How can I find out when big container ships scheduled to dock at Southampton

[10FingersOnTheFender]

I've not long developed a fascination with container shipping.

I'd like to go to Rotterdam and Hamburg next year.

But in the meantime maybe I could go and see big container ships docking at Southampton. Anyone got any tips? How can I find out as far as possible in advance when certain big ships are due to dock there?

I'm still trying to work out which road Jools lives in

well we are cross with container ships tonight as DH has had to skip his weekend at home due to bad weather/5m waves

Brilliant Ta1kin, Southampton it is then! What was the Pool of London?

The Pool of London was what is now Canary Wharf and St Catherine's dock.
At New Years Eve We used to stand out in Greenwich and the foghorns and flares went on for half an hour.
All those docks have now moved to Thurrock

but in Southampton the big ships sound their horns for about ten minutes
and I live on a hill so I can watch the displays through 180 degrees from about quarter to till quarter past

I've never had the least desire to go on a cruise, but cargo / freight still spins my wheels

I too find the idea of going on a cruise a total turn-off! But give me a container ship.....sigh

@UrsulaPandress when did your parents do that (i.e. was it recent-ish and therefore might that kind of thing still be doable)? And how did they arrange it?

There are London to Cape Town ships bookable on one of the links given earlier on the thread: cargoshipvoyages.com

It's a regular run.

I may actually expire from envy if you manage to do this.

Sorry I'm a clot...I was of course pointed in the direction of these types of voyages up thread..

I'm very tired tonight

DH had to tell me off earlier for saying I was going to check on which boats were at port on my marine tracker app he said I wouldn't get very far if I called them 'boats' not 'ships'

I know you only mentioned it to tantalise me!

Arriving in Cape Town from sea is the journey I want to do most in the world. Even more than coming into Singapore or Yokohama.

During my childhood sea travelling days, I have once arrived in Cape Town - IIRC stunningly beautiful - and twice been through the Suez Canal - amazingly weird!

Brieandpateplease Wed 06-Dec-17 03:05:44
Norland and others who mentioned the view from Marchwood - I live nearby but have never ventured into the industrial estate, can you park over there then? Looking for some new places to go for a stroll this sounds good

You could park in ir near the yacht club but there's not much of a walk from there (unless you want to go to Eling)
Have a look at Google Maps in satellite view goo.gl/maps/WvE6Hx869gK2
and you can probably work out the path, through the woods to the east of Bury farm. The down side is passing the sewage works (where SS Shieldhall used to dock, to load up on human waste and take it out past the IOW on an ebb tide, which some on this thread may actually find interesting, there's even a song about it).

@NineFortySixPM I'm not sure I'd fancy having my cargo being carried on a ship which was also carrying fireworks....

Can some cargo 'owners' (not sure of right word) pay extra to ensure that there are no fireworks on board at the same time? Or would that be totally impractical and futile?

LoveMySituation I live in Southampton, not far from the docks as the crow flies (jealousy is unbecoming ladies). The fog horns are a lovely sound, Its actually a language the ships chat to each other. Different blasts mean different things; 'I'm moving left/right/reversing', I'm under full power', 'I'm leaving the berth/port' 'get out of my effing way' and so on. On News years eve all ships in the port let rip with their fog horns, deep to high pitched, its great.
Stealth boast warning, sometimes when the windows are open I can hear the distant rumble/crash of containers being loaded/unloaded in the docks. Took me ages to work out what it was when I first moved to Southampton.
Has anyone seen the Blue Marlin heavy lift ship irl? Too big for any UK port and I think only 2 in Europe can take it - tis my dream!

A few years ago I contacted Lee on Solent coastguard to ask if I could spend a morning seeing what they do. Temporary awkwardness/embarrassment when I got there as I think they thought it was a Jim'll fix it type request and I would be 13 not middle aged but they showed me all their whizzy computer equipment, all ships in the channel are trackable, my god its busy! So many movements. If someone fell overboard for example they can punch in ship position, time of accident, and the computers calculates the search area using tide/current etc. The search area becomes huge quite rapidly so if your not found quickly the odds aren't good. Interesting visit.

Fellow ship nerd here! Also ex Maersk, DH still is. Highlight so far was attending a naming ceremony at Felixstowe - how amazing would it be to name it and hope you managed to smash the champagne? We’ve been amazingly lucky to live all over the world through work.

Here's the ship that supplies, among other places, the largest lingerie department in Ireland.

Amelia one of my many merchant navy ex boyfriends was on heavy lift ships. He sent me a picture of a ship lifting another ship that was bigger than it - like an ant. Don’t like those little heavy lift ships as much as the big boys, they’re a bit weird.

@Draylon yes, there are still ships laid up on the Fal. Not many at the moment but still a couple. I still get a thrill rowing around the bend and seeing them there.

Look what I got sent today! A chance to collaborate with other shipping industry experts

To be fair I don’t actually feel I’m qualified to partake in the group but I’m sure as heck going to join anyway. Happy Christmas to me!!

I was living in Cardiff when the NATO conference was on in 2014, there were huge warships docked in Roath Basin. I went down to see some of them, merely because they were massive ships. Certainly not because of the war aspect. The show of might was ridiculous; tanks parked on Newport golf course I prefer watching huge ships pootle along the Mersey

Re fireworks
I once managed some imports of explosives, In actual fact they were party poppers but there is a tiny amount of explosive in each one. It was a massive massive pain in the arse, many lines won't touch any class 1 at all, I had to have it off port almost immediately inc arranging v quick clearance.

I think it would be unlikely that you'd get on a vessel that was carrying it and they would be super strict about it.

The container ships were always referred to as vessels.

I miss it, it's so different to what I do now, I should be spending my days munching cookies!

Nice Father Ted reference there Disgrace :o

So much shipping geekery! This is my view this evening. When DF comes to visit, he checks ship movements online then gets up extra early to watch particular boats. Container ships are a bit further away with straddlers moving the containers about - which is fascinating to watch. The quay has a sort of grid on it a-z in one direction & numbers the other. Love watching them identify & collect an individual container with incredible precision.

This evening I can see a container ship, cruise ship, couple of fishing boats & a tug. 😁 Sometimes have Antarctic research vessels.

Have also discovered meteorological sites so that you can track a ship, then check to see what the weather is like - wind speed & direction far out to sea. And last port of call & destination. I am mystified as to why I find this so interesting though!