zondag 30 december 2012

Oceana makes last 2012 call.

Today, P&O Cruises' Oceana was docked for the last time in 2012. With this call, the 2012 cruise season is ended. Some hightlights:

Ventura opens cruiseseason 2012.

 For the 2nd year in a row, the Ventura made the first call of the year. She was 8 hours docked at the 'Zweedse Kaai', this gave the passengers the opportunity to visit Bruges, Ghent, Brussels, Antwerp and other cities on our coastline.

P&O Cruises' Ventura

Double Maiden Call

 On the 1st may 2012, there were 2 maiden calls in Zeebrugge. The Mein Shiff 2, part of the TUI Cruises fleet, together with Mein Shiff 1 and the Azamara Journey were both docked in Zeebrugge for te first time. It was a nice day, and the sun was shining.
Azamara Journey

Celebrity Reflection

The Celebrity Reflection is the newest and last ship of the Solstice-class. Her maiden voyage started in Amsterdam and had Barcelona as destination. The press was not there, but we were! Pictures and information on our website.
Celebrity Reflection

What are we expecting for 2013?

There are some intresting calls planned for 2013. One of them is the Independence of the Seas. We'll also try to organise some events, to give you a closer look by the ships. Let's hope 2013 will be a better year then 2012, not that 2012 was bad!

Happy New Year from Cruiseschepen in Zeebrugge!

Oceana 30-12-2012

dinsdag 25 december 2012

Queen Elizabeth 2 sold for scrap.

One of Southampton's most ionic cruiseships, the Queen Elizabeth 2 has been sold for scrap to a Chinese for £20m. The ship left Southampton for the last time in 2008, to become a luxurious hotel in Dubai (U.A.). Cunard sold the ship to Dubai World for it to be used as a 1 000 room hotel at the Pal Jumeirah, a collection of man-made (made by a Belgian Company) in the shape of a palm tree.

The worldwide economic downturn put to pay those plans and the ship had since been moored at Port Rashid with a cost of £650,000 a month to maintain her. It has been claimed a Chinese crew of around 20 boarded the QE2 last week, replacing a crew of 40 who had been working on board.

The anchor of the QE2 has given by Cunard to Southampton, as a gift to commerate the 40 years of service the ship enjoyed from her home port.


The ship had a Royal Rendez-Vous here in our port, Zeebrugge. Together with Queen Victoria, the 19th july 2008.
Queen Elizabeth 2 and Queen Victoria

woensdag 5 december 2012

Non-Cruise: Cargo ship sinking after colission on the North Sea!

A cargo ship is sinking after a colission on the North Sea. The colission happend about 100km from the coast of Rotterdam. The coast guard started immediately a rescue operation. It isn't clear of there are people in a dangerous situation.

The sinking ship is the car carrier Baltic Ace, she sails under the flag of the Bahama's. Around 19.15 o'clock, she collided in the dutch waters with the containership Corvus J, from Cyprus. The reason is unknown.

A few helicopters, 2 rescueships, 2 navyships and one pilotship are underway to the place of colission.

The Baltic Ace left Zeebrugge for Kotka (Finland), The Corvus J was underway from Grangemouth (Scotland) to Antwerp.
Place of colission is marked with a yellow flag (on the left).
Baltic Ace in better times.