Success of Adopt a Penguin scheme The Adopt a Penguin Scheme was set up in response to the Oliva disaster at
Nightingale and the rescue of Rockhopper Penguins. Visitors, especially those from cruise ships who saw the efforts being made to save the lives of oiled penguins paid £50 to adopt a penguin and a
certificate was issued as a souvenir. On each certificate was the adopter's
name and the name of the penguin which the individual chose. Lots of
lovely names were chosen including Slick, Rocky, Guppie, Zuul,
Calshot, Cordelia, Pinguini, Lyrian, Julie, Lurian, Mees, Noor,
Lurei, and Limahl. |
Inaugural visit of MV Plancius on 12th - 14th April |
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Visit of sailing ship Barque Europa 8th April |
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Visit of MV Explorer 22nd - 23rd March The MV Explorer arrived at Tristan on 22nd March at 8.30am, after undertaking a quick detour to Nightingale Island to assess the situation there from the Oliva disaster. Weather was not brilliant when she first arrived at Tristan and there was some debate as to whether Explorer would land visitors or not. But the ship does not carry the name for nothing and is most certainly an explorer at heart, so the first scout boat was sent in for immigration and disembarkation of visitors was soon underway. |
Visit of Prince Albert II 17 th - 19th March |
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Queen Mary 2's brief Tristan visit |
On 1st February 2011 the elegant 151,400 tonne liner QM2 made a brief call at Tristan da Cunha. Captain Paul Wright has reported that as they were on a full speed run to Cape Town they had no time to allow Tristan Islanders to come aboard to sell stamps and souvenirs or to stamp passports. Captain Wright thought it would be difficult to offer trips ashore for over 2500 guests, but hoped that Carnival UK who also operate the smaller P and O ships may choose to include Tristan as a port of call during future world cruises. He added that 'I have no doubt our guests will report very positively on your beautiful Island. I certainly have done so to Carnival UK. Many thanks for the delicious lobster tails! Robin Repetto's photo left shows the QM2 off Tristan with RMS St Helena on 1st February 2011. The crawfish tails were part of a gift from Islanders to the ship taken by the Wave Dancer which also brought ashore gifts from the QM2. |
RMS St Helena's welcome return after five years RMS St Helena made a most welcome return to Tristan da Cunha on 31st January 2011, staying for three nights and enabling passengers to stay ashore. A hectic series of events centred around the first visit for Governor Andrew Gurr which are highlighted on our separate Governor's Page. The RMS left for St Helena on Wednesday 2nd February on the second leg of a triangular cruise to and from Cape Town. Photo from Sean Burns shows the RMS at anchor on 1st February 2011. Other pictures on the Shipping News and Governor's Pages |
Visit of RMS St Helena 30 th January – 2nd February |
MS Bremen's December Visit The MS Bremen called at Tristan on 19th December 2010. The ship arrived at 8am and weather was favourable. Passengers disembarked at 8.30am where they were greeted at the harbour and had the opportunity to buy brochures and guidebooks. Passengers made the most of the new Self-Guided Tour booklets and hiked at leisure around the Settlement of Edinburgh, 1961 Volcano and the Potato Patches. This was finished off with a visit to the Post Office & Tourism Centre where they enjoyed lobster sandwiches, Christmas muffins and coffee with the opportunity to pick up some handicrafts and postcards. For those who needed something cold the Albatross Bar was there to assist. |
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Archive photo of a previous MS Bremen visit on Friday 17 March 2006 showing the ship about to depart with its 105 passengers for Nightingale Island. Also shown is the smaller cruise ship MV Alexey Maryshev, just arrived with 43 passengers for a two day visit. |
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Passengers left the island at midday with local guides and headed for Nightingale Island where they enjoyed zodiac cruises around the island. This gave them the opportunity to enjoy and see some of Tristan’s great wildlife. Local guides were brought back to Tristan at 7pm and the Bremen proceeded on her way to South Georgia. Report of Tristan's last 2010 ship visit from Dawn Repetto |