I am always amazed at what other captains sometimes do with their ETA’s. When I send one, I try to stick with it and only weather and engine malfunctions will make me change it. Once you have set your ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) then everybody involved, ashore and on the ship, starts planning accordingly. Deviate and you get delays and confusion. So in answer to the local agent’s instructions I brought my ETA forward to 06.15 so I could sail into port directly behind the Azamara Journey. My bridge team was prepped accordingly and kept a sharp lookout for all the cruise ships expected today; so that the Prinsendam could line up according to the sequence announced by the port authorities. However when I arrived on the bridge, the Azamara Journey, scheduled to be ahead of me, was nowhere to be seen. The Orient Queen, scheduled after me, was already going in. Not a problem as such but it always baffles my mind why this happens. The Orient Queen was scheduled to anchor and did so accordingly. However that meant that I had to sail around her, to enter the port. So all its guests got a very good look at the Prinsendam; as I had to sail by quite closely due to the shallows to the North. The captain of the OQ had of course anchored in the best spot for his tender service and that is right on top of the breakwater. Continue reading

In the early morning I was woken up by the harsh sounds of crackling thunder over the ship, and when the bridge called me, the message was:  it does not look good.  Still we approached with hopes in our hearts, as Monevassia is basically a steep and wide mountain that offers good shelter on the lee side. Provided the wind is exactly under the right angle. And that you only find out by parking the ship at the anchorage. The wind and the accompanying rainy weather were all coming from the North East and thus I brought the ship to the South anchorage.  By 07.15 we were in position and I was not a happy camper. The wind just curved around the edge of the East side of the mountain, gusting between wind force 4 and 7 a bit more than the maximum five that had been forecast. However that was not the worst of my concerns.  While we had had a nearly windless day in Piraeus, it had been blowing here already for a while longer and the wind had managed to whip up the waves quite nicely. So nicely that long waves were running into the harbour and crashing against the inner breakwater of the Boulevard. Apart from the fact we would have a hassle with lowering and retrieving the tenders in those waves, we were also facing the problem of a very bumpy tender ride, to and from the port entrance.  Not a good prospect. Continue reading

Just after midnight I was back on the bridge for the crossing of this traffic intense area that I mentioned yesterday. It was not as busy as it could have been so we had very little to worry about. Still it was interesting to observe some of the antics of the other ships.  We observed two to the North us, agreeing on passing starboard to starboard, while they were already clearing port to port in fully open waters.  That meant that they decided to cross each other’s bow at a short distance and that is something that you normally try to avoid at all costs. Here we saw (on the radar screen) this maneuver carried out as if it was a routine exercise.  Of even more interest was the passing of two fast ferries next to us.  Fast means in this case, making speeds a lot higher than the 20 or 22 knots which is maximum of most of the faster merchant ships out there. We had one opposing ferry doing 26 and a ferry that was overtaking us doing 30 knots. They both passed to the south of us on opposite tracks, so their combined relative speed was 56 knots and that makes them move very fast in opposite directions over the radar screen, especially as we normally work with our radar screens on a setting of 6 and 12 miles for the plotting of other traffic.  With these speeds it is for the faster ship much easier to change course, then for the slower opposing vessel. That happened in this case as well.  The 30 knot Ferry had been approaching us from our starboard stern direction and knew that eventually we would change course to starboard and be in his way. So he made a wide turn to port and was gone before the other ferry came even close.  It gives a whole new dimension in running a large ship; it is just like a speed boat in this case. Continue reading

After leaving Turkey and cruising a whole night through the Greek islands we approached the Turkish mainland again in the early morning. I had set my pilot time for 06.00 as I wanted to get in before the sun got hot enough to get the Etesian winds going.  The two cruise docks of the port have been constructed in a NW direction, so most of the time you approach with the wind right on the stern.  That means that you do not drift. That is the best you can have as being pushed forward is easier to control than being pushed sideways.  The main engines are always strong enough to cope with the push forward, the thrusters not always with the push sideways.  However the wind does not always blow from the North West, it can come from the North East as well and then it is almost on the beam and if strong enough, will be a challenge for the thrusters.  So the earlier you arrive the less the chance that there is wind.  One good thing is that in the last few years all the Turkish ports in this area have been supplied with a 2500 HP tug. Built in Turkey but designed by the Dutch company Damen, who seems nowadays the tugboat supplier for the whole world, as everywhere the same models are popping up.  Not that I mind, with this standardization you know exactly what to expect and only the quality of the tugboat captain is then the unknown factor.   Today the tugboat was not needed and had parked itself near the corner of the pier to prevent me from bumping into it.  There was a bit of wind, towards the dock, so I used that to come alongside with a controlled drift. The sailors having the luxury not to have to pay out the lines, but they just drop them on the dock, as the light wind held the ship nicely alongside until all lines were tied up. Continue reading

Bodrum is a Turkish sea side resort which is in the winter very quiet with only some European “snow birds” present. In the summer time it is a very busy vacation area for mostly British and German tourists.  Also the whole area is then full of Sunday sailors as the bay gets the Etesian winds from the North, very good for  safe sailing as it is sheltered enough not to get bothered by  the waves that these winds can whip up over open waters.  But as it is April, the season has not started yet and thus a perfect time for the guests to visit and a good time for me to enter the bay without having to dodge the sailing boats.  Bodrum has invested in a new pier, located to the south the town and that is where we were heading.  The pilot boarded about a mile from the pier and directed us to go to the North side of the pier. On the Southside a little ferry boat had been parked and that took up too much of the docking space to allow me to sit there as well. The north side was in principle not a problem, until we saw the barge. At anchor perpendicular to the dock. It turned out that they were busy extending the pier with two Bollard/islands or large dolphins so that in the future ships of up to 340 meters can be accommodated. Good idea but it would have been nice if we would have known about it before hand.  So I had to swing the ship around, go past this barge and then come sideways towards the dock. As it was all deep water, not exactly a problem but it took an extra 20 minutes. Luckily I like to be early, as I have a grave respect for Murphy’s Law and thus like to take my time and as a result we were still timely docked. Continue reading

Today we could all take a deep breath and relax. Time to sit down and count the number of pyramids the number of ruins photographed, and also have the time to update the dairies of where one has been and what one has seen.   Sailing on the Prinsendam is one of the best ways to see the world but it is hard work as we call at port after port and spend extended periods in those ports. So today was a relaxing day at sea; at least there was the option to do so. Still the daily program was packed with things to participate in and that means that you can still run around from early morning to late in the evening. And do not forget the bingo of course.  The Prinsendam was on a straight North westerly course from Haifa sailing towards the Greek islands. That sounds a bit strange as our next port of call is in Turkey but the Greek islands are dotted in a nice curve around most of the South West and Western part of the Turkish coast.  We will be sailing under Rhodes, change course to the North by keeping the island of Kos on the portside and then head for the sea of Marmaris. The port of Bodrum is not located exactly inside this sea but on the eastern rim, hidden in a deep sheltered bay.  Thus, until we reach that area we will be surrounded by Greece in the form of smaller and larger morsels of it in the form of large islands (Nissos) and smaller ones (Nisida). Continue reading

It is only a short hop from Ashdod to Haifa but it is stretched a bit as we have to first sail away from the coast until we come to the recommended track that leads along the coast. Then when approaching Haifa you have to angle back the same way towards the entrance of the port. Still the distance can be covered in a few hours and thus we sailed from Ashdod at 23.00 hrs by 04.30 we were approaching the port entrance of Haifa as we had been requested to be there at 05.30 because of port congestion. Due to some amazing coincidence of scheduling all ships going in and out had decided to do that during the window of 05.00 to 06.00 that did not work of course and gave the pilots a nice headache. The first cruise ship scheduled the Arion (built in 1965 for Yugoslavia and now sailing for Classical cruises) made it in as scheduled at 05.00 The plan was then to get two container ships out in the next 30 minutes. This was to be followed with us sailing in at 05.30 and after us at 06.00 would be the Golden Irish (ex Cunard Princess). To make it a real cruise port; docked already for an overnight were the Thomson Celebration (ex Noordam III of HAL built in 1984) and the Royal Iris (ex Eagle of Southern Ferries built in 1971).

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We just made it on time to the pilot station by running full out all night. The whole route from Port Said is through recommended tracks that regulate the flow of ships in this corner of the Med. This time it is not as much the safe navigation that has resulted in these routes but the security concerns of the countries of Egypt and Israel. By having all the ships following recommended sailing tracks they are much easier to follow by radar than when they are all over the place.  The tracks for approaching Israeli ports are perpendicular to the coast and that makes it very easy for the Israeli navy to track you when coming in. There are various calling in points and they do answer with alacrity when called, so they are really on the ball. Thus we sped full speed through this recommended approach lane towards the port of Ashdod which is one of the major Industrial ports of Israel. Ahead of us was a container ship which was at the pilot station earlier than us, but he had to wait for the Prinsendam to go in first. In this case I was very happy that I was given preference because for once we needed it. Continue reading

The challenge with Port Said is, is that there are two traffic streams going in and out.  One for going into the port itself;  and one for going through the canal. As the voyage through the canal is made in convoy they block any arrival and departures for the port during that period. That puts me in the awkward situation that if we leave late from the previous port; that we might arrive late here and if we then miss the arrival slot, then we have to wait about 4 hours.  That plays havoc with the tours of course, while at the same time it is are the previous tours that created the delay.  However this morning, we were nicely on time and also the pilot came out at correct the time and at the position agreed. Behind us the convoy was already assembling and the first ship of the convoy was told to be lined at 05.00.By this time it was expected that the Prinsendam was at her berth and out of the fairway. That berth is on the cabal bank.  In the old days the passenger ships would dock here on the mooring buoys and then the passengers would be shuttled ashore by local boats.  Not too long ago they put in three T piers with some dolphins so that the visitors can walk ashore directly.  The mooring buoys are still there for head and stern lines if needed. They are optimum for a ship of about 150 meters for the perfect setup of the mooring ropes, but for the Prinsendam it works as well. Continue reading

Shortly before 04.00 we put the brakes on and moved with a slow speed towards the pilot station.  The situation in front of the entrance channel to the port can be quite hectic; you approach the port by sailing through ships at anchor and you also meet various ships coming out of the port. The latter are hardly visible as the skyline of Alexandria is lit up like a Christmas tree by the numerous oil and gas refineries in the port area.  The port is stretched along the coast from SW to NE and protected by a long breakwater. The entrance is on the SW side directly in line with those refineries so it is very difficult to see any ship movement against the lit up sky line.  Finding the entrance itself is not so difficult, last autumn a container ship had a black out during a North Westerly gale and was blown onto the banks just to the west of the fairway. Thus as soon as you get the echo of that wreck on the radar you also know where the entrance is.  Once you have the ship lined up for the fairway to the entrance, called the Great Pass, then there is a very nice set of leading lights to guide you in. Continue reading