Viking Ship Locations

[BigAl94]

22 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

In normal times, depending on length of the docking, some non-essential crew can be sent on leave, or to other ships, with the rest remaining with the ship. Crew normally continue living on-board.

The crew will be subject to 14 days quarantine under current regulations 

[BigAl94]

The story locally in Belfast is that the ships are coming for cold layup. No talk of work being done. 

[Dukefan]

19 minutes ago, BigAl94 said:

The story locally in Belfast is that the ships are coming for cold layup. No talk of work being done. 

Why would Viking sail three cruise ships to Belfast for a cold layup?   Couldn't that be done in Norway?  If they are shutting these three ships down for a prolonged  period, wouldn't it make sense to do it in colder waters?

 

Edited June 22, 2020 by Dukefan

[BigAl94]

8 minutes ago, Dukefan said:

Why would Viking sail three cruise ships to Belfast for a cold layup?   Couldn't that be done in Norway?  If they are shutting these three ships down for a prolonged  period, wouldn't it make sense to do it in colder waters?

 

Ports are filling up. Southampton full, three Azamara ships in Glasgow so Belfasts turn. Not sure exactly why they have left Norway. 

[Peregrina651]

I love it when you guys start talking ship but, What is a "cold layup," please? And why would it make more sense to do it in colder waters? 

[uktog]

3 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

I love it when you guys start talking ship but, What is a "cold layup," please? And why would it make more sense to do it in colder waters? 

It’s nothing to do with the outside temperature, think of a warm lay up as sitting with the car engine idling, cold lay up engines off and cool down.  The tricky thing is the restart from cold, as the water systems have to be completely drained because in idle pipes you have a risk of bacteria. It could take a month to start up from a cold lay off.  A cold lay off requires very few crew onboard a warm lay over needs a much higher number of people including someone with a masters ticket. 

Edited June 22, 2020 by uktog

[BigAl94]

Was doing a bit of digging this morning and now agree there is likely work planned for these three ships. Sun and Sky are scheduled to dock at the ship repair quay and Sea at the nearby cruise terminal. I was surprised that Stena Europe was in the large building dock rather than the usual dry dock but then found this on a local ferry forum which also indicates what may be about to happen. "Harland & Wolff has confirmed that contrary to our previous report there is no issue with the gate at Belfast Dry Dock. The company have brought Belfast Building Dock back into operation so that Belfast Dry Dock can undergo a 10 year survey and have planned maintenance carried out. Harland & Wolff also hope to have multiple vessels dry docking simultaneously in the near future. There has been a lot of interest in using the facility and a number of bookings have already been made."  Stena Europe is due to leave the dock on July 1. Will update if I hear more.

Edited June 22, 2020 by BigAl94

[Dukefan]

1 hour ago, BigAl94 said:

Was doing a bit of digging this morning and now agree there is likely work planned for these three ships. Sun and Sky are scheduled to dock at the ship repair quay and Sea at the nearby cruise terminal. I was surprised that Stena Europe was in the large building dock rather than the usual dry dock but then found this on a local ferry forum which also indicates what may be about to happen. "Harland & Wolff has confirmed that contrary to our previous report there is no issue with the gate at Belfast Dry Dock. The company have brought Belfast Building Dock back into operation so that Belfast Dry Dock can undergo a 10 year survey and have planned maintenance carried out. Harland & Wolff also hope to have multiple vessels dry docking simultaneously in the near future. There has been a lot of interest in using the facility and a number of bookings have already been made."  Stena Europe is due to leave the dock on July 1. Will update if I hear more.

Thanks for this detailed update.  Please continue to let us know what you find out about these three Viking Ships time in Belfast.

[Dukefan]

The Viking Sea, Sun and Sky are now within a nautical mile of each other as they process to Belfast. 

 

In other news, the Viking Orion is now in Manila Harbor with about 25 other passenger cruise ships.

Edited June 22, 2020 by Dukefan

[Clay Clayton]

Dukefan 

Are you in the Triangle? Perhaps we need to have a Viking Society meeting at a local Explorer’s Lounge. LOL

[Dukefan]

36 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Dukefan 

Are you in the Triangle? Perhaps we need to have a Viking Society meeting at a local Explorer’s Lounge. LOL

Yes I am in the Triangle.  If the local Explorer's Lounges ever open up again that's a great idea.

[BigAl94]

Small update on arrival times tomorrow 23 June

VIKING SUN 06.30 

VIKING SKY 07.00
VIKING SEA 09.00

Stena Europe is leaving the dock on 24 June.

 

[Heidi13]

4 hours ago, Dukefan said:

The Viking Sea, Sun and Sky are now within a nautical mile of each other as they process to Belfast. 

 

In other news, the Viking Orion is now in Manila Harbor with about 25 other passenger cruise ships.

 

Just checked their positions, as of 11:30 (PDT Z-7) and based on their respective Latitudes, the Sky is about 18 miles ahead of the Sun, which is 3 miles ahead of the Sea. Each minute of Latitude is a Nautical Mile.

 

If the respective speeds remain consistent, the Sun should be abeam of Sky about 20:00 (PDT). This would be around Portpatrick/Stranraer.

[Dukefan]

51 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Just checked their positions, as of 11:30 (PDT Z-7) and based on their respective Latitudes, the Sky is about 18 miles ahead of the Sun, which is 3 miles ahead of the Sea. Each minute of Latitude is a Nautical Mile.

 

If the respective speeds remain consistent, the Sun should be abeam of Sky about 20:00 (PDT). This would be around Portpatrick/Stranraer.

When I saw all three of them about a nautical mile apart was at about 2 am (EDT).   Your positions are correct at about 2:30 pm EDT.

 

Edited June 22, 2020 by Dukefan

[BigAl94]

Viking Sky approaching berth in Belfast this morning

Edited June 23, 2020 by BigAl94
Add photo

[BigAl94]

Photo I was trying to attach!

[Clay Clayton]

22 hours ago, Dukefan said:

Yes I am in the Triangle.  If the local Explorer's Lounges ever open up again that's a great idea.

Drop me an email sometime-BigNCBear@aol.com

[Heidi13]

18 hours ago, Dukefan said:

When I saw all three of them about a nautical mile apart was at about 2 am (EDT).   Your positions are correct at about 2:30 pm EDT.

 

 

Dukefan - based on the time, which was 07:00 local, best guess is they were possibly doing an early morning group photo op, followed by individual photos. 

[Dukefan]

Viking Sea, Sun, and Sky are moored at the Belfast Shipyard.   None appear to be in any of the dry dock areas. The Sea and Sky do appear, however,  to be in Harland and Wolff's dredged box area.

Edited June 23, 2020 by Dukefan

[BigAl94]

6 hours ago, Dukefan said:

Viking Sea, Sun, and Sky are moored at the Belfast Shipyard.   None appear to be in any of the dry dock areas. The Sea and Sky do appear, however,  to be in Harland and Wolff's dredged box area.

They are in the three berths closest to the dry docks. 

[Heidi13]

If going to the drydock(s), arriving a couple of days early, assuming Stena Europe floats out tomorrow, they can lay down deck protection on the ships, before work starts in the dock.

 

After Stena Europe departs, the dock must be drained, blocks set for the Viking ships, then flooded again. Can take 12 to 24 before next ship(s) goes in.

[Jim Avery]

Andy, I love it when you talk dry dock. It takes me back to all the fun I have had in dry dock.😱 Also related to your recounts about expired licenses. Like you, I have a drawer full of old certificates. Except one. I obtained an Unlimited Masters ticket from Panama years ago and it has no expiration date. I guess they figure running big steel is like riding a bicycle. You never forget...😎 Seems so much more civilized than retaking all those classes and exams every 5 years.🍺🍺

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Andy, I love it when you talk dry dock. It takes me back to all the fun I have had in dry dock.😱 Also related to your recounts about expired licenses. Like you, I have a drawer full of old certificates. Except one. I obtained an Unlimited Masters ticket from Panama years ago and it has no expiration date. I guess they figure running big steel is like riding a bicycle. You never forget...😎 Seems so much more civilized than retaking all those classes and exams every 5 years.🍺🍺

 

Jim,

 

Transport Canada didn't have the resources to have everyone complete simulators and/or exams every 5-yrs, so all we did was provide a seatime testimonial and valid seafarer's medical. They re-validated our CoC for another 5-yrs. If at sea, we required 12-months seatime in 5-yrs to qualify for the auto-renewal and even when I ran the shipyard for 5 yrs, they still considered that as valid seatime. However in the summer months I used to get some real seatime, as I jumped on a ship for a couple of weeks and gave the Masters some time off.

[kcpvwill]

Stena Europe still appears to be in the dry dock, I wonder if it is holding up the Viking operations. 

[Heidi13]

Viking Sun has moved from the Cruise Berth to a ship repair berth outside the Graving Dock.