In the Harbour: August 8th-14th
We are finally getting into cruise ship season! That time of year when downtown is filled with tourists from all over the world, and ships tower over the city's skyline. This week saw a couple of these vessels arrive in our harbour, starting with...
Akademik Sergey Vavilov in St. John's Harbour. Photo by Heather Elliott.
Akademik Sergey Vavilov
Nationality: Russian
Length: 117.2 metres
Beam: 18.2 metres
Draught: 5.9 metres
Weight: 2275 tonnes
Speed: 14.5 knots
Year: 1988
Capacity: 92 passengers
Complement: 63 crew
The Vavilov is the sister ship of two of my favourite vessels: the Akademik Ioffe and Akademik Keldysh. She is a new addition to the OneOcean Expeditions fleet, which operates adventure cruises and already had the Ioffe as one of their ships. I wasn't expecting the Vavilov in the harbour this week, so I was really surprised to see her funnel poking out above the skyline on Monday morning.
The Akademik Sergey Vavilov (named for a noted Russian academic) is the newest addition to the OneOcean fleet. In fact, the Ioffe was supposed to be assigned to this trip, but the Vavilov took her place. She was in town getting supplies for her next cruise. On Wednesday night she left for Halifax, where she will arrive on August 15th. Then, on the 26th, she will sail for Rigolet, Labrador. Her main voyage will take her lucky passengers on a journey through the Northwest Passage, following in the footsteps of the Franklin Expedition on the 70th anniversary of the notable event.
She may not be the Keldysh, and compared to the next ship in this feature, she may not be too glamourous. But truth be told, the Vavilov, the Ioffe, and (please, pretty please) the Keldysh, are always a welcome sight in our harbour!
M/S Veendam
Veendam, in St. John's on August 13, 2014. Photo by Heather Elliott.
Nationality: Netherlands
Length: 219.2 metres
Beam: 30.8 metres
Draught: 7.8 metres
Weight: 6604 tonnes
Speed: 22 knots
Year: 1996
Capacity: 1350 passengers
Complement: 580 crew
Sailing into St. John's on her third last stop of this cruise, Holland America's Veendam arrived bright and early Wednesday morning. She is wrapping up a 35-day cruise called Voyage of the Vikings, which has taken passengers from Boston, Mass. to various ports in Newfoundland, Greenland, Iceland, Scotland, Norway, and many, many more. The stop in St. John's was brief, however, arriving at 8:00am and leaving at 3:00pm.
Shown here: A floating skyscraper joins the St. John's skyline.
The Veendam is a regular visitor to St. John's during the summer season, though this is her only scheduled visit this year. Her sister ship, the Eurodam, is set to arrive in September. She has 11 decks for her passengers, and beautiful architecture within including a gorgeous atrium. She towers over St. John's when she visits, as seen here...
... which is always nice to see.
And finally, moored over in the dry dock this week is...
M/V Gallipoli
M/V Gallipoli
Nationality: Canadian
Length: 47.5 metres
Beam: 10.9 metres
Draught: 2.7 metres
Weight: 293 tonnes
Speed: 12 knots
Year: 1986
Usually sailing on the Ramea - Grey River - Burgeo route, the M/V Gallipoli has been in dry dock since May, getting what appears to be some repairs and a new coat of paint. It seems to be a routine that at least one ferry is in getting upgrades, so I suppose it's just the Gallipoli's turn. She has moved from dry dock into the slip at the end of the jetty, so she's back in the water. I would guess she would be back on her way to Burgeo to help shuttle people along very soon!
Once again, that's all we have for this week. I hope you all have a great weekend!
Images this week are my own, except for this one.
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