UP CLOSE: Lots of Windage, Lots of Wind! OOCL Indonesia sails in 25-30 knots SSW, 4 tugs, Part 1, Let Go! Sunday 7 April 2024.
Strong Southwesterly breezes can present problems at the UK Port of Felixstowe - sometimes with container cranage, and sometimes with shiphandling.
Today's strong SSW breeze, gusting up to 28 or 30 knots, prompted the master and pilot to order all 4 of the port's main tugs, and they were working hard.
https://youtu.be/iMOhxyoVBro

WATCH: 23 Years Old, and Still Going Strong: W Kampala arrives in a force 5-6 breeze; 8.35am, Wednesday 4 April 2024
She was originally built as Maersk Kampala back in 2001, and 23 years later, she is under charter back to the same line.
When she was first in service, she was a large ship of her time, employed on major routes around the world. Today, she is still occupied on an important service, but one that is more suited to her 7,000 TEU capacity.
https://youtu.be/cvsVo9ptyi8

WATCH: In from Morocco and the Med: CMA CGM Montoir arrives at Felixstowe, 3 April 2024
After a call at Tanger Med, a major hub at the entrance to the Mediterranean, following a long 6-port Med circuit, CMA CGM Montoir arrives at Felixstowe.
https://youtu.be/Y6JTVhIsC0c

WATCH: Vilnia Maersk Sails from Felixstowe, 7.10am, Saturday 30 March 2024.
Heading out on her regular trip around the Eastern part of Northern Europe and the Baltic, Vilnia Maersk looks like she's carrying a moderate load outbound, after arriving here with very little aboard - see our arrival video.
https://youtu.be/2TqZzZUiD_s

WATCH: Dropping her Drag Head and Starting Work - Medway at Felixstowe, 8.50am, Wednesday 27 March 2024
Dredging is a never-ending job for ports like Felixstowe and Harwich, where 2 large rivers, the Orwell and Stour, dump a lot of silt.
And with the recent deepening of the main Felixstowe channels, there must be more likelihood of silt deposits starting to cover the bottom of those channels.
https://youtu.be/WzWGC35kPPc

WATCH: Crossing in the Main Channel at Harwich Harbour: Vilnia Maersk and Acacia Seaways pass, 8.50am, Wednesday 27 March, 2024
Another of Maersk Line's 7 ice-class sisterships, designed especially for work in the icy winter Baltic.
Like last week's arrival in this class, Vuoksi Maersk, today's arrival is virtually empty.
https://youtu.be/qQwZue3guvY

WATCH: UP CLOSE: Ane Maersk Maiden Call - new ship, new design, new fuel; 25 March 2024.
First of a brand new design for Maersk Line - a main line container ship with the accomodation and bridge right forward, with an engine which can operate on either green methanol or conventional bunker fuel.
Felixstowe is Ane Maersk's first Northern European call, but she did make a call at Tanger Med in North Africa on her way from Tanjung Pelepas, .
https://youtu.be/cZXEFDHgpZA

WATCH: Another Brand New Maiden Caller from MSC; MSC Adya arrives Felixstowe, 1.20pm, Sunday 24 March 2024
There seems to be a continuous stream of newbuild container ships coming from MSC, and this ship, which entered service in February, was just 15,600 TEU out of the 1,400,000 (1.4 million) TEU of new ship capacity which MSC have on order for 2024.
https://youtu.be/ODDxnvU28bk

WATCH: Direct via the Cape from Mundra, India; MSC Roma arrives Felixstowe UK, after her 10,844 nautical mile voyage from Mundra, India, 19 March, 2023
Another of MSC's one-time big ships, built back in 2006, and in MSC's fleet to help them fight for traffic after they quit the 2M Alliance with Maersk at the end of 2024.
https://youtu.be/HVjeV-FAI0A

WATCH: Ultimate Seagoing Giants: OOCL Gdynia arrives at Felixstowe; 4PM, Monday 18 March 2024.
One of OOCL's monster container ships arriving at the UK port of Felixstowe, after an 11,378 nautical mile from Singapore via the Cape of Good Hope.
Part 2 of this video up tomorrow!
https://youtu.be/vAxg-VJ1BeU

WATCH: 11,961 Sea Miles from Malaysia; MSC Tomoko arrives at Felixstowe, 17 March 2024.
Built back in 2006, MSC Tomoko is another of MSC's "big in her day" ships, which the line has been buying and chartering in its efforts to present a winning array of ship routes for it's split with Maersk Line.
The end of their alliance, "M2", is due to happen at the end of 2024, and shippers and other lines are expecting a major battle for supremacy in the container shipping market.
https://youtu.be/bbAPLlM1iO0

WATCH: Sailing after her Maiden Call: Maersk Cincinnati heads for Hamburg, afternoon of 16 March 2024.
After making her maiden call at Felixstowe, this brand new Maersk vessel sails for Hamburg, after starting her Northern Europe round of calls here. She came into service in January, but her livery is slightly different to new Maersk-owned vessels, as she is owned by tonnage provider Seaspan Corporation and chartered to Maersk Line.
https://youtu.be/CLhiVoV4tSk

Ship brings down 4 - yes, 4 - Ship to Shore cranes in Turkey:
The 13,892 TEU YM Witness has brought down 4 ship to shore cranes while coming alongside at Eyvapport, Turkey, today, Saturday 16 March 2024.
VIDEO HERE: https://www.youtube.com/@ShipsandShipping/community

WATCH: Off to Work on the Greater Gabbard wind farm: Glomar Supporter sails from Harwich International: 16 March 2024
A real multi-purpose vessel, that's Glomar Supporter - the 2 A-frames were only added a year ago, for a 3-year initial charter with Rovco to deliver a package of site characterisation solutions and specialised offshore surveys, supporting offshore wind projects across ScotWind, the Southern North, Irish and Celtic Sea developments.
https://youtu.be/_yozvn8_t94

WATCH: 24,346 TEU Megamax MSC Michel Cappellini heads back East: sailing towards Algeciras, on Sunday, 10 March 2024.
Ships of Cappellini's size are referred to as "Megamax" container ships - like many large vessels in service now, they are 400 metres long and over 60 metres wide - but the key size factor is that they are 24 rows of containers wide, giving a huge capacity jump from the 22 or 23 rows of previous ships.
https://youtu.be/o3-jO2mlKGM

WATCH: Arriving in the Spring Sunshine: Cosco Indonesia return to Felixstowe from a 5-week Mediterranean circuit; 7am, 9 March 2024
It wasn't so long ago that ships of this size, 334 metres long and 8,500 TEU, were major vessels, but now they are relegated to much shorter trips - the big shipping lines call it cascading down, and ultra large ships take on the long hauls, and these move to shorter rotations.
https://youtu.be/UO9sSVF4OjA

WATCH: On a Mediterranean - Northern Europe rotation - Toconao sails for Hamburg, 7am, Sunday 3 March 2024
Built back in 2013 as CSAV Toconao, this ship is now on charter to Maersk Line and has just completed a Med rotation which included 4 calls in Turkey, I in Greece, 2 in Germany and 1 in Belgium - plus Felixstowe, of course.
https://youtu.be/W7ZN4zlu41Y

WATCH: Once One of the World's Biggest Container Ships! MSC Vilda X arrives from India, 1.15pm, Thursday 29 February 2024
https://youtu.be/CX3x_kUKitg

WATCH: Stacks of Steam from the Scrubber! MSC Ronit R sails for Le Havre, 10.40am, 29 February 2024.
When we see lots of ships, our attention is often taken by the differences between them . . . and in this instance, it is the scrubber exhaust that catches your eye. Some vessels hardly leave any smoke or steam, whereas Ronit R leave a serious steam trail.
https://youtu.be/M-jcQqSbf_0

WATCH: Ultra Large MSC Raya arrives at Felixstowe from Antwerp; 27 February 2024
https://youtu.be/cT30p_Tlu4Y