SHIPS EXPECTED
WORKINGTON CEG Galaxy 12th Oct.
SILLOTH CM Neptune 15th Oct.
WORKINGTON CEG Galaxy 12th Oct.
SILLOTH CM Neptune 15th Oct.
An unexpected visitor arrived at Workington for an overnight stay, HMS BITER a training patrol type of Royal Navy ship which is well known around this part of the coast calling to board the local sea cadets to give them a taste of life at sea is pictured here departing Workington the following morning heading south to Whitehaven a few miles down the Solway Firth.
A rare visitor docked in the port of Workington today for a brief lay over. The fully remotely operated uncrewed surface vessel (USV) BLUE ESSENCE 6 accompanied by the guard vessel GV TRANQUILLITY S made an interesting sight as they passed. It's believed the USV is doing a comprehensive survey of the underwater pipelines between Wales and Scotland. The guard vessel is for the protection of the USV in case some close passing ship fails to notice it and other technical reasons.
Three years ago this fishing vessel broke down and was rescued by the Workington Lifeboat and was secured alongside a harbour wall where it has remained to this day. Time finally caught up with it and it has now been removed by the ports tug HELVELLYN into the port where it has been lifted out of the water and now awaits it's fate and the scrapyard.
Anchored off Workington during a tour of the UK the luxury SEADREAM 11 made a grand sight in between the heavy rain showers on the Solway Firth.
The passengers appeared not to be put off by the disappointing weather as the tenders ferried them ashore to go on various trips.
The vessel looked in remarkable good condition despite it being built 41 years ago in 1985
The passengers appeared not to be put off by the disappointing weather as the tenders ferried them ashore to go on various trips.
The vessel looked in remarkable good condition despite it being built 41 years ago in 1985
Visiting Whitehaven as part of a round UK tour is Nao SANTA MARIA, it's a full size replica of Christopher Columbus's famous 15th century ship Santa Maria, built in 2018, which, along with Nina and Pinta set sail in "fourteen hundred and ninety two Columbus sailed the ocean blue" to find better routes to Asia but ended up in the Bahamas.
Fairly unusual is a gathering of 3 ships of the CEG (cargo export group) fleet in the port of Workington at the same time, pictured below is CEG Galaxy, CEG Cosmos and in the far right CEG Orbit, also in port is Encofrador with a cargo of cement powder.
WAALVLIET seen unloading a cargo of fertiliser at Silloth. This is the first time a vessel with these modern wind sails has been seen in the Solway. By utilising the wind, savings of a possible 30% in fuel costs can be made
The Port of Workingtons new pilot/tugboat HELVELLYN has now taken over from the long serving DERWENT transferring the pilot on and off vessels and doing tug work when required. Bought from Dutch owners and nearly new it's hoped the vessel will make a fine replacement.
It's been announced that the government has awarded £6 million to a company to explore the possibilities of setting up a green jet fuel facility
near to the port of Workington. If all goes well they would expect to begin production of the fuel by 2031.
near to the port of Workington. If all goes well they would expect to begin production of the fuel by 2031.
With the continuing problem of silt building up at the port of Silloth, a new attempt to get rid of it is underway with the installations of water jets to sluice the silt away thus reducing the costs involved bringing in a dredger. The blue coloured jet heads can be seen in position awaiting use. After several months in operation the jets have proved a success...up to a point, although the build up directly in front of them is now cleared the silt has now moved further into the entrance making problems for docking ships which will need to be cleared by some other means.
