully their would be enough room for all of them. Then when the ship completes each set of locks they would all be brought back on board. Then repeat the process to do the locks on the pacific side. As mentioned before, Copper10-8 is our go to for info related to this and sure when he finds out anything will pass it on.

The "old" locks would not have room for the tenders to accompany the ship, the "new" locks might. In either case, there would still be fees involved unless the PCA makes an exception.

[rjbean4]

Yeah  I know that the only option for the K is the new locks. All we can do is just see what happens and what we hear from Copper. Will be a few days before they even get to  the Atlantic side entrance anyways. With all the cruising we have done it has included 7 transits and some partials on the Atlantic side so we have witnessed the operations there a number of times which has included seeing the operations of the new locks from the lake while anchored. Its just when I noticed this last night just thought I would share it. Either way will be interesting to see it on the webcams when something does happen. Were all looking for things to do right now. Fortunately for mom and I we don't have any cruising plans till December.

Edited April 5, 2020 by rjbean4

[Copper10-8]

1 hour ago, catl331 said:

Would they all fit on a deck someplace? According to THIS it looks like about $2000 each to float them through.  We'll just have wait and watch!

 

There is limited, but not enough, space to accomplish that