We arrived in Southampton in time to take the 3pm Red Funnel Ferry down the Solent to East Cowes. The ferry we were on was Red Falcon which re-entered service on the 4 April 2014 after an 8 week refit, the internal areas were definitely better laid out and equipped although the upper deck area was smaller.
Southampton was quite busy and I saw four new ships, we also followed Ludwigshafen Express down the Solent overtaking her near Fawley before stopping to let her pass - I got some good photographs of this vessel which I will be adding to the site in due course.
Fawley was packed with ships I have not seen before and I was on deck as we came into Cowes and saw Doreen Dorward working on a new breakwater which is part of a new marina development, again I took some good photographs of this before heading back to my car.
During the week East Cowes was quiet compared to previous visits, we normally go for an early morning walk down the esplanade and this affords good views of the ships entering and leaving the Solent, on previous visits I have taken quite a number of photographs here, for some reason there were not as many ships as usual and on a couple of days I did not see any new ships at all which is a first.
Our regular visit to Portsmouth was good and after taking the hovercraft from Ryde to Southsea on the mainland and walking along the coastal fortifications we spent the day in Portsmouth which included a walk around the Naval base and museum. A number of warships I have not seen before were in port, some of which had only recently returned from deployment.
I also saw new build RCI cruise ship Quantum of the Seas on 31 October 2014 head out to sea under cover of darkness. We walked to the sea wall to see her pass in the late evening and I took a few photographs of her although it was dark. Although we were initially the only people on the seafront a small crowd of about 20 people congregated where I was to see her pass, they also must have been watching the AIS. I believe she returned to Southampton after I had sailed home and undertook her maiden voyage to New York a day later.
Some driving facts ! - In total we drove 686.1 miles at an average of 37mph (which is surprising bearing in mind the amount of motorway driving I did) with an average fuel consumption of 51.3mpg.
The ships I saw equated to a total GT of 1,801,356 and can be split as follows.
1 No. Bulk Carrier
4 No. Cruise Ships
8 No. Container Ships
2 No. Tugs
4 No. Crude Oil Tankers
1 No. Dredger
1 No. General Cargo Ships
1 No. Work Boat
3 No. Vehicle Carriers
4 No. Naval Vessels
1 No. Research Vessel
1 No. Offshore Vessel
1 No. Ferry
10 No. Chemical Oil Product Tankers
A list of the vessels I saw is noted below.
Southampton - 25 October 2014
Emerald Princess, Passenger (Cruise) Ship 9333151, GT 113561, 2007
Hong Kong Express, Container Ship, 9501356, GT 142295, 2013
Ludwigshafen Express, Container Ship, 9613018, GT 142295, 2014
Challenge, Tug, 5067792, GT 212, 1931
Fawley / Solent - 25 October 2014
Sichem Hiroshima, Chemical Tanker, 9361483, GT 8539, 2008
Amazon Virtue, Crude Oil Tanker, 9660360, GT 44776, 2014
UACC Marah, Chemical / Oil Products Tanker, 9489091, GT 29279, 2013
Ebony Ray, Chemical / Oil Products Tanker, 9363857, GT 11590, 2009
Causeway, Dredger, 9653197, GT 4320, 2013
Doreen Dorward, Work Boat, 8873427, GT 161, 1962
Shanklin - 25 October 2014
Glovis Supreme, Vehicles Carrier, 9674177, GT 64650, 2013
Seavoyager, Crude Oil Tanker, 9318096, GT 81339, 2007
Asian Trust, Vehicles Carrier, 9203590, GT 55719, 1999
Yu Heng Xian Feng, Vehicles Carrier, 9166895, GT 53240, 1998
Motivator, Chemical / Oil Products Tanker, 9340386, GT 8539, 2007
Baltic Wave, Chemical / Oil Products Tanker, 9259991, GT 23235, 2003
King Emerald, Oil Products Tanker, 9267027, GT 25507, 2004
East Cowes - 26 October 2014
Cepheus J, Container Ship, 9292943, GT 6454, 2003
Pacific Leader, Bulk Carrier, 9626936, GT 33057, 2012
Jamila, Container Ship, 9477359, GT 16137, 2010
East Cowes - 27 October 2014
CMA CGM Corte Real, Container Ship, 9454400, GT 150269, 2010
Ryde - 27 October 2014
HMS Middleton (M34), Hunt Class Minesweeper, 4906628, GT 625, 1984
East Cowes - 27 October 2014
Braemar, Passenger (Cruise) Ship, 9000699, GT 19089, 1993
Portsmouth - 28 October 2014
EGS Pioneer, Research & Survey Vessel, 7382926, GT 124, 1975
SD Northern River, Supply Ship, 9179323, GT 3124, 1998
HMS Quorn (M41), Hunt Class Minesweeper, 4906692, GT 625, 1989 Universal Prime, Crude Oil Tanker, 9158886, GT 156692, 1997
SD Christina, Tug, 9533751, GT 121, 2010
HMS Hurworth (M39), Hunt Class Minesweeper, 8401509, GT 625, 1985
HMS Duncan (D37), Type 45 Destroyer, 4907880, 5800, 2013
Armorique, Passenger / Ro-Ro Cargo Ship, 9364980, GT 29468, 2009
Cliffwater, Chemical / Oil Products Tanker, 9229532, GT 2144, 2002
Southsea - 28 October 2014
Kongo Star, Chemical / Oil Products Tanker, 9508823, GT 8537, 2010
East Cowes - 31 October 2014
Karen Knutsen, Crude Oil Tanker, 9169615, GT 87827, 1999
Ulsan Express, Container Ship, 9613020, GT 142295, 2014
Glenda Melissa, Chemical / Oil Products Tanker, 9494682, GT 29130, 2011 Quantum Of The Seas, Passenger (Cruise) Ship , 9549463, GT 167800, 2014
Fawley / Solent - 1 November 2014
Nomadic Bergen, General Cargo Ship, 9432490, GT 5629, 2009
Duesseldorf Express, Container Ship, 9143556, GT 53523, 1998
Nave Cosmos, Chemical / Oil Products Tanker, 9457024, GT 17846, 2010
Southampton - 1 November 2014
Seoul Express, Container Ship, 9193305, GT 54465, 2000
Waverley, Side Paddle Steamer, 5386954, 693, 1947