whiplash:
Stena Hibernia(ex Saint Columba) with myself driving on.
This is the Hibernia I used to take to the Emerald isle 
Pat Hasler:
Buzzer:
1Hi all now this was not classed as a ship but was christened " The Love Boat " shipping out on this on a friday night Southampton / Cherbourg was the hot ticket to have especially in the summer,quite a few conquests were made on her.
Cheers Buzzer.Several memorable voyages on the Stenna Normandy
The Stena Normandy is now in Alang being cut up, hereâs some pics taken while she was laid up in Singapore (would seem a humid climate is not very condusive to a Northern European ferry);
Wheel Nut:
Bassman:
10Hi, OTSIâve been on this one and her sisters a few times!!
Chers Bassman
I may well have been conceived on this ship. My dad first met my mum on Minerva pier
Just been on here last week, had a look up to Hartlepool with the bairn. Was a canny day out.
Joycey:
The TSS Caledonian princess or better known as the tuxedo princess or to us Geordies the boat, at the knackers yard in aliaga.
This boils my â â â â , it really does.
Able UK, who are widely regarded as being one of the best in the world at disposing/dismantling hazardous stuff werenât allowed to break them American ghost ships up, because of the asbestos on board. Asbestos is what Able does, safely, properly, in a dry dock.
Yet our very same government doesnât mind if UK boats are sent elsewhere to be chopped up on a beach.
Was it the Tux Princess that was laid up in Ables dry dock at Greythorpe/Hartlepool, or was that the Tux Royale?
Vessels built in the late 70âs / 80âs (the age at which are now heading for the beaches) wouldnât contain any asbestos. Granted earlier vessels would, which is where Able came into itâs own. Older ships heading for Alang usually come from countries that donât give a toss about conventions. Not only that, ships often change hands many times (on paper at least) on the way to the breakers, and so often end up belonging to a company in a country with âlaxâ export rules.
The SS independence is an example of this, owned by Norwegian Cruises and laden with a whole manner of toxic stuff, ended up âownerlessâ aground off Alang -despite it changing hands many times along the way to many companies from many countries (a lot of which surprisingly also had an office in the building housing the corporate headquaters of Norwegian Cruise lines in MiamiâŚ)
cieranc:
Joycey:
The TSS Caledonian princess or better known as the tuxedo princess or to us Geordies the boat, at the knackers yard in aliaga.
This boils my â â â â , it really does.
Able UK, who are widely regarded as being one of the best in the world at disposing/dismantling hazardous stuff werenât allowed to break them American ghost ships up, because of the asbestos on board. Asbestos is what Able does, safely, properly, in a dry dock.
Yet our very same government doesnât mind if UK boats are sent elsewhere to be chopped up on a beach.Was it the Tux Princess that was laid up in Ables dry dock at Greythorpe/Hartlepool, or was that the Tux Royale?
It was the royale laid up at able the princess was took direct from the Tyne and scrapped but apparently it was a big con
The âRoyaleâ ex TSS Dover is still in Middlesbrough sunk at her moorings next to the transporter bridge.
We are trying to save and restore her. Everything is in place to put her into drydock nearby but ÂŁ100,000.00p. is desperately needed. Any Ideasâ â ?
Jazzandy:
The âRoyaleâ ex TSS Dover is still in Middlesbrough sunk at her moorings next to the transporter bridge.We are trying to save and restore her. Everything is in place to put her into drydock nearby but ÂŁ100,000.00p. is desperately needed. Any Ideasâ â ?
Funny how despite being mere machines built from metal to serve a specific purpose, people get somewhat attached to ships and boats and give them almost human like pesonalities and affection.
IMO the finest ferry Company on the cross Channel service was Olau Line that sailed out of Sheerness with two boats,the German unions ruined this fine ferry line by refusing to allow it to be âflagged outâ,so they closed down and transferred the two ships to the Baltic service.But they really were a fine operation,they treated their customers like royalty,Sally line couldnât hold a candle to these guys !! Cheers Bewick.
Hi, Jazzandy,
I hope you have more luck in your area trying to raise funds for a project like that than they did down here in the Lincolnshire /Humberside area trying to raise money to save the old P.S. Lincoln Castle.
To late for her now sheâs gone , razor blades now.
CHeers Bassman
PS ,All the times Iâve been to Smithâs dock and Port Clarence I didnât know that ship was there . You see what you want to see at times.
Hereâs another your older guys might remember, the âRoyal Soverignâ used to sail from Tower bridge to Southend pier and Margate then return every day. When I was at primary school we went on a day trip on her, Taylors coach (Ex Daventry) to Tower bridge, ship to Southend and the coach met us there, I remember the train that ran down the pier which was at the time the longest pier in the world.
This is taken in Barcelona I donât know where it ran to I had just loaded its heads for the uk to be reconned at Colchester.
Iâve posted this on before, many a nice crossing on this old ladyâŚ
Royal sovereign had a second life as a RoRo truck ferry with Townsend. She had a complete rebuild and emerged as the âautocarrierâ she was an absolute abortion and a nightmare to sail on having countless incidents.
Anyone have the displeasure of a crossing on her from Dover to Zeebrugge?
your.e right andy, it was worse than any of the townsend boats, and could never keep to a timetable, if it was running terribly late they would just cancel its sailings for the day, and start again next day hoping to keep to schedule. the other boat that did the same thing on dover zeebrugge was the f/e one. it was always having the same trouble. regards terry.
Jazzandy:
Royal sovereign had a second life as a RoRo truck ferry with Townsend. She had a complete rebuild and emerged as the âautocarrierâ she was an absolute abortion and a nightmare to sail on having countless incidents.Anyone have the displeasure of a crossing on her from Dover to Zeebrugge?
Jazzandy, had the displeasure many times of sailing (or should I say rolling ) to Zeebrugger on that old tub, the only boat I know of if the channel was rough even the crew would phone in sick, but the free two hundred â â â â helped.
Ossie
OTS:
Anyone been on this Ship0
Did this start life as the Prinses Beatrix, on the Harwich-Hook route back in the late 70s? If so, went on her many times back then as a snotty-nosed child, going to Germany with my Dad.
Gary
Jazzandy:
The âRoyaleâ ex TSS Dover is still in Middlesbrough sunk at her moorings next to the transporter bridge.We are trying to save and restore her. Everything is in place to put her into drydock nearby but ÂŁ100,000.00p. is desperately needed. Any Ideasâ â ?
I have seen it, such a shame wonder what actually made her sink? I know they blamed vandals but what could vandals have done to cause this?
I hope it can be save as it would be a shame to se it broken up too
She let water in through the stern propshaft seals, nothing to do with vandalism.
Everything is in place to raise her and put her into dry dock. All we urgently need is ÂŁ100,000.00p.!!!
Jazzandy:
She let water in through the stern propshaft seals, nothing to do with vandalism.Everything is in place to raise her and put her into dry dock. All we urgently need is ÂŁ100,000.00p.!!!
Would love to help and reading up on it, it sounds like a great idea using it to train people with proper hands on experience
It must of been late 80s when i went on an Italian trip with my uncle, we sailed out of Dover on one of the freighters that had been stretched for the job. I canât remember the name of the boat but i recall the stairs were more like a ladder to get up from the freight deck!. It was worth the climb as the restaurant was superb, steak cooked to order and the best buffet i had seen.
Happy new year to all
Daz