Jump to content

Viking Ship Locations


Dukefan
 Share

Recommended Posts

25 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

OMG! an entire 4 month contract slow steaming to nowhere. Although it sounds like easy work, for the watchkeepers, it is extremely boring and results in the contract really dragging on.

 

If they do remain unassigned until 11th November, they will need to dock/anchor for stores & bunkers at least once. They may also have a number of crew changes. Unfortunately, those remaining onboard probably won't get shore leave.

Based on your comments the reason they may be "tooling around" in the South China Sea may be to change out or pick up crew in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia  and other South Pacific  spots during their four months on the "High Seas" and before they start cruises again for real.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Dukefan said:

Based on your comments the reason they may be "tooling around" in the South China Sea may be to change out or pick up crew in the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia  and other South Pacific  spots during their four months on the "High Seas" and before they start cruises again for real.

 

Assuming that they disembarked many of the ratings in India, Indonesia, Singapore & HK, they may have predominantly Deck/Engineering watchkeepers onboard. On the Sun most of the Senior Officers were European, but a couple of the 2nd/3rd Officers where probably Philippines. The Deck Ratings could have been Indonesian.

 

Therefore, they may have to find a port that will accept crew changes for the European Officers and ratings from the local countries.

 

If she remains at sea for 4 months, it will be really interesting to see where and how often she docks, especially as the Captains are 2 months on/2 months off. Unfortunately, not sure how frequently they are being relieved the past few months.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a question for the many knowledgeable people on this thread - 

I am on the roll call for the Sun's December 3 - 14th 2020 cruise from Lisbon to Miami.

Here's what Viking has for the Sun's itinerary:

9/5 - 9/19 - Bergen to Copenhagen - cancelled

9/19 - 10/3 - Copenhagen to Bergen - cancelled

10/3 - 10/17 - Bergen to Barcelona

10/17 - 10/24 - Barcelona to Rome

10/24 - 11/7 - Rome to Athens

11/7 - 11/21 - Athens to Rome

11/21 - 12/3 - Rome to Lisbon

Since Viking cancelled through September, some of our roll call members are wondering what will happen if Viking cancels October too.  Viking would then need to move the Sun from England to Athens - is that too far?  I know this is also conjecture and is also a long way off, so they would have time to move their ships to get them in the proper location.  But, many thanks for your best guess.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, JeriGail said:

Since Viking cancelled through September, some of our roll call members are wondering what will happen if Viking cancels October too.  Viking would then need to move the Sun from England to Athens - is that too far?  I know this is also conjecture and is also a long way off, so they would have time to move their ships to get them in the proper location.  But, many thanks for your best guess.

Too far for what?  Belfast to Piraeus is less than a week at 18 knots.  It means another month without revenue, and the fuel cost to get to Greece, but they could offer a repo cruise to gain some revenue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Viking next scheduled cruises as of 7/11/2020

   
         

Viking Jupiter

10/4/2020

Mediterranean Odyssey

Barcelona to Venus

13 Days

Viking Orion

11/11/2020

Australia & New Zealand

Sydney to Auckland

15 Days

Viking Sea

10/9/2020

Mediterranean Odyssey

Venice to Barcelona

13 Days

Viking Sky

10/6/2020

Mediterranean & Atlantic Crossing

Rome to Miami

27 Days

Viking Star

10/16/2020

New York, Bermuda & the West Indies

New York to San Juan

15 Days

Viking Sun

10/3/2020

Trade Routes of the Middle Ages

Bergen to Barcelona

15 Days

Viking Venus

1/26/2021

Iberian Explorer

Barcelona to London

8 Days

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Liz Masterson said:

Interesting am article on the various options for cruise ships at this time. 
 

https://apple.news/AIjLPe9-1SjCUJtrtWyfJoA

 

Unfortunately, I consider this your typical sensational article that is full of half truths. I found the comparison to aircraft storage very interesting, since ships operate in a challenging environment regardless of whether operational or laid up. Not many ships can be laid up in a dry desert. Yes, they can go to the desert in the Persian Gulf, but the humidity is around 100%. Not many ships can reach the Mojave, where they store aircraft.

 

Also laughed at the dropping anchor at sea comment. They must have added considerably more anchor cable, as ships can only anchor in fairly shallow water. The scope of chain (ratio of chain to water depth) depends on the holding properties of the bottom, with at least 4 shackles (360 feet) being required for 90 feet water depth. If the bottom is poor holding, the scope of chain increases to 6 or more shackles (540+ feet) for same depth of water (90 feet). Ships carry only 10 to 12 shackles on each anchor.

 

The bureaucratic inspections and drydocks are regulatory requirements, regardless of whether the vessel is operational or laid up. 

 

The author quoted a few people, but none of them were knowledgeable passenger ship deck or engineering officers, or even ship repair/maintenance experts.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

The author quoted a few people, but none of them were knowledgeable passenger ship deck or engineering officers, or even ship repair/maintenance experts.

Yeah, Andy, a "cruise historian" is quoted as the prime "expert" on marine maintenance.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Yeah, Andy, a "cruise historian" is quoted as the prime "expert" on marine maintenance.

So true. When reading this type of article, I always look for the resources used during the research. This one was a spectacular fail.🙁

 

If the article was discussing the old steam driven liners, I can see enlisting a historian, but few of those ships remain in operation. Most of the older tonnage will be scrapped and only the newer ships will be laid up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Steaming time from Liverpool to Belfast is about 22 hrs and they have almost 25 hrs for the transit at 9 kts. I suspect they are scenic cruising, in the dark, in the open waters south of IoM, rather than doing donuts in the busier waters between Belfast & Portpatrick.

 

At present they are about 120 miles from Belfast, with just under 14 hrs to make the ETA, which requires 8.7 kts. If still heading to Belfast, maintaining the same speed, they should turn around and head North shortly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Based on the track she altered shortly after my post last night, but then steamed East for a couple hours. Still a few miles south of Belfast and at current speed isn't going to make the pilot station by 17:00

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...