howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
10 January 2011
21:0388512i would have thought that two giant ferries would be more than sufficient for their needs kevin.
i would imagine that the option is in place should sea france stop trading.
Guest 649- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 14,118
10 January 2011
21:1488515This is going the way I told it would go with the new big ships now coming in,within two years we will see the end of one ferry company and within five years we might even be down to one company and that will be P.O.It does look good for P.O. but not the other companys so again it is wait and see.
Guest 697- Registered: 13 Apr 2010
- Posts: 622
10 January 2011
21:3888519I agree there may well be more consolidation to come within the industry. Witness the Norfolkline/DFDS deal. However, I very much doubt that the French will be content to leave the Channel. I suspect we'll see a new French operator, such as Brittany Ferries, taking over what's left of SeaFrance.
Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
10 January 2011
21:5788524With more passenger services running through the tunnel, (deutscheBahn, SNCF etc. both interested), future freight growth is likely to focus on Dover rather than the tunnel. Looking from a long- range strategic viewpoint, high-speed passenger traffic through the tunnel is bound to take market share away from near-Europe air services. Hence P&O's decision to buy two mega-ferries with the freight Market in mind.
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
Guest 702- Registered: 9 Jul 2010
- Posts: 241
11 January 2011
09:3688560Yes Paul, I've never seen so many cars in the NT car parks, all levels were in use, even cars parked in the roadways. Absolute chaos when nearly everyone tried to leave at the same time though.
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
11 January 2011
18:0488596ken,post 14 of yours,top picture is the molare in the middle.if you closely you will see the seafrance logo on the side of the ship,
Terry Nunn
- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,316
11 January 2011
21:3688633Mike's contribution. Incidentaly he went up to Langdon Cliffs to film from there, as well as the £3 entrance they wanted a £10 "filming fee". He left and walked down the road a bit!!
http://www.youtube.com/user/DoverPageant
Terry
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
11 January 2011
23:4688641Wondered where Mike would be
Been nice knowing you :)
Guest 702- Registered: 9 Jul 2010
- Posts: 241
12 January 2011
09:4188649Brian
Oops! The caption was correct for the photo I thought I had uploaded
I have changed the caption now.
Guest 673- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
12 January 2011
11:0888652Seen here berthed on ED6 where she has been since moving from the Eastern Arm.
Understand that she may have serious technical issues. Rumoured that a main bearing has failed and replacement being sought from the sister ship Spirit of France currently under construction.
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
12 January 2011
12:1688658ken.glad to see you corrected a small error,otherwise no problem.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
21 January 2011
16:0989803on local teletext it says that the "spirit of britain" left on it's maiden voyage to calais at 9.20 a.m. today.
i have looked on the websites of d.h.b. p & o and kent online and there is no mention of it, thought there would have been a lot of fanfare about it.
Guest 673- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
21 January 2011
16:5489815Yes, she made her maiden voyage in service this morning and is presently in Calais on her second trip.
Ray Goodfellow of Dover Ferry Photos was onboard for the first trip and will be submitting a voyage report in due course.
Meanwhile, the Delft Seaways has arrived back in Dover following her annual refit in Arno's Dunkerque and is now in full DFDS colours, see below. Dover Seaways has followed her into refit at Arno's.
http://www.doverferryphotosforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1545Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
21 January 2011
17:1689819We mere mortals can't access that link without a user ID and password, Ed.
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
Guest 658- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 660
21 January 2011
17:4689831Ref posts 21 to 24 it is not unusual to wait 3 or 4 hrs for a ferry there is a requirement for the larger ships. Also sometimes you wait for an hour or more to get a train back. This panic about having too many ships as been going on since the tunnel opened. The tunnel is running at full capacity for freight at the moment. All over europe east European lorries are parked up because of the recession, when they start getting work again we will definately need the new ships.
beer the food of the gods
Guest 658- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 660
21 January 2011
17:4889832Hopefully i will travel on the new ship soon and post piccies of the interior and my comments.
beer the food of the gods
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
21 January 2011
18:3189837i was about to ask if anyone travels on it soon, pics and report of the interior would be appreciated here.
Guest 673- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
21 January 2011
18:4189839Peter. Re #34. I usually add the rider that one needs to be registered to view Dover Ferry Photos Forums but assumed that everybody interested would have done that long ago, particularly yourself with your interest in port privatisation. The forums and the main site are a mine of information on the port and the ships using it. Registration is required to eliminate spam and only takes a jiffy. Registration page at:
http://www.doverferryphotosforums.co.uk/ucp.php?mode=register&sid=4480435d3ca7ac3df37eb4ef91068289
I am on leave at the moment so have not yet taken any photos of the Delft in her new livery but she looks quite smart. The giant norfolkline.com logo has gone from the side, thank goodness, and there is a much more harmonious DFDS Seaways logo. The route director said some months ago that they would not be using a dot com logo any more as these days everybody has the internet and will automatically google the company name for info. The hull has been repainted in DFDS dark blue to replace the Maersk light blue so the transformation is now complete.
Guest 658- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 660
21 January 2011
19:1489842Does anyone know wether it has exhaust scrubbers fitted to reduce emissions.
beer the food of the gods
Guest 673- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
21 January 2011
20:0789847Don't think exhaust scrubbers ever got past an experiment P&O carried out on a single generator exhaust on one of their ferries. P&O probably burn the same heavy fuel as we do in DFDS, which is 1% sulphur or less.
Everybody burns a lot less fuel than they used to as all companies have instructed their ferries to operate at reduced speed which dramatically reduces fuel consumption, the major preoccupation presently in view of the cost. Spirit of Britain burns the same amount of fuel as the vessel she has replaced, the Pride of Dover, and carries twice as much so that can be viewed as equivalent to halving emissions at a stroke.
International legislation is being considered to require using heavy fuel of 0.1% sulphur content in future years but this would require an enormously expensive investment in global infrastructure and would hugely increase running costs. Needless to say, it is being fiercely resisted.
