Viking Ship Locations

[BigAl94]

4 minutes ago, JeriGail said:

The Sun appears to have stopped near Bangor and it's destination is listed as Belfast ANCH - I'm assuming that means anchor.

 Belfast Anchor refers to the area off Bangor where ships anchor prior to passage into Belfast Harbour https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ports/22343 

She will likely head for Belfast in the morning, interestingly coincides with Stena Europe leaving the dry dock so waiting game to see if she is going into dry dock or back to previous berth.

[Heidi13]

27 minutes ago, JeriGail said:

The Sun appears to have stopped near Bangor and it's destination is listed as Belfast ANCH - I'm assuming that means anchor.

 

Affirmative, she is brought up to the anchor in the Belfast approaches.

[JeriGail]

I let Tom McLean Positive Belfast (the guy who filmed the 3 Viking ships in Belfast) know that the Sun may be coming in to Belfast tomorrow morning, so we may see more video.

[Heidi13]

Viking Sun has weighed anchor and is now underway, inbound towards Belfast harbour. Will be interesting to see where she docks.

[chengkp75]

26 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

Viking Sun has weighed anchor and is now underway, inbound towards Belfast harbour. Will be interesting to see where she docks.

If she does go into drydock, it could be that she was discharging liquids or doing ballast water exchange prior to going on the blocks.  I know its not as critical in a graving dock as in a floating dock, but the ship's trim might not have been attainable with current liquid contents.

[Heidi13]

2 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

If she does go into drydock, it could be that she was discharging liquids or doing ballast water exchange prior to going on the blocks.  I know its not as critical in a graving dock as in a floating dock, but the ship's trim might not have been attainable with current liquid contents.

 

Since she didn't appear to call into IoM, that was my thoughts. When I looked first thing this morning her course was towards Belfast, but now she just appears to be holding position.

[Heidi13]

After than more than an hour of drifting around the anchorage, she has just updated her status to being again brought up to the anchor.

[Jim Avery]

The poor lads.  They can't get away with a thing with thousands of voyeurs peeking over their shoulders through the various ship tracker websites.  Maybe they met a few lovely Irish lassies and used the classic line: "would you like to come see my ship?"  What's wrong with a brief jaunt around the Irish Sea in the hopes of better interpersonal relations between nations??  I tried my best when at sea to promote friendly relations.......😎

[duquephart]

2 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Viking Sun has weighed anchor and is now underway, inbound towards Belfast harbour. Will be interesting to see where she docks.

 

How much ----- oh never mind.

[Jim Avery]

5 minutes ago, duquephart said:

 

How much ----- oh never mind.

19,000 lbs..... More or less......

[Dukefan]

Nothing new here but still interesting in these two news articles: 

1) https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/harland-wolff-makes-turnaround-with-cruise-and-ferry-refits

2) https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/23168-cruise-ship-repairs-start-at-harland-wolff-yard-eyes-newbuilds.html

Edited July 3, 2020 by Dukefan

[BigAl94]

Viking Sun hasn't moved since she dropped anchor yesterday evening. She is due return to Belfast, I have been told she only moved to facilitate traffic in the port accessing the building dock including floating in and out of dock gates. Stena Europe left yesterday evening and Stena Adventurer is due to be dry docked in the near future. Doubt very much if Sun is going into dry dock. Photo of her a short time ago at anchor off Bangor on a wet misty afternoon.

 

Edited July 3, 2020 by BigAl94

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, Jim Avery said:

The poor lads.  They can't get away with a thing with thousands of voyeurs peeking over their shoulders through the various ship tracker websites.  Maybe they met a few lovely Irish lassies and used the classic line: "would you like to come see my ship?"  What's wrong with a brief jaunt around the Irish Sea in the hopes of better interpersonal relations between nations??  I tried my best when at sea to promote friendly relations.......😎

 

HaHa - promoting friendly relations must be the current politically correct description😁😁

 

Jim - things were a little different for us old seadogs. On my first ship, which was a regular visitor to NZ, spending 2 months on the coast, each trip. The day we arrived in Wellington, we had a number of locals on the dock, waiting to come aboard. They remained onboard for the entire time on the coast, disembarking just before our last departure. They were even great seamen, as they often "turned to" on deck in the morning, helping (supervising) the cadets top derricks, open hatches, etc.

 

As cadets, we always knew the location of student nurse residences. All to the benefit of international relations, especially on cargo ships, as we were in port for up to 3 weeks..😁🥂

 

Just can't imagine that happening today.

[BigAl94]

Sun has just left anchorage at Bangor destination Liverpool. No idea what's going on as she was due in Belfast 5.00pm today. I'm guessing a disagreement over berthing arrangements in Belfast

[Jammy Bun]

1 hour ago, BigAl94 said:

Sun has just left anchorage at Bangor destination Liverpool. No idea what's going on as she was due in Belfast 5.00pm today. I'm guessing a disagreement over berthing arrangements in Belfast

 

Maybe they're practising for the possible Round Britain cruise that has been mentioned to us UK cruisers. 🙂

 

There's a webcam on the Wirral side of the Mersey, which overlooks the cruise terminal, so fans might want to check it out later:-

https://www.wirralcam.org/wirralcam2016/waterfront2.shtml

 

[Heidi13]

Thanks for posting the webcam link.

 

Also noted that she is bound for Liverpool at top speed for a 22:00 ETA, navigating the estuary on a flood tide and docking just before High Water Slack. I remember that Liverpool has a huge tidal range.

 

If she is going to the cruise terminal, it is an interesting berth, as it is on the river and not inside one of the locks.

[Dukefan]

What about Cammell Laird Shipyard as a destination?  They don't refit many Cruise Ships but I believe they have the capability. If Viking wants to get these three ships all refitted by September, maybe three ships at one time was more than Harland & Wolff could schedule with their other commitments to Stena.

[BigAl94]

22 minutes ago, Dukefan said:

What about Cammell Laird Shipyard as a destination?  They don't refit many Cruise Ships but I believe they have the capability. If Viking wants to get these three ships all refitted by September, maybe three ships at one time was more than Harland & Wolff could schedule with their other commitments to Stena.

Surely no need to refit a three year old cruise ship?

[Heidi13]

28 minutes ago, Dukefan said:

What about Cammell Laird Shipyard as a destination?  They don't refit many Cruise Ships but I believe they have the capability. If Viking wants to get these three ships all refitted by September, maybe three ships at one time was more than Harland & Wolff could schedule with their other commitments to Stena.

Could be a definite possibility and reason for the high speed transit to make the high tide. Haven't been into Cammell Laird, but like most of the old docks it is behind an entrance lock and it is a tough arrival for bigger ships.

[Heidi13]

7 minutes ago, BigAl94 said:

Surely no need to refit a three year old cruise ship?

There is no regulatory requirement to drydock, as her first docking should be about Spring 2022. However, they could be docking early, when the ship is out of service, to save taking it out of service for a couple of weeks in 2022.

 

Even if not drydocking for the 1st Special Survey, they could be completing wet dock work they couldn't complete alongside the regular berth in Norway.

[JeriGail]

1 hour ago, BigAl94 said:

Surely no need to refit a three year old cruise ship?

It could be COVID mods.  I was reading about the changes that Norwegian is making, specifically around the medical center.  They are adding isolation rooms and greatly expanding their supplies around testing, vaccines, oxygen equipment, etc.  They are also adding a new position, public health officer, who will be oversee the new training and monitoring efforts.

[JeriGail]

The new Liverpool ETA is 20:00.

[Dukefan]

53 minutes ago, JeriGail said:

It could be COVID mods.  I was reading about the changes that Norwegian is making, specifically around the medical center.  They are adding isolation rooms and greatly expanding their supplies around testing, vaccines, oxygen equipment, etc.  They are also adding a new position, public health officer, who will be oversee the new training and monitoring efforts.

I believe all Viking Ocean Ships have an ICU equipped medical room.

[Heidi13]

27 minutes ago, Dukefan said:

I believe all Viking Ocean Ships have an ICU equipped medical room.

 

Affirmative, as the doc on the Sun gave us a great tour of her facility. They had a couple of ICU/Isolation rooms with +ve pressure. One was a single room and the other had multiple beds, which I believe was 2 beds.

 

She had worked on other Lines and some of the major hospitals in UK, Europe and US, and was very positive on the Viking Medical Centre facilities.

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, JeriGail said:

The new Liverpool ETA is 20:00.

 

Viking Sun now about 5 to 6 miles from the Mersey Bar Pilot Station, then it is a long pilotage of 15 to 20 miles into Liverpool. Probably another 90 - 120 mins before we know where she is docking.