Category: Cape Town Cruise Terminal
Red Sea vs. Cape of Good Hope
From gCaptain: Meanwhile, from Splash: This is worth quoting in full: Ships taking the alternative, non-Houthi route between Asia and Europe face another perilous situation, namely the rough seas around South Africa. The 6,966 teu MSC Antonia lost 46 boxes overboard last week during severe weather conditions with another 305 containers damaged, according the increasingly…
Ya Toivo
Facts: Mining Vessel. Bahamas flag. Impressions: Mad Max. Steampunk. Unknowns: What it mines, or how it fits into the story. It’s no doubt more important than we think.
MSC Nederland II and Crystal Serenity
I’ve been distracted by things, and injured by a stupid Swede who didn’t observe a white line indicating “STOP” a week ago: This morning I got bored of my pity party and got back to Maker’s to catch some meaningful offloading on a rainy Saturday morning (MSC N II, Panama flag, 237m): Then came the…
Queen Mary 2 (II)
Sneak attack visit once Queen Victoria had departed in the dead of night and the traffic had lost interest. Cunard “flagship”: Named by QE2 in 2004, celebrating all the queens. Bermuda flag: what’s up with that? Interestoid: My husband’s family DID travel to SA from Southampton on the SA Vaal – with a ka, nogal…
CMA CGM Masai Mara
240m. Belgian flag. An even stranger name than Bear Ridge Mountain. WTF? Makes me think of House of Cards and Kenyan warriors. But pretty in its way – for a giant that is tranquil. Well-laden. Stable. Why leave? It’s not like anything was happening. Anymore, after the “death ship” livestock carrier finally left and carried…
Self-Determination (I)
Monday (19 Feb) was Day 1 of the ICJ’s hearings on “Israel’s illegal occupation of Gaza”, as Al Jazeera describes it. 6 (or so) lawyers representing Palestine, each with 30 mins to do persuasion about one facet of what they painted a pretty convincing picture of as Israel’s* systematic and orchestrated – and quite successful!…
MSC Capri (and “optimism” about SA ports)
207m. LIberian flag. A baby, really. But shame, there was at least something going on (look carefully for the box in transit, which moved so fast I almost missed it), even though the port(s) apparently closed early today because of an “unexpected union meeting.” (This was a little blow for Chad, whose box of Farmina…
Queen Mary 2, the cost of VOR, and stuff
No visits to Maker’s this week, as the cruise ships kept coming. On Wednesday (31 Jan), Queen Mary 2 (QM2). Slightly less boring, as she’s apparently the “only ocean liner in service in the world”. (Unlike “normal” cruise ships, ocean liners carry people, things, and mail. JR and family arrived in SA on one such…
Transnet and the wind
Finally someone has the guts to say it out loud. I’ve been suspicious as fuck about this whole weather story for QUITE a while.
MSC Helena
Supply chain from boat to truck (on a Sunday morning, nogal): Meanwhile, the cruise ship was getting a new load of “fresh” fruit (sniffed by dogs – as if the geriatrics stumbling between the V&A and this vessel are not more obvious mules for getting drugs on board – and sampled by “inspecting” crew –…