Sweeping of StJohn's Harbour

Sweeping of Antigua's St.John's Harbour begins

The long awaited sweeping of  St.John's harbour, Antigua began today (19-Feb-2015). The Cyprus registered Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger, Shoreway (IMO 9618783), owned by Royal Boskalis Westminster of the Netherlands has been contracted to undertake this project. Boskalis, one of the world's leading engineering firms, specializes in dredging, salvage, towage and offshore energy projects.

The innovative vessel which arrived in Antigua on Feb 16th from Poland via Rotterdam, Netherlands, will suck the silt which has accumulated over the years into its hull using a vacuum-like arm which it drags on the sea bed. It will then make numerous trips to dump its unwanted cargo in deeper water offshore. It is estimated that it will take over 130 such trips to complete the project. The following Boskalis video demonstrates the operation of a Hopper Dredger:

Shoreway operating in Turning Basin, St.John's,Antigua

Noordam refuses to dock in St.John's Antigua

Today, just over a year since the Mein Schiff 2 refused to dock in St.John's (Antigua), another vessel, Holland America's cruise ship, the Noordam also made a similar about-turn. Arriving at the entrance to St.John's harbour around 7am, the ship made several loops off shore before finally departing at approximately 9am. The remainder of the day was spent meandering in the north Caribbean Sea enroute to its next scheduled stop, St.Thomas, where it is due to dock tomorrow.

Noordam en-route to St.Thomas after abadoning scheduled stop at St.John's, Antigua (from marinetraffic.com)

Noordam circling outside St.John's Harbour (from marinetraffic.com)

 While I have no information on the reasons for the ship not docking, there have been talks of sweeping the harbour to remove silt which has accumulated over the years and it is my understanding that the ship which has been contracted to perform this task is already enroute to Antigua. Based on a search of  marinetraffic.com I have been able to determine that the Cyprus registered hopper dredger, Shoreway (IMO 9420344) is scheduled to arrive in Antigua from Rotterdam on February 17th.

Disney Magic visits Antigua

Disney Magic arriving in Antigua on 17-Sep-2014 the first stop on its repositioning cruise from Europe. This was the first Disney ship visit after a 10 year absence from Antigua.

Leon Livingstone Smith visits Antigua

The Patrol Vessel Leon Livingstone Smith P423 arrived in St.John's on 6th September from the Netherlands via the Cape Verde Islands en route to the Bahamas. The ship built by the Damen shipyard in the Netherlands is being delivered to the Royal Bahamas Defence Force.  During its stop here in Antigua, His Excellency Dr.Rodney Williams Governor General and Prime Minister The Honorable Gaston Browne, Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force personnel and other Government officials were guest of the crew. Boarding at the Heritage Quay pier. the guests were taken on a brief trip offshore to experience the ship's capabilities.

According to the Royal Bahamas Defence Force Facebook page, the ship is the third of nine vessels to be added to the force's fleet under the Bahamas Government's patrol craft acquisition project.
The following video outlines the scope of the $232m investment.

Leon Livingstone Smith docked at Heritage Quay, St.John's, Antigua

Leon Livingstone Smith docked at Heritage Quay, St.John's, Antigua

Leon Livingstone Smith leaving St.John's harbour, Antigua

Leon Livingstone Smith entering St.John's harbour, Antigua

England Cricket Team arrives in Antigua

England's Cricket Team arrived in Antigua this afternoon aboard Virgin Atlantic's aircraft (G-VGEM) to battle with West Indies in 3 One Day Internationals at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket stadium starting 28-Feb-2014. After their recent dismal performance in Australia I'm sure they'll be eager to take revenge on the West Indies. Hopefully the West Indies team, a shade way below their former glory, will provide them with some stiff competition.

Norwegian's newest ship arrives in New York

This morning as Norwegian Breakaway docked in Barbados, the penultimate stop on its second 12 day cruise to the Eastern Caribbean , it's sister ship Norwegian Getaway entered New York harbor completing its inaugural 10 day transatlantic cruise from Southampton.

Breakaway's next stop will be St.Kitts before returning to New York, it's home port on Jan-31 where it will rendezvous with Getaway for the first time.

Meanwhile Getaway will remain docked at pier 88 next to the Intrepid aircraft carrier museum until Feb-2 where it will serve as Bud Light's floating hotel for the Super Bowl #48 festivities this week.

Getaway will home port in Miami.

Following up on news of these ships brings back memories of our cruise on Breakaway in October last year. This ship is and amazing ship and we had a great time on board as we took the inaugural Port Canaveral (Florida) - Great Stirrup Cay (Norwegian's Island in the Bahamas) - Nassau (Bahamas) 7 daycruise from New York and back. 

Following are some pictures from our cruise on Norwegian Breakaway:

Norwegian Breakaway

New York City at night

Pier 88 

Intrepid Museum

World Trade Center

View of New York Harbor

Statue of Liberty

Kennedy Space Centre

Space Shuttle Atlantis

Great Stirrup Cay - Norwegian Cruise Line's island in the Bahamas

Great Stirrup Cay

Passing under Verrazano-Narrows Bridge