Tristan da Cunha Shipping News

Baltic Trader unloading continues apace

23rd December: Cargo Raft brings another load into Camogli Harbour	26th December: Flat calm as Baltic Trader lies at anchor after dispatching another load	26th December: Another load approaches the island
Photographs from David Morley

Hectic pre-Christmas unloading of Baltic Trader and Edinburgh Tristan da Cunha's Calshot Harbour was a hive of activity from Friday 19th December, when MV Baltic Trader started unloading on Saturday 20th December, when MV Edinburgh joined Baltic Trader at anchor and was unloaded by lunchtime, and through the weekend and into Christmas week.
	Images of MV Baltic Trader being unloaded on Friday 19th December from Administrator David Morley Right : View from MV Baltic Trader looking towards The Settlement and Hottentot Point
MV Baltic Trader at anchor

	Left : Baltic Trader's bridge Right: the new cargo raft bringing part of a new mobile crane This and the two images below from Charl Moolman

	Left : Beam for the new heavy duty crane arriving in the harbour Right : Cab / engine of the new mobile crane lifting vehicle being unloaded by the sole remaining factory crane which has had to cope with unloading after the collapse of the old heavy duty crane on 11th April 2008

Baltic Trader Arrives
MV Baltic Trader arrived early on Friday 19th December 2009 from Cape Town on the last leg of its journey from Norway. The ship contains a new heavy duty harbour crane and materials for the fishing factory re-construction. So the traditional 'Breaking Up Day' for Government and Factory employees has been postponed as a frantic unloading operation gets underway. MV Edinburgh is also due from Cape Town on 20th December.

Photo here and on our home page from Robin Repetto

Pair of boats arriving before Christmas disrupts holiday plans
From information received from Administrator David Morley
The MV Baltic Trader eventually left Cape Town 09.00 local time on Thursday 11th December on its inaugural journey to deliver materials for the reconstruction of the island's fishing factory and components for a heavy duty harbour crane
- see Factory Re-Building and Calshot Harbour pages for details.

The ship's late departure has a knock-on effect on Tristan's traditional Christmas holiday arrangements,

with the traditional Break Up planned for Friday 19th December seriously disrupted. Medical and Education departments likely to be stopping on the 19th as planned, but everyone else is likely to keep working until MV Edinburgh (expected to arrive on the Friday 19th with Christmas fresh/frozen order for whole island)and MV Baltic Trader (expected Thursday 18th or earlier) are unloaded. Even with perfect sea conditions, it will be difficult to unload both ships by Christmas.

As a result Sheep Shearing Day and the main annual slaughtering will be postponed until New Year. We have a separate Christmas and New Year Holiday page and will endeavour to keep our visitors up to date with images and news of Tristan's busy summer 'holiday' period there.

The fluid shipping schedule was moved around again, with several changes including the return of MV Edinburgh to Cape Town on 28 November, returning on 13th December for an extended fishing trip until March. See also other significant changes to the Shipping Schedule which can be checked on the Shipping Schedule page which also includes passenger fares.

MV Baltic Trader arrives in Cape Town

MV Baltic Trader docked in Cape Town at 11.30 on Friday 14th November 2009. The ship will depart for its first Tristan da Cunha trip in December with material for the construction of Tristan's third fishing factory, and components for a new heavy duty crane.
See separate reports below, and on Factory Re-Building News and Harbour News pages.

Significant Changes to Shipping Schedule

Potential travellers to Tristan da Cunha are warned of significant and fluid changes to ship's schedules.

1. The inaugural trip of MV Baltic Trader has been postponed until 29th November, but could be brought forward
2. The present MV Edinburgh fishing voyage has been extended over the Christmas and New Year, with return to the Cape in late January.
3. The January - March MV Kelso trip's schedule will be dependent on the success of the present fishing trip in terms of quota caught.
4. The 2nd MV Baltic Trader trip is scheduled for departure from Cape Town on 28th January, anticipating delivery of a CTBTO electricity generator, but could be brought forward if extended work on the harbour is approved.

This information is given to be indicative of a fast-moving logistics situation where there is a priority for passage of passengers / materials for the factory / harbour re-building projects and for on-going fishing operation.

So other passengers should maintain close contact with the Tristan Administration ~ as the schedule is bound to change.

See the Shipping Schedule Page for the latest schedule which will updated as soon as changes are known, but must always be regarded as provisional.

MV Edinburgh Delay
MV Edinburgh's latest departure from Cape Town was delayed by 48 hours from Tuesday 21st October to Friday 24th October and unloaded passengers at Tristan on Saturday 1st November. The ship then embarked on its outer island (Gough, Nightingale & Inaccessible) extended fishing trip, with estimated departure from Tristan on 15th December for arrival back in Cape Town on 21st December.
Amongst the incoming passengers was Tasha Reilly to take up a 5 month posting as Deputy Administrator
-see Station News for details.

MV Baltic Trader's restricted cabin space
David Morley has confirmed that initially only four passenger berths will be available on MV Baltic Trader as Ovenstones will need more time to enlarge and upgrade additional passenger accommodation. In time the ship is planned to take 12 passengers in addition to 12 crew, but time is of the essence, and rather than carry out a lengthy refit, the ship will initially concentrate on getting vital factory and crane components to Tristan as the austral summer approaches.

Major Shipping News to ensure Tristan re-building goes ahead

Baltic Trader to provide transport for Factory Re-building,
new crane installation and possibly further harbour refurbishment

Photographs of
the 1800 tonne
Baltic Trader
in her home Norwegian waters
The ship was built in Norway in 1975, lengthened in 1987.

Images of MV Baltic Trader
from Andrew James

The baltic Trader can carry up to
57 containers, including 27 on deck.

Important Announcement from Andrew James of Ovenstone Agencies on Friday 10th October 2008 :

We are pleased to advise that today Gert Marais of Ovenstone Agencies took delivery of the multi purpose cargo vessel BALTIC TRADER on behalf of the Time Charterers, The Apple Group, in Trondheim, Norway. This brings to conclusion a very challenging 8 months of searching for and securing a vessel that has the necessary attributes required. Over a dozen vessels have been carefully considered to provide the necessary logistics solution for the capital projects underway on Tristan da Cunha, namely:

Rebuilding of the lobster processing facility and power plant;
Installation of the heavy lift gantry crane;
Installation of a new compliant transformer station;

and possibly

Rehabilitation work on Calshot Harbour.

The vessel is well suited for the job at hand, being equipped with a 30 ton safe working load crane, and capable of carrying bulk, palletised and containerised cargo up to approx 2200 Dead Weight Tons (DWT).

The term of the Time Charter will be dependent on a number of factors, particularly the cargo required to be delivered to the Island. Having a vessel of this capacity and operating cost available for Tristan provides a unique opportunity to provide a logistics solution to a range of intended projects at the Island. It could be ideal if every advantage can be taken of this vessel capacity.

Ovenstone Agencies have secured the option to acquire the vessel outright or long term charter it after this first Time Charter period secured by The Apple Group, and will consider doing so based upon the performance of the vessel and the future operating requirements of the Tristan lobster Concession. There are obvious benefits to the Island Community to having such a vessel service the Island. Apart from a much enhanced cargo service, it could also create new opportunities for the Community such as:

Development of a viable Tristan Bottled Water operation;
Transport of scrap metal, recyclable material and waste to Cape Town for resale and disposal;

that could create new jobs and generate income. The opportunity is there because the vessel will essentially return to Cape Town empty from the Island.

The vessel will depart Trondheim before 15 October and is expected to arrive in Cape Town via a bunkering call in Las Palmas on or about 10 November. In Cape Town the vessel accommodation will be increased from 10 to 24 to accommodate 12 passengers. Cargo will be loaded and vessel will depart for Tristan on or about 17 November. The vessel will then operate on a 3 - 4 week round trip cycle (depending on the weather) carrying personnel, plant and equipment to and from Tristan.

Please note the following:

All dates detailed above are provisional;
The vessel will be equipped to accommodate 12 passengers, but it must be understood that on sailings during the construction period, priority will be given to technical personnel.

Despite the lengthy search for a suitable vessel, and various other challenges that Ovenstone and The Apple Group have faced, I remain confident that all the civil and engineering work planned for the 2008/09 summer season can be completed on schedule and that we can enjoy a factory opening ceremony when the Governor visits in April 2009.

SA Agulhas Update SA Agulhas left Gough Island on Saturday 4th at 11.00 and arrived back at Tristan 08.00 on Sunday 5th October. Passengers' luggage was brought aboard by boat between 09-10.00 on Sunday and passengers themselves embarked at 15.00 on Monday 6th October and the ship departed for Cape Town at 18.00. Master of the Agulhas Freddie Ligthelm reports that all is well except for the view of sad Tristanians who had to part with their visitors.
	SA Agulhas prepares to return to Cape Town Picture left of the SA Agulhas at anchor on 5th October with its helicopter overhead and right of the helicopter on the American Fence school field from David Morley.
Importance of SA Agulhas Trip The SA Agulhas provides a cargo and passenger service to Tristan da Cunha each Austral Spring. This is part of a lease arrangement of Gough Island to the South African Government where they maintain a Meteorological Station. So the ship travels out to Tristan, then on to Gough for the annual exchange of personnel and cargo supply. The voyage gives passengers an opportunity to have a stay of up to three weeks on Tristan, making it a very popular, and busy trip for visitors. It has provided a vital service to Tristan for over 25 years. An additional advantage is that SA Agulhas carries a helicopter, so that normally passengers come ashore straight away (but see 2008 delay noted below). As a result SA Agulhas trips are always full and often berths are reserved years in advance, so don't turn up at Cape Town expecting a place!
See also Ships Page for further information on the SA Agulhas

Important Shipping Update as vessel is chartered to bring in crane and factory components
Administrator David Morley confirms changes to the 2008 shipping schedule
The Kelso, currently fishing, will need to continue to do so for longer than anticipated. So she will remain in Tristan waters until mid-December. This means her October trip is cancelled. The Edinburgh is still scheduled to leave Cape Town on 21 October. But we have been obliged to give passenger priority to 6 contractors coming to Tristan to build the crane and the new factory. They cannot be carried as anything other than passengers because the Edinburgh will be carrying a full crew for fishing purposes. The remaining 6 berths have been allocated according to medical and operational requirements.
Some good news – just before I left Cape Town, Ovenstone signed a charter deal for a freighter to carry the new crane and new Factory components to Tristan. There will be limited passenger space aboard the charter vessel, now confirmed as the MV Baltic Trader which will be leaving Cape Town towards the end of October. The crane should be up well before Christmas and the Factory construction will start immediately thereafter. There will be a succession of small teams of contractors/consultants visiting between now and next March to manage the various stages of the projects.

I'd like to apologise to those who are going to be inconvenienced by losing their place on both vessels. But I hope they will understand that the welfare of our medical cases and the operational needs of the community must take precedence in such circumstances.
See also the revised shipping schedule on our Shipping Page

MV Kelso returns
MV Kelso returned from Cape Town on Saturday 21st September, bring David Morley and his wife Jacki to resume his duties as resident Administrator (see also Government News Page). MV Kelso will resume its role as a Tristan waters based factory ship, using islanders to crew power boats.
See also a report from Dorrien Venn of Ovenstones of the 2008/9 fishing operation so far on our Fishing News Page. MV Edinburgh is currently fishing the outer islands and is due to return to Cape Town on 9th October.

This dramatic photograph was taken from the Kelso's bridge by David Morley on 15th September en route to Tristan.

SA Agulhas Update
Amongst the SA Agulhas passengers were Monsignor Michael McPartland, Prefect Apostolic of the South Atlantic , who was welcomed on his return by members of Tristan's Roman Catholic community. Also aboard was Dentist Aileen Logie and Dental Technician Bob Carse who is a regular Tristan visitor, RSPB personnel Erica Sommer and Jonathon Bowler and CTBTO staff Jean du Boullay, Leo Genin and partner Emeline Dumouilla.
SA Agulhas completed unloading at Gough by 16th September, and then embarked on a buoy run to 50 degrees south, temperatures down to 2 celsius, and sightings of two icebergs. On return at Gough, fuel was pumped ashore on 23rd September and cargo was transported from shore to ship by helicopter. MV Edinburgh was fishing in Gough waters, and crew also worked to free trapped Little Petrels from ship rigging before being attacked by Skuas.

Delayed SA Agulhas Arrival
SA Agulhas departed from Cape Town on Thursday 4th September, not arriving at Tristan until Thursday 11th September. There was a 27 knot wind and 2 metre swell on arrival, so the ship sought the lee, and passengers were eventually airlifted ashore by helicopter the next morning, Friday 12th September. Eight boat trips brought cargo ashore until 10.30 am when trips were suspended following problems with the harbour crane. Helicopter flights continued, and 13 return journeys were made by early evening. Weather remained difficult, with a 33 knot south-westerly blowing on the morning of Saturday 13th September. Nevertheless four pontoon loads completed cargo unloading by noon, only leaving vehicles on board, hopefully to be brought ashore on the vessel's return from Gough.
The Agulhas set sail for Gough at 13.18 on Saturday 13th and arrived at noon on Sunday 14th September for the annual meteorological team change-over.
The provisional 2009 Agulhas voyage dates have now been announced, and other shipping schedule details can also be checked on our Shipping Page which features schedules and fares.

	Brief evening visit of HMS Liverpool on 9th September 2008 Report and images from Chief Islander and Acting Administrator Conrad Glass HMS Liverpool finally arrived at Tristan on Tuesday 9 September en route from the Falkland Islands, and accompanied by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Black Rover. The visit was delayed by a day as the ship had to return to the Falkland Islands to drop off a crew member for compassionate reasons. She dispatched her Lynx helicopter, piloted by Lieutenant Commander Gary McCall, Royal Navy, who was the Liaison Officer for the visit. The only personnel who came ashore were the Captain Commander Greg Wood, Royal Navy, Petty Officer Medical Assistant Paul Smith, Royal Navy plus Leading Chef Jason Neale to meet his Tristan friend Jason Green. HMS Liverpool’s helicopter landed on the football pitch in front of St. Mary’s School at 1730hrs on a rather grey evening. Commander Wood and crew were met by Mr. Conrad Glass, Acting Administrator, and his wife Sharon. After a brief chat, the helicopter took off to take some aerial photos of the harbour and Village for future harbour construction, while Commander Wood made a brief visit to the Post Office, stopping on the way to take a few photos of the “Welcome to Tristan da Cunha ” sign. Both officers wrote a few postcards franked by Postmistress Iris Green. Then Commander Wood had the honour of being the first person to post a letter at the newly installed Red Post Box sent from the UK , which was placed in the Post Office grounds earlier that day. Having posted their mail, the next stop was the Acting Administrator’s residence for coffee, stamping of passports and the exchanging of gifts. The Acting Administrator was presented with HMS Liverpool’s plaque and in return Commander Wood was given a Tristan Newsletter, an RSPB Conservation Field Guide Book on the Island ’s and a signed copy of the Acting Administrator’s book “Rockhopper Copper”. With time running short Commander Wood and crew were whisked back to the football pitch to the awaiting helicopter, and was soon waving goodbye to the Acting Administrator as the helicopter flew off into the gathering darkness, which was made worse, by the misty rain. Although the visit was short, it was reassuring to know that the Royal Navy is never far away. My only regret is that their stay could not be longer
HMS Liverpool's helicopter arriving on the school field

Commander Wood and colleague with Conrad Glass by Tristan's welcome sign

Commander Wood receiving gifts including Conrad's book 'Rockhopper Copper' and a Tristan da Cunha Newsletter

Shipping Update
MV Edinburgh left Cape Town on 20th August and landed passengers and freight at Tristan on 28th August. The vessel then continued to fish around the outer islands of Nightingale, Inaccessible and Gough, expecting to depart for the Cape on 9th October.
MV Kelso left Tristan on Friday 29th August and will return for her 2nd Tristan fishing trip (being used for a second time in the 2008/9 season as a factory ship for ship-based Tristan island fishermen) departing from Cape Town on 12th September. Andrew James reports that the duration of this second Kelso fishing voyage will depend upon fishing and the cargo service delivering materials and equipment to the Island for the factory rebuild. See the Fishing Page for details.

MV Kelso's historic Tristan ship-based fishing trip
MV Kelso left Cape Town on Thursday 10th July and arrived at Tristan on Wednesday 16th July.
Unfortunately poor weather meant that passengers were not offloaded until Tuesday 22nd July. Amongst the incoming passengers aboard MV Kelso are Rev Don Wittich and his wife Mary (plus their 10 year old granddaughter Caitlyn). Rev. Don is making a welcome return to Tristan to fill in as the Anglican Priest for Father Chris Brown who will return on the Agulhas in September.
MV Kelso has taken on board teams of Islanders who will fish each day, returning their catch for ship-based processing whilst the Tristan factory is re-built. See the Fishing News Page for details.

The photograph above from Marie Repetto shows one of the Tristan power boats setting out from Calshot Harbour on 22nd July to begin the historic first week of ship-based Tristan da Cunha fishing.

Casablanca fishing around the Tristan Islands
The longline fishing vessel Casablanca left Cape Town on 7th July bound for Tristan waters and arrived on 16th July.
See photograph and story on our Fishing News page.

	MV Edinburgh photographed left by David Morley on Monday 30th June, and looking smart after a re-paint whilst in dry dock recently. The ship's unloading is going well and passengers went aboard at 17.00 on Wednesday 2nd July for departure for Cape Town. On board will be David Morley and his wife Jacki, so Chief Islander Conrad Glass will be acting Administrator in his absence.
Joining David and Jacki will be UN monitoring station manager Clement Mochet (see story on Station News Page) and Richard Galliers, a geologist from Cape Town, who has been taking core samples at the factory site and the harbour, to ensure that no nasty surprises are encountered when building the crane and the factory.

MV Edinburgh
arrived safely from Cape Town on Friday 27th June at 10.00. Passengers got safely ashore and offloading has commenced in calm conditions. It will be important to unload essential groceries (including flour which ran out of stock in the Supermarket several weeks ago) despite only being able to use the factory crane, as the weather forecast for the weekend is not promising.

MV Edinburgh Delay
It is reported from Cape Town by Dorrien Venn, representing Ovenstones, that due to unforeseen repairs being carried out while the vessel is in dry-dock, MV Edinburgh's estimated departure has been postponed until Friday 20th June.

June MV Edinburgh Voyage
MV Edinburgh is scheduled to depart from Cape Town on 12th June, as previously planned, with arrival at Tristan on 18th June, unloading for about a week (depending on sea conditions) and departing on 23rd / 24th June and expected arrival back in Cape Town on 30th June. Aboard will be Administrator David Morley and his wife Jacki for a UK leave and outgoing CBTO Station Manager Clement Mochet on completion of his tour. Chief Islander Conrad Glass will serve as Acting Administrator during David Morley's absence.
This voyage is crucial to the Tristan community as much of the May cargo was returned to Cape Town due to high seas and lack of a heavy duty crane preventing unloading. Supplies of groceries are very low - especially flour. Regular visitors will be aware that winter shipping arrivals and departures are often changed due to high seas, and if ever Tristan needed a calm week - 18th-23rd June needs to be the one.

SA Agulhas Developments
The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Directorate: Antarctica and Islands have entered into a new four year contract with Titan Aviation. As a result SA Agulhas will be using a very large Kamov KA32 helicopter as well as a B105, which give them greater efficiency and passenger/cargo carrying capacity.
SA Agulhas has a also introduced a revised on board alcohol policy which restricts alcohol consumption to the bar available each evening, and changes duty free purchase arrangements.
We have a separate page devoted to images and information on SA Agulhas and the two regular fishing vessels MV Edinburgh and MV Kelso which provide the scheduled service to Tristan da Cunha - see Scheduled Ships Page.

MV Edinburgh departs at last for Cape Town

Above ~ Barge leaving the harbour ~ Right ~ Barge returns safely
Images from Robin Repetto showing passengers being transported by barge to MV Edinburgh which eventually departed on 21st May 2008 after a prolonged trip - see details below. Even on this day there was 'a bit of a swell' which would have precluded cargo unloading but did allow an experienced barge crew to spot a lull in the swell (see central picture) to safely get out to sea and dispatch the patient passengers to the awaiting ship. Islanders hope for better weather a MV Edinburgh returns in June as Island Store groceries are running very low.

MV Edinburgh departs at last for Cape Town
Scheduled to arrive on Tristan on 30th April, arriving on 1st May but not able to unload passengers until 6th May, the ill fated MV Edinburgh has at last left for Cape Town on Wednesday 21st May, ETA 28th May. The original schedule was for departure on 6th May, arriving back in Cape Town on 12th May.
Much of the incoming cargo (over 50 crates) remained on board and will return to Cape Town awaiting the next MV Edinburgh sailing due to leave on 12th June. The poor weather compounded the problem caused by the lack of a heavy duty crane. A knock-on effect will be shortages of groceries and stocks of flour are very low.
Leaving Tristan is the BBC Horizon film team led by Dr Noe Zamel who has carried out work on the asthma gene on two previous trips to Tristan da Cunha. We expect to publish news of the team's work and publicise the resulting broadcast in due course. Joining the team aboard MV Edinburgh is Father Chris Brown who is going on leave, and a group of seven Islanders.


Images from Robin Repetto on 15th May 2008 show the typical May seas which battered the re-built west wall of Camogli Harbour and prevented cargo being unloaded from MV Edinburgh, also delaying loading of passengers until 21st May, three weeks after the ship first arrived from Cape Town.

MV Edinburgh brings BBC Horizon Team
MV Edinburgh arrived from Cape Town on Thursday 1st May, but owing to poor weather passengers were not landed until Sunday 4th and cargo on Tuesday 6th May. MV Edinburgh's cargo was restricted due to Tristan's heavy duty crane being out of action (see Harbour News Page for further details).
Notable amongst Edinburgh's passengers is a team from the BBC who will be making a film scheduled to be shown in the UK as part of the Horizon series. The team is led by Dr Noe Zamel who carried out work on the asthma gene whilst visiting Tristan da Cunha in the 1990s.

Also arriving is an electrical engineer - Maans van Niekerk - who is trying and sort out electrical problems (as Tristan has experienced recent power cuts because the new modern stand-by generator is not really compatible with the old electrical system, which was installed in 1968 with a life of 30 years). He is also beginning to plan an electrical upgrade upgrade which it is hoped will be delivered in 2009.
Inevitably, MV Edinburgh's departure will also be delayed, probably until next weekend - ie Friday 9th - Sunday 11th May. The loss of the big crane is slowing unloading and bad weather is forecast for Thursday 8th May.

Welcome return of SV Europa

SV Europa arrived in fine weather on 5th April 2008 and so was able to anchor overnight and spend two days at Tristan da Cunha.

See 2nd picture on the Cruise Visits Page.

RFA Lyme Bay departs

RFA Lyme Bay departed on Saturday 29th March
with the Task Force responsible for Operation Zest
repairs to the harbour.

Easter arrival and departures
The cruise liner MV Endeavour arrived on Saturday 22nd March, picking up Tristan guides for an afternoon on Nightingale, and landing passengers ashore on Tristan on Easter Sunday 23rd March. The Endeavour was photographed by David Morley from The Residency garden with RFA Lyme Bay to the east.

MV Edinburgh loaded on Easter Saturday morning and set off for Cape Town in the afternoon.

SV Concordia's March Visit
Canada-based SV Concordia arrived on Friday 14th March and remained until Sunday 16th March when Administrator David Morley took this photo. of the yacht with the Lyme Bay in the background.
She carried 40+ students who study on board as well as help sail the ship. They are on an 8-month cruise around the world. The students came ashore and did a Q&A at St Mary's with the children there, on their experiences at sea and life on Tristan. They presented Chief Islander Conrad Glass with a plaque and David Morley presented them with some books.

Next year they hope to return for a longer stay and hope to stay ashore overnight.

MV Corinthian II's brief visit
Cruise ship MV Corinthian II called en route for Cape Town on Saturday 15th March, but couldn't land anyone due to the swell. Nevertheless locum Dr Lazlo (who had covered for Dr Carel Van de Merwe during his leave) managed to get aboard and is now en route to the UK where he will take up his next post in Scotland.
Left : Photo. of MV Corinthian, with the RFA Lyme Bay beyond from David Morley

MV Edinburgh and RFA Gold Rover arrive on 5th March
MV Edinburgh arrived on Wednesday 5th March with the Ovenstones team to assess the Factory fire damage and a new generator. The generator was transferred, first to the Lyme Bay, then via Calshot harbour to its new site alongside the fishing factory site on Saturday 8th March - see pictures and report on our Factory Fire Page.

RFA Gold Rover, also returned to Tristan da Cunha on 5th March (after its special December mission to deliver much-needed drugs), to re-fuel the RFA Lyme Bay on Thursday 6th March.

Photograph from Anne Green taken on 6th March 2008 showing the RFA Lyme Bay and Gold Rover at the Tristan da Cunha Anchorage.

RFA Lyme Bay arrives on 28th February

The 16,000 tonne Lyme Bay arrived at Tristan da Cunha a total sea journey of over 12,400 kms or 7740 miles taking four weeks from its departure from Portland Harbour in Dorset on 1st February.

The ship will provide its own power for its mission - code named Operation Zest - to re-furbish the badly damaged Calshot Harbour - see Harbour News page for details.

Photograph from Robin Repetto taken on 28th February 2008

Cape Town Departures
RFA Lyme Bay left Table Bay Harbour in Cape Town on Sunday 24th February and was reported to be making 14 knots in good weather on Monday 25th, so is expected at Tristan da Cunha on Thursday 28th February at 07.00. See also Harbour News for details of the Calshot Harbour refurbishment, and below for further details of RFA Lyme Bay.
MV Edinburgh left Cape Town on Tuesday 26th February and is due to arrive on Monday 3rd March.On board MV Edinburgh is a team to assess the fire damage and plan a new factory. See Factory Fire News for further details.

MV Edinburgh's quick turnaround
MV Edinburgh departed Tristan on Thursday 14th February for its return to Cape Town on 20th or 21st Feb, departing again for Tristan on 23rd or 24th February and arriving Tristan 1st or 2nd March. It is ironical that this trip was billed as an extended factory 'repair and maintenance' voyage, but now the building is burnt to the ground.
This earlier trip than planned is a significant change to the published schedule and potential travellers should note that it is likely that the Ovenstone vessels MV Kelso and MV Edinburgh will have significantly revised schedules as a result of the disastrous fish processing factory fire on 13th February 2008.
The Shipping Schedule Page will be updated as soon as news is received, but dates are very likely to change.

RFA Lyme Bay heads for Tristan da Cunha
RFA Lyme Bay left Portland Harbour in Dorset en route for Tristan da Cunha on 1st February to carry out 'Operation Zest' which will refurbish the island's seriously storm-damaged harbour, hopefully in time for the Austral winter storms. The ship is expected to reach Cape Town on 20th February, continuing to Tristan on 21st or 22nd and arriving (after a total sea journey of over 12,400 kms or 7740 miles!) about February 27th. Also aboard will be Dr Carel Van der Merwe returning from his leave.
We will publish details of the ship's progress on this page and catalogue Operation Zest on our separate Harbour News Page.

Photo left shows the vessel alongside her home port berth in Portland Harbour, Dorset from where she departed for Tristan da Cunha on 1st February 2008.
RFA Lyme Bay is the latest addition to the Royal Navy's Auxiliary Fleet.
Built between 2001-2005, firstly on the Tyne, then completed on the Clyde, the 16,190 tonne vessel is is over 176 m long.
Designed to sail with a crew of 59, the ship is capable of also carrying 356 troops, 1200 linear metres of vehicles (up to 24 Challenger tanks , 12 x 40 TEU containers, and five landing craft and powered rafts.
This is the Lyme Bay's first major overseas mission after being commissioned in August, entering service in November 2007 and since carrying out tests in the English Channel and North Sea.

MV Kelso brings Operation Zest Team
A party of seven Royal Engineers arrived aboard MV Kelso on Thursday 24th January after a rather bumpy voyage from Cape Town to make a survey and plans for the forthcoming party aboard RFA Lyme Bay expected later in the year. The team left on the chartered MV Kelso, at 1000 on Sunday 27 January. Two of the party, Mike Forster and Geordie Heslop, will be returning with the main party. See report and pictures of the team's work on our Harbour News page.