The QEII will
pull into Dubai's port of Mina Rashid today at 3 p.m. (Dubai local time).
The ship will be gutted, rebuilt and reborn in some two to three years as
a floating luxury hotel berthed on The Palm Jumeirah, a massive manmade
island shaped like a tree. QEII's afternoon arrival in Dubai will begin a
day of "celebratory" events. The ship will sail to its berth
joined by a flotilla of private yachts (including the massive yacht owned
by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai), the Royal Navy
and the Coast Guard. Later, an Emirate Airlines A380 Airbus will make a
fly-by, and in proper festive fashion, there will be a huge fireworks
display. The official handover, from Cunard to Nakheel, the Dubai-based
real estate development company responsible for the transformation, will
occur on Thursday. Rumors have swirled about planned changes -- replacing
of the iconic funnel with a glass "funnel" housing penthouse
suites, changing the famed engine room into a theater space -- but
official plans from Nakheel have yet to be revealed.
On Tuesday, 11 November QEII will leave Southampton for
the final time, bound for Dubai. An enormous send off is planned with a vast
amount of people expected to see her leave.
The world-famous QE2 passenger liner is due
to leave on its final transatlantic round trip to New York - in tandem with its
successor, the Queen Mary 2 (QM2).
The 40-year-old Cunard vessel is to be taken out of
service next month and turned into a floating hotel in Dubai.
QE2 returned to its home port of Southampton early on
Friday after completing a farewell tour of the UK.
The Queen has marked 55 years since her
coronation by waving off the luxury cruise ship that shares her name.
She launched the QE2 in 1967 and the Queen was in
Southampton on Monday to pay the ship a final visit.
She toured the vessel before attending a reception and
lunch onboard with 300 guests, including the former Prime Minister Baroness
Thatcher.
The QE2 will be retired in November to be converted into a
hotel in Dubai after more than 40 years in service.
The Queen was also meeting crew members, some of whom have
served onboard since QE2 entered service in 1969, and others who went with the
ship when it was requisitioned as a troop carrier in the Falklands War...
Tug boats were struggling Monday to free a stranded cruise ship with nearly
1,000 people on board, and the head of the coast guard recommended the ship be
evacuated.
The Bahamas-registered Mona Lisa was on its way from Kiel, Germany, to Riga
when it ran aground Sunday on a sand bank about 17 kilometers (10 miles) from
the Latvian coast.
Coast guard officials said the ship was not damaged and the passengers,
mostly Germans, were safe and not at risk.
Three tug boats tried unsuccessfully to pull the ship off the sand bank
Sunday, and a fourth tug boat was added as the rescue operation resumed early
Monday, officials said.
Rescuers also pumped out the ship's fuel to make it lighter, but were still
unable to free the vessel, officials said.
Coast Guard Service head Hermanis Cernovs told The Associated Press that he
had recommended that the 984 people aboard the Mona Lisa be evacuated, but added
that the final decision was up to the captain.
Passengers still have full use of the liner's onboard facilities, including
access to fresh water, officials said.
The cause of the accident was being investigated. However, weather was not a
factor, coast guard spokeswoman Liene Ulbina said Sunday.
The ship has a crew of 237, including three U.S. citizens. The captain is a
Greek national, she said.
On Tuesday, April 22, the Queen
Mary II, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II are all set to be alongside at
the same time.
This has come about due to last
minute changes to QE2's schedule. Originally the ships' timetable of voyages
meant that this would not take place. On the day, QM2 will be at Cunard's normal
berth in the Eastern Docks, Queen Victoria will be at the City Cruise Terminal,
next door to Mayflower Park, while QE2 will be further up the Western Docks at
berth 105. After both QM2 and Queen Victoria leave the docks, QE2 will remain in
port for the following nine days undergoing a maintenance period and refit in
preparation for the final part of her cruise programme.
Ventura is due to leave Southampton at 17:00 (BST/GMT +1) today, Friday 18th April on her maiden voyage. A fireworks display will take place to mark the maiden voyage of Ventura. The fireworks display will be conducted from the barge. The display will commence at 20:20
and last for approximately 8 minutes.
P&O's new
115,000-tonne cruise ship has set sail for its home port of Southampton ahead of
its official entry into passenger service.
Ventura, which can carry up to 3,600 passengers, will be
named by actress Dame Helen Mirren at the Hampshire port on 16 April.
Built for British holidaymakers, the vessel was handed
over to P&O Cruises at the Fincantieri shipyard, Italy.
The ship will leave for her maiden voyage to the
Mediterranean in April.
Ventura is equipped with five swimming pools, 11
restaurants, 12 bars and lounges, five shops, a library, casino and theatre, and
will be staffed by 1,200 crew.
Also, it has thousands of works of contemporary art. At
290 metres (317yds) in length, the ship is longer than Tower Bridge and has 15
passenger decks.
All
the Queens
together in Southampton - 20th March 2008
On Tuesday, April 22, the Queen
Mary II, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II are all set to be alongside at
the same time.
This has come about due to last
minute changes to QE2's schedule. Originally the ships' timetable of voyages
meant that this would not take place. On the day, QM2 will be at Cunard's normal
berth in the Eastern Docks, Queen Victoria will be at the City Cruise Terminal,
next door to Mayflower Park, while QE2 will be further up the Western Docks at
berth 105. After both QM2 and Queen Victoria leave the docks, QE2 will remain in
port for the following nine days undergoing a maintenance period and refit in
preparation for the final part of her cruise programme.
On Sunday, P&O Ferries cancelled its
sailing from Portsmouth to
Bilbao, Spain, and the return journey on Tuesday, due to the storms.
Wightlink FastCats and Hovertravel servies
were also canceled between Portsmouth and Ryde (Isle of Wight). Wightlink
car ferries replaced the FastCat services and stopped at Ryde
pier head.
The threat of an oil spill remains high after a tanker,
carrying 1,700 tons of oil, sank off the southern Vietnamese province of Binh
Thuan, the Vietnamese News Agency reported on Thursday.
Fourteen crew members were unaccounted for, but one sailor
was rescued by a fishing boat, the agency said.
Vietnamese forces have launched "emergency
measures" to prevent an oil spill, the agency said.
The vessel, carrying 1,700 tons of oil, sank off the coast
of the southern Vietnamese province of Binh Thuan.
No oil has spilled yet, but it's quite possible that could
happen, the news agency reported.
Coastguard staff stage pay strike - 6th March 2008
Coastguard staff are staging the first strike in their
history.
Almost half of the Britain's 19 rescue centres were
closed, the Public and Commercial Services union said.
Up to 700 Maritime and Coastguard Agency employees walked
out from 0700 GMT. But staff going to emergencies will not take part, the union
said.
The 24-hour strike follows protests about what staff say
is "poverty pay". Managers say they are bound by pay constraints.
Centres which closed included Solent, Brixham, Holyhead,
Belfast, Forth, Thames and London, the PCS said.
The MCA said contingency plans would be put in place to
ensure public safety is not compromised by the action, which did not involve
crews of coastguard vessels.
Managers will also be drafted in to answer calls and
perform other duties.
Peter Cardy, chief executive of the MCA, insisted Mayday
calls, automatic distress calls and 999 calls would still get through despite
the strike.
He said: "It is true that the coastguard salaries are
lower than those in comparable emergency services - but the work is
different."
The union wants coastguards to get another £3,000 on top
of their current base pay of £14,000 a year.
Croatian emergency workers have managed to attach tow lines
to a blazing Turkish cargo ship laden with heavy fuel oil in the Adriatic Sea.
Firefighters worked through the night to contain the
blaze, which broke out on Wednesday on the Und Adriyatik.
Croatian officials say they have prevented an
environmental disaster.
At one point the vessel, carrying 850 tonnes of fuel oil,
veered to within 8km (five miles) of the Brijuni Islands national park.
All of the ship's 22 crew and nine passengers were
evacuated.
A fire brigade spokesman said two tugboats spent Wednesday
night dousing the scorching hull with water to bring down the temperature.
Floating barrages have been placed around the ship, but as yet no oil has
leaked.
The vessel caught fire off the northern Adriatic resort of
Rovinj. It was sailing from Istanbul to the Italian port of Trieste.
The Spanish crew of a trawler that was driven aground in
gale force winds and high seas on the island of Hirta, St Kilda, have been
winched to safety.
The 14 crew had been unable to launch life rafts due to
the poor conditions. All those on board were airlifted off by a Stornoway
Coastguard helicopter.
The trawler, the Spinningdale, ran aground on rocks by
steep cliffs.
Ferry runs aground off Blackpool - 1st February 2008
A roll-on roll-off ferry which ran into trouble in high
winds in the Irish Sea has run aground off Blackpool.
A total of 19 crew members and four passengers were flown
to safety from the Riverdance, after it was hit by a freak wave in bad weather.
Nine of the crew members were still on board when it ran
aground on the north shore of Blackpool beach on its journey from Northern
Ireland to Heysham.
Owner Seatruck Ferries said it was trying to salvage the
ferry.
Passengers and crew are being airlifted from a ferry in the
Irish Sea after it was hit by a freak wave in bad weather.
Four passengers and 19 crew are being removed after
Liverpool coastguard received a Mayday call from the ship at 1943 GMT as it
battled 7m waves.
The Riverdance, which sails from Warrenpoint in Northern
Ireland to Heysham in Lancashire, is listing to 60 degrees after its cargo
shifted.
Royal Navy and RAF Sea King helicopters are involved in
the rescue.
They have been drafted in from Prestwick and north Wales.
There is currently one helicopter on scene beginning to
wince people off the stricken vessel - two other helicopters are expected
shortly, one from Prestwick and another from Dublin Coastguard.
RAF spokesman Michael Mulford said that conditions may
hamper the rescue attempt.
"The Sea King can take up to maybe eighteen over
water.
"Under these conditions it may well be less, it may
need maybe two goes to get all twenty-three off.
"Its just a question of we will do that as fast and
as safe as we can and its really now down to what we can manage to do in the
time we have."
Two RNLI lifeboats are also there, as is the Steersman
merchant vessel.
According to reports the weather conditions are
"horrible" and boats are having difficulty getting close to the ferry.
The Riverdance - a roll-on-roll-off ferry - got into
trouble approximately eight miles west of Fleetwood, Lancashire, in the Irish
Sea.
Liverpool Coastguard are treating the rescue as a major
incident. There are no reports of anyone injured or missing at present.
However, the coastguard is not sure whether the ferry will
capsize and says it is in a precatious position.
Tony Redding, a spokesman for Seatruck Ferries which owns
the vessel, said the ship's master ordered the evacuation as a precaution.
It is believed that all those airlifted from the ferry
will be taken to Blackpool Airport.
An operation is under way to rescue the crew of a burning
fishing boat off the coast of Donegal.
A helicopter from Sligo and a lifeboat from Arranmore, Co
Donegal, have been sent to the aid of the Scottish-registered vessel, The Shark.
Nine of the 16 Spanish crew have been taken off the
vessel. The rest are tackling the blaze which broke out in the accommodation
area.
The rescue operation is being co-ordinated by Clyde
Coastguard.
The captain's command of English is limited but througn an
interpreter he reported there was "considerable smoke on board and the fire
had been caused by a short circuit".
The crew told the Coastguard they did not have enough
power on board to fight the fire.
They had been aiming to reach the Donegal fishing port of
Killybegs when the fire took hold.
Clyde Coastguard watch commander Bill Spiers said he hoped
the fire could be confined to the accommodation area and two cabins.
"We have got to be very careful of the risks
involved, so we won't be putting anyone into any danger," he said.
"It might well be that we just have to keep it
battened down until it goes out of its own accord."
The crew of a cargo vessel including a man with a broken
leg has been evacuated in a dramatic rescue effort off the coast of Devon.
There were fears the boat would capsize before the
Anglo-French rescue effort could finish.
The Greek-registered Ice Prince was heading for Alexandria
when it ran into difficulties mid-channel 35 miles southeast of Start Point.
It was left drifting at a 35-degree angle and without
power.
A 41-year-old Greek with a broken leg was airlifted to
hospital and other crew members were taken to shore either by helicopter or by
lifeboat, the Maritime & Coastguard Agency said.
The vessel was carrying 5,258 tonnes of sawn timber.
One crewman was in need of "urgent medical
attention" after breaking his leg in the darkness on board the vessel. All
12 were evacuated safely.
The weather at the scene was said to be clear but with
rough seas and winds of up to force seven.
Volunteers from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution
(RNLI) in Salcombe and Torbay braved near gale-force winds to take eight of the
Ice Prince's crew to safety.
Spencer Gammond of the RNLI said the lifeboat crew was
operating "at the very limit" as they battled to evacuate the ship.
He said: "To stage a rescue like this they would have
needed to position their lifeboat right next to the ship and take the crew off
one by one.
"Our lifeboat is 17 metres long and the ship they
were helping was more than 100 metres long, had no power and was listing to a
35-degree angle in force seven winds.
"The crew are all volunteers and you can only imagine
how hard this rescue was."
Two French sailors have died and four others are missing
after a French fishing vessel sank about 50 miles (80km) off Cornwall.
Two French helicopters were first sent to search for the
crew of La P'tite Julie at its last reported position south of The Lizard at
about 0400 GMT.
French authorities said one of seven crewmen from the
24.6m (81ft) trawler had been rescued and two bodies found.
Two helicopters from RNAS Culdrose have been assisting.
One pilot said wreckage could be seen over a wide area.
Two empty life rafts were found in the area where the
trawler radioed for assistance before sinking.
British rescue services were alerted to the incident at
about 0700 GMT.
Coastguards at Falmouth were contacted by French
authorities and the first helicopter from Culdrose was scrambled at about 0730
GMT.
Helicopter pilot Lt Chuck Norris said: "We arrived at
the scene at 0810 to find a French fixed-wing aircraft coordinating the search,
and a French helicopter.
"We searched about 20 square miles in three hours. We
found lots of wreckage and bits of fishing kit from the boat, but we found no
survivors."
A German container vessel with 27 crew on board has run
aground in the Dover Strait off the coast of Kent.
The 90,465-tonne LT Cortesia was en route to the Suez
Canal when it ran aground on the Varne Bank, nine miles (14km) south of Dover
harbour.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said all those on board
were uninjured and the vessel still appeared watertight.
Spokesman Mike Toogood said it was in no danger and an
attempt to refloat it would be made within the next 12 hours.
He said the ship was carrying 4,148 containers, some of
which was "hazardous cargo", but they are reported to be secure.
The exact nature of the materials on board is unknown.
Mr Toogood said first indications from the vessel were
that it had not sustained any damage.
He added: "There was no pollution visible around the
vessel... and there doesn't appear to be a breach of the hull.
"It's quite safe where it is. It's sat on a sandbank
on the Varne and it's not going anywhere.
"The situation is well under control at the
moment."
It is unclear why the vessel ran aground.
The towing vessel Anglian Monarch is at the scene, while
the owners are also believed to be arranging for the assistance of additional
tugs.
There is currently a 2.5 mile (4km) exclusion zone around
the ship and a 3,000ft air exclusion zone.
The container vessel ran aground just before high water at
0500 GMT as it travelled through the Dover Strait in the south west bound lane
from Thames Port.
The Varne sandbank is a well-known hazard that is clearly
marked on all shipping charts.
On Sunday, 13th January 2008,
Cunard will, for the first and only time, sail their three luxury liner Queens
-- flagship Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth 2 and the new Queen Victoria --
together out of New York harbour. The regal fleet is scheduled to depart at 6:30
p.m.
Queen Mary II will depart from her
home port, Brooklyn Cruise Terminal.
Queen Elizabeth II will depart
from Pier 92.
Queen Victoria will depart from
Pier 88 both at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal.
Then, the three Queens will
rendezvous and sail past the Statue of Liberty during a spectacular fireworks
celebration at 7:00 p.m.
“This is an historic occasion
for Cunard and New York, marking the only time that the three ships will be
together ... ever," said Carol Marlow, president of Cunard Line. "More
history will be made as our grand dame QE2 departs on her 26th and final World
Cruise and Queen Victoria will depart on her maiden World Cruise," added
Marlow. This is the first-time in Cunards 168-year history that three
"Queens" have been in service at the same time and with QE2 retiring
in November 2008 will be the only time they will be together, offering a
maritime history - making moment.
More than 150 passengers and crew have been
rescued from a stricken tourist ship after it hit ice off Antarctica.
The M/S Explorer is listing at 30 degrees close
to the South Shetland Islands, in the Antarctic Ocean.
Gap Adventures, which owns the ship, said 91
passengers, nine guides and 54 crew members were evacuated to lifeboats and then
to another ship.
The company said 23 Britons, 17 Dutch, 10
Australians, 13 Americans and 10 Canadians were among the passengers.
The remaining nationalities of the rescued
tourists are Irish, Danish, Swiss, Belgian, Japanese, French, German and
Chinese, said the Toronto-based tour company.
Following the news of the incident, the
specialist Lloyds List maritime publication said the Explorer had five faults at
its last inspection.
