Fastnet Line

Started by Collision-course, January 25, 2010, 06:45:46 PM

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facet58

Yes you are all right it is a great shot although one that breaks my heart.Having spent so much time on her last year and meeting the ledge that is Coll.Cour. I cannot believe it is over.
As a matter of interest why was she in such good nick when we got her having spent a long time up in the Baltic not doing anything

derekchoochoo

#526
Indeed all heartbreaking stuff.

Must be tragic for you guys who had cash in it.

She is just approaching the northern tip of Denmark finally, should round it by about 7pm-ish?

At that rate it will at least be late tomorrow when she arrives at Odense.

Lucky they havn't got to continue on back to Finland at that speed!!

I sincerely hope I am proved wrong, but I have a horrible feeling that when the master rings "stop engines" that will bring down the curtain on the final act in the Swansea - Cork passenger ferry link?

Can it possibly ever be resurrected from this mess......??

facet58

Just going round tip of Denmark now at 5 knots, will she make it !!

derekchoochoo

Watching this painful progress makes you realise what an achievement her engineers achieved in getting her to do her Summer Sunday 'double-bubble' on the Swansea-Cork route!

ernst

I still hope it is not the end but if possible it will be a very hard work to re establich a new service as you have mentioned before. Especially if this venture have scared everyone and they say this is enough so there will be no locals interested to support a new link.
  Then no new ferry this year and maybe never I do not belive the cities dare to invest most of the money to a new venture
they will surely be more carefull in the future
google is very interested in what we discuss here it takes only very few minutes before the mails here is searchable
so we shall maybe use that platform more
ernst  emship

OLAU-fan_Robert

#530
Revised/New Destination: SKAGEN
ETA 21:30 UTC

Should she waiting anchored for tug assistence or pilot?


derekchoochoo

#531
What is going on now then?

She appears to be anchored 2 or 3 kms offshore (2215).

There doesn't appear to be a port at Skagen though, so she can't be going in for bunkers?

The eventual destination is still showing on AIS as Odense though.

Strange?

derekchoochoo

In the last few minutes her eventual destination has been amended to Skagen also on AIS.

On second checking there does appear to be a harbour at Skagen, although she is already past it.

Presumably she is awaiting a pilot to return there for some reason?

smurf

QuoteIn the last few minutes her eventual destination has been amended to Skagen also on AIS.

On second checking there does appear to be a harbour at Skagen, although she is already past it.

Presumably she is awaiting a pilot to return there for some reason?
. yes there is aport in Skagen its  a small mixed facility port . Maybe shes n for bunkers . No sign of her on ais again ?Also that is an excellent video of her leaving the port of Cork , also nice but sad photo of her passing Roaches point . has any noticed that the fastnet line topic has been viewed a 1000 times aprox in the last 30 hrs !!

derekchoochoo

At 0148 she was still in that same position SE of Skagen.

I guess she will be going in for bunkers in the morning?

That is amazing....1,000 hits in 30 hours!

Collision-course

#535
Quote.
As a matter of interest why was she in such good nick when we got her having spent a long time up in the Baltic not doing anything


Local climate believe it or not , ships rust at a much slower rate when they are in water that is near 0 degrees , the water in the Baltic is also less saline than the North Atlantic so they corrode less up there ,  having said that , the inferior grade of paint used on Julia did not help matters either , nor did the fact that during its time with Fastnet Line Julia did not receive any anti-corrosion work (which at Julia's age should be done every year during overhaul) which can be seen around the window and hatch sills.
One only has to look at Julia's older sister Nordlandia as a model of what external maintenance should be (latest rumours about Nordlandia suggest that she will now not be sold and will stay with Eckro Line).
I agree with Ernst that it will be VERY hard work to re-establish this route , but it is not impossible , I was told many times that buying Julia and setting up Fastnet Line was impossible , and although it had an incurable weakness , for two years the company did exist and Julia did operate , so it can be done again , and believe me when I say a LOT has been learned from Fastnet Line.
Julia's chief engineer (Bob) was an absolute miracle worker , there is nothing that man cant fix , I really do hope he has found other employment as he (like most of Fastnet Line's former employees) is an asset to any company who hires them. The engineering team really showed what they were made of when Julia blew her clutch after her dodgy overhaul , to keep that ship running at 2/3 rds power with a burned out clutch and limited engine control was no small achievement.
Fastnet Line's senior management was where the fault in the company lay , but everyone from the operations manager down I have nothing but praise for , every single one of them be they on the ship , the ports , the offices , every one of them did their absolute best in very difficult conditions every day , their dedication is beyond question and is more often than not lost in the discussions about the company , and the clucth crisis really did highlight this , I myself was aboard a lot during this as a volunteer , it was an eye opening experience to say the least , but suffice it to say that as management ran around like a headless chicken , the staff were very much left to their own devices to try and cope , and cope they did , I watched many of them working (in some cases on unpaid time) exhausted and exasperated manage to provide some sembelense of a service and accommodate passengers as best they could with little or no information or support from senior management ( I recall one night in Ringaskiddy when Julia was 10 hours late , only 3 Fastnet Line staff were left to deal with 1000 passengers for 10 hours of delay with no information about why the ship is delayed or even an estimated time of arrival , As I was officially joining the ship that night I pitched in at the port , we did after a while manage to figure out an ETA by using ais , but so few people should never have been asked to deal with that many passengers in that situation , free tea , coffee and sandwitches only go so far after 10 hours)
So when I say that Fastnet Line had a great staff and every one of them is an asset to any company , I mean every word , I would like to think that many of them will end up working on the Swansea - Cork route again , but under better terms and conditions next time.

derekchoochoo

I'm sure what you say is VERY true....I got that same feeling of the Officers & Crew (more so in 2011, than 2010, it must be said) during my fairly regular voyages in late summer/early autumn last year.

I have a feeling it needs somebody like you to 'go public' with the true facts, like these, so that the general public become fully aware that it was only a 'rotten core', and that the whole structure wasn't flawed.

It will be a VERY hard task to restart after this and anything like that must surely help rebuild public confidence in the route?

facet58

Still off Skagen at 11.30, whats going on !!!

derekchoochoo

And still SSE of Skagen at 1330.

Possibly they received word from the shipyard that they couldn't accept her until next week now....but surely they would have continued further down the coast towards Odense and waited fairly nearby?

I guess where she is at anchor is fairly sheltered by that peninsular, unless the weather turned from the East or South, and then she could even run for shelter into Skagen itself.

When she left Cork last Saturday her ETA at Odense was being shown, by Port of Cork, as 0900 on 1st May (Tuesday)....which probably would have been achieveable for her if running at correct service speed (16-18 knots)....so she is running VERY late, if that ETA was of importance.

larry

i wonder would celtic link ever consider this as a business venture