Maiden voyage of OOCL Hong Kong, the worlds largest container ship, Felixstowe 210617

The World's Largest Container Ship the OOCL Hong Kong makes her debut in Europe in style. Not only is she the world's largest, its a ground breaking day as she is the 1st offical OOCL ship to visit the Port of Felixstowe in decades.
The OOCL Hong Kong is the 1st ship to pass the 21000 container mark. Incredibly she can hold 21413TEU. She is the first of 6 mega ships to be built at a cost of US $950 million which makes her staggering US $158 million.

As the light began to fade on the longest day of the year the summer solstice. In the North Sea around 12 miles out 2 pilots, Ian Love and Prithvi Partap Singh had the privilage of bringing the OOCL Hong Kong in to Felixstowe.
Once onboard Mr Love confirms they are inbound with a maximum draft of 15.6 metres from Singapore. Requested by Felixstowe the OOCL Hong Kong was planned portside to Felixstowe Berth 8.
The Hong Kong required 3 tugs for the starboard swing and berthing. 1st tug at 7&8 Buoys centre lead aft, second before the Platters starboard quarter and 3rd tug inside the harbour bow to bow.

Approaching the South Shipwash the OOCL asked for a tide reading as she was restricted by her draft. Tide increasing, she made her way inwards. As Harwich VTS wanted to get the ferries and Rio Bravo out before the channel was taken up by the huge ship.

As the Hong Kong got further in the channel the Svitzer Deben left the tug pontoon to be the 1st tug and make fast centre lead aft, a short while later the Svitzer Shotley left the pontoon and headed out to be position on the starboard quarter ready for a push indirect. Later on the Svitzer Sky and Svitzer Kent left pontoon.

Once closer to the harbour the pilot got in contact with the tugs to go through the plan. Starboard swing for Berth 8. Svitzer Kent had a special task for the arrival. Hoping both water jets opened she was going to give the ship a traditional welcome salute.

At the 90deg Beach End turn into the harbour, Deben goes out on portside at full line load while the Shotley pushes at a 45deg angle on the starboard quarter for a push indirect to help her around the corner.

The pilot blows the horn as she comes into the harbour.
Water jets arcing the OOCL Hong Kong enters the harbour. Cameras flashing all around form the hundreds of people who came out to see her arrive.

Once in the harbour the pilot gets the Deben to ease up and come back to right astern and go straight back 50% to slow her down. A plume of black smoke poured from Deben's funnels. Further down the harbour the Deben moves onto the port quarter while the Shotley is made fast then pushes up and the Sky goes onto the starboard shoulder to begin the swing. Svitzer Deben moves from the bow towards the stern to continue the water show.

Half away round the with the 3 tugs at 75% the bow comes to a head-on shot and then the stern begins to come in sight.
Deben eases up and moves around to the starboard side into a check position.
The Shotley and Sky pushes the OOCL Hong Kong towards the berth

Final tie up 6 and 2 & 2 with spring lines first.

ETD midday 23rd June.

Todays visit is a discharge only buts she will be back 1st week of July for exports back to the Far East.

Selandia Seaways in a force 8 gale at Felixstowe. 6th June 2017

DFDS's 197 metre Selandia Seaways arrives to the port of Felixstowe in a force 8 gale with winds gusting up to 47 knots which is around 55mph.

Svitzer Shotley and Svitzer Sky assist the Selandia to her berth.

Svitzer Shotley makes fast on the starboard quarter and the Svitzer Sky makes fast on the centre lead forward.

The captian onboard the Selandia was able to level up to her berth but going alongside would be the issue as the wind would push her too quickly towards her berth so the 2 tugs held her back to make a soft landing onto the berth.

In memory of Ifor Jones. A well loved Tug Master at Felixstowe. Saturday 10th June 2017

In memory of Ifor Jones. A well loved tug master at Felixstowe.

Ifor Jones was a man who took pride in assisting some of the world's largest container ships into the Port of Felixstowe.
Sadly Ifor passed away last month after a short illness.

The tugs at Felixstowe took Ifor for his last trip on the Svitzer Kent with the Svitzer Shotley, Svitzer Deben and the Gray Test following behind.

As the tugs lined up in front of the Landguard Fort Ifor was laid to rest. The Svitzer Kent opened up their jets and blasted their horn with the other tugs following with their horns.
The tug masters showed their appreciation to a their fallen colleague/friend by swinging around while blowing horns.

All money made on this video will be given to the charity of Ifor's families choice.

Maiden voyage Madrid Maersk makes a late arrival to a stormy Felixstowe 6th June 2017

Many thanks for the photos. Credit to Prithvi, @rascalmaster.

Maersk Line's largest ship in their fleet makes her maiden call to Felixstowe. The 400 metre 20568TEU Madrid Maersk is an upgraded version of the Triple E. The bridge has been moved 2 bays forward while the funnels have been move one bay further aft. Madrid is the first to be built in South Korea. When her sister ships are built she will have a 10 sister ships due to be complete by the end of 2018.

A typical British summers day, lovely sun but breezy , Think again!  Gale force winds 8 to 9 accompanied with heavy rain. And on a special day for the Port of Felixstowe!!

Madrid Maersk Set sail on her maiden voyage late April heading west picking up goodies on the way. The last port of call in the Far East was Tanjong Pelepas in Malaysia where she was well loaded with a maximum draft of 16.3 metres. Her first call in Europe was meant to be Algeciras but with a dockers dispute and strikes she was diverted to Tangier Med, Morocco where they discharge 3.3 metres. While in the Western Med she got bunkers increasing her draft by 90cm (3ft) to 13.9 metres.

The weather was playing a huge part in the arrival of this marvellous ship. During the morning the wind was strong and cargo operations ceased and the increasing wind was accompanied with heavy rain. While the rain fell, winds picked up to 47 knots which is around 55 mph. The 2 pilots which were going to bring in the Madrid made a decision to postpone the arrival due to the wind and assess the situation at later in the day around 17:00. At one stage during the afternoon the Sunk Pilot Station was temporarily suspended due to the heavy seas and strong wind.

The time passed and the pilot agreed that a dip in the wind around 1900 would be just enough to bring her in.

The pilot launch St Cuthbert left Harwich with the 2 pilots to board the Madrid, battling the choppy seas as she goes out to the Sunk.

Once onboard the Pilots radioed Harwich VTS and confirmed that they were inbound with a draft of 13.9 metres for Felixstowe berth 8 and defiantly wanted the 4 tugs for berthing and the initial plan was to swing to go portside to Berth 8 but if the wind increased too much she would go starboard side to Berth 8. He also confirmed wanted the 2 big tugs (3212's) on the centre leads fore and aft with the smaller tugs (2411's) on the quarter and shoulder.

As the Madrid made her way inwards towards the South Shipwash the fist tug the Svitzer Kent left the tug pontoon and battled her way ot to meet before 7&8 Buoys to make fast centre lead aft. A few minutes later the Svitzer Shotley headed out to position on the starboard quarter for a push in-direct around the 90deg Beach End into the Harbour. The wind Increasing to 35 knots, the pilot Ian confirmed that they will go starboard side to Berth 8 so the 2 smaller tugs were to be made fast on the port side. Approaching the harbour the Svitzer Sky and Svitzer Deben leaves the tug pontoon  to meet the Madrid. With the Beach End closing in the Kent goes out on the port side for a powered in-direct while the Shotley pushes up on the starboard quarter at a 45% angle to help her around the corner.

The plan was to make fast the Deben centre lead forward then make fast the Sky on the port shoulder while the crew up the stern made fast the Shotley which had come away from the starboard quarter to make fast port quarter.

Safely around the Beach End the Kent immediately goes in to a check position on the port side at 75% to stop the wind taking the stern. The Madrid at her size was acting like one huge sail so once all 4 tugs were fast the got in check positions and slowly edged her towards the berth.  The wind still increasing to gusts of 40 knots the tugs were working had to make the arrival as safe as possible. Edging closer, the 2 stern tugs were on 75% while the bow tugs were on 50%. Just off the berth Madrid stern caught the wind and the pilot got the Kent and Shotley to check full to straighten her up. The pilot used the wind to take her in but using the tugs as a brake aswell. Alongside the first of the spring lines were being made fast.

Without the exceptional team work between the pilots, tugs, berthing master and Harwich VTS the Madrid Maersk would not have had been able to berth at Felixstowe.

Final tie up 6 and 2 each end with spring line first.

ETD estimated 1600 Thursday 8th June but could change due to the wind.

Madrid Maersk
IMO 9778791

built at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Maritime Engineering Co. Okpo, South Korea
Hull number: 4302
Flag: Denmark
Home port: Cøbenhavn

LoA 399 metres
Beam 58.6m
Capacity 20568TEU
Net tonnage: 78834t
Deadweight tonnage: 214286t
Maximum draft: 16.5 metres

Engines:
Main engines:
x2  MAN-B&W  7G80ME-C9.5  each rated at 46620 kW

Other engines:
x2   8 cil   each rated at 3800kW
Turbo generator rated at 4600kW
Shaft Alternator rated at 4000kW

Port of Felixstowe welcomes another maiden voyage Tokyo Triumph 3rd June 2017

The Port of Felixstowe welcomes another maiden voyage the 13870TEU Tokyo Triumph.
The Tokyo Triumph sails as part of the Asia Europe Loop 6
At 365.90 metres long and 51.2 metres wide she has a gross tonnage of 150709t and maximum capacity of 13870TEU.

A pilot headed out to the Sunk Pilot station around 12 nautical miles in the North Sea. Once onboard the pilot requested only one tug for berthing to make fast before the Platters Buoy outside the harbour. The pilot believed that the bow thrusters would be sufficiant  to bring her portside to berth 7.
Heading inwards the Svitzer Deben leaves the tug pontoon to make fast aft of the Tokyo Triumph.
Rounding the 90deg Beach End turn into the harbour the ship came into view and slowly procceds towards the  middle of the harbour where the pilot began the port swing by getting the Deben to go out on the starboard side to take her round.

Once swung the pilot comes astern on the main engine and backs up to berth 7 where the Deben pulls the stern towards the the quay. A short while later the Deben comes onto the starboard side into a check position but soon after the Tokyo Triumph needed a push towards the quay as the wind was not helping much.

Final tie up 5 and 3 with spring lines first.

TOKYO TRIUMPH
IMO Number: 9737474
Shipyard: Imabari Shipbuilding Co. Ltd, Imabari
Hull No.: 2562
Overall Length: 365.90
Breadth: 51.20
Maximum capacity: 13870 teu

Engine Type: MAN-B&W 11S90ME-C9.2
Engine Power, kW: 48900 kW