A look at some of the sights and shipping around the Baltic and Scandanavia on a recent cruise on the P & O flagship BRITANNIA
Departing from Southampton also was Royal Caribbeans ANTHEM of the SEAS which was loading passengers while taking on fuel from the much smaller WHITONIA
and in the distance was Cunards new ship QUEEN ANNE
First port of call was KIEL in Germany which is famous for its ship canal and being a long standing naval base. BRITANNIA was moored right opposite of the Naval Dockyard which afforded some great views!
the famous Kiel Canal
departing from Kiel you can't help but notice the striking memorial to the German submariners from world war 2
onto Stockholm now, a busy port with shipping of all descriptions
we were moored in a prime berth opposite the Tivoli Garden theme park to see the comings and goings. Directly behind the tall white tower on the right is the VASA museum which contains a wooden warship that was built in 1628 which sank as it was launched and is almost entirely intact.
Tallin in Estonia was the next port on the itinerary. There is a tremendous amount of building works going on in the port area with new ferry and cruise terminals, shopping plaza's and even a new tramway system being laid. While some Spanish ports seem to want nothing to do with cruise ships and their passengers it's good to see ports who actually do want the business.
A few of the many ferries entering Tallin. Viking XPRS, Finlandia and Megastar
The steam tug ADMIRAL, built in St. Petersburg in 1956 and operated on the Baltic Sea from St. Petersburg to Hamburg. Now refitted as a floating restaurant she is still fully compliant with International maritime standards and is able to carry up to 60 passengers on sea cruises.
The next port was VISBY a picturesque small ferry terminal on Gotland Island.
Local ferries VISBY and DROTTEN with the town in the background
Calling on a Sunday there was little to see apart from the LNG carrier AVENIR ASPIRATION
Heading for the last port on our Itinerary Copenhagen entailed passing under a road bridge, the captain said we would have 5m. clearance but I was doubtful it was that much!
Unfortunately Britannia moored at terminal 3 which was the berth furthest away from the city centre, on the plus side you got a very good view of aircraft leaving the airport but not much else. PEARL SEAWAYS entered the port and AIDA NOVA departed.
On the 2 day journey back to Southampton there was plenty of ships to be seen, below is a small selection.
Arklow Grace
Hybrid ferry Prins Richard
Customs cutter Schleswig-Holstein
Tanker, Quartz
Car ferry, Linea
cargo ship Diamond Star 11
and finally, BRITANNIA