Saterday oktober 6th 2007.

Saterday oktober 6th 2007.

A new day of shipspotting in Anwterp.
This week it was the birthday of my two nephews.
So sunday we will have a nice party. A good idea to change our shipspotting plans.
Early in the morning there was a very thick fog hanging in the air.
So a bit later then planned we left for Antwerp.
After the fog had gone a nice temprature made the day feel pretty good.


Arriving in Antwerp the first ship i saw was the Adria Celeste (imo: 8215780).
She was moored at the Noordzeeterminal and they were getting her unloaded.
I must say the type of ship was pretty nice, but she could do with a new paint.

Just a bit further on the Noordzeeterminal was a very regular visitor. She was getting loaded with containers so she could leave later that day.

OOCL Belgium (imo: 9169419).

Just around the corner a ship came up on her way to Antwerp. She picked up the tug who is going to assist her to the Zandvlietlock.

Fairchem Unicorn (imo: 9286554).

Just a few minutes behind her there was an other very good looking lady. She had been to Antwerp with different names, but with this name she came in a few time before. This is one of the MSC vessels that come to Antwerp on a regular basis.

MSC Erminia (imo: 7614381)

After the Zandvlietlock got filled with ships it went quiet. So it was a good time to have something to eat. But i could not do that for very long, because there was a big one, a so called "super" ship, coming in the Berendrechtlock. The Breezy Victoria got un-loaded in Antwerp and was leaving empty to go to the North Sea.

Breezy Victoria (imo: 9321172).

What a fantastic ship this is! I must admit this was my catch of the day!!

At the Europaterminal there was some space available for a small containership. So at the horizon a smaller containership came towards us. It was the Berit from the UK. She is a grey containervessel that came to get some more containers on her.

Berit (imo: 9237371).

As soon as she was moored at her place at the Europaterminal there was an other one who would like some space over there. The Atlantic Cartier came to Antwerp fully loaded with containers and cars. Her place was all the way at the end of the terminal where they got the ramp to load and unload the cars.

Atlantic Cartier (imo: 8215481).

In the mean time there was some movement in the Berendrechtlock. It wasn't a very busy day, but the ship that was moving from the inside of the port in the lock was worth waiting for.

Stolt Capability (imo: 9102124).

At the other side of the port the Boudewijnlock had some vessels who wanted to leave Antwerp. It took them some time, but finally they passed us at the shipspotting pier.

Joanna Borchard (imo: 9354387).

Lone Wonsild (imo: 8802791).

The last one i saw entering the port today was a very regular visitor. This ship or one of her sisterships are coming here nearly every week.

Stella Wega (imo: 9136113)

From the inside of the port we saw a nice one that wanted to leave the port of Antwerp. It is the MCT Alioth (imo: 9173094).

And last, but not least i would like to mention something we saw this afternoon.

From the Boudewijnlock the CEC Cardigan (imo: 9169811) was coming our way. We heared she had some trouble with her engine. She got up to 17 knots and wanted to leave Antwerp. The pilot got on to the traffic controll center in Antwerp and informed them that the ship was unable to slow down. At that time the tug Union 8 (imo: 9120176) got the call to go towards her to stand by in case off any emergency. So just a few seconds later we saw the CEC Cardigan pass the back of the shipspotting pier and she was going pretty fast. The Union 8 was going after her and the pilot kept in touch with her and the traffic center. The speed seemed to get higher and higher and they came pretty close to the Noordzeeterminal. High waves are getting to the ships that where moored over there. Mooring ropes got loose and you could here the inlandvessels touching each other. On the CEC they managed to stop the engines and as soon as that happend the Union 8 got the ropes of the CEC ship and made sure she could not drift away. The Union 8 towed her away from the busy waterway. At that side of the port the captain managed to check the engine over and it took until later that night before she could get on her way again.

CEC Cardigan (imo: 9169811)

This was another day of shipspotting excitement. We had a good day with nice sunny weather and an exciting adventure. So i can't wait for the next time to go spotting ships.