Just over a week ago, a new ship came sailing through the Narrows. The M/V Arctic Sunrise, operated by Greenpeace, arrived in St. John’s on August 3rd and yours truly, curious to learn what brought her here, popped down and was able to chat with some members of her crew.
Read MoreSince moving to Newfoundland, I’ve been fortunate enough to see a handful of tall ships come through the Narrows into St. John’s; each one an ambassador from their home country with special trimmings representing where they’ve come from, and all of them majestic reminders of a bygone era. Honestly, that awestruck feeling of seeing a tall ship in the harbour never goes away. June 7th, 2016 was no exception when this ship graced our harbour with its presence. Today, I’m writing about the tall ship Simón Bolívar.
Read MoreCruise ship season 2016 continued on Friday with the arrival of the M/V Boudicca of the Fred. Olsen Cruise Line. Constructed in 1973 in the Wärtsilä Helsinki Shipyard, Helsinki, Finland, she has served many owners and operators in the last 40+ years.
Read MoreToday the M/V Balmoral was in St. John’s, kicking off the 2016 cruise ship season! While the weather was grey and dreary (and threatened snow more than once), any passengers I saw around seemed to be thoroughly enjoying their time here. Balmoral arrived around 8:00am, and sailed back out through the Narrows shortly after 2:00pm.
Read MoreHi Everyone! I know it's been awhile so let's just jump right in, shall we? As I've discussed before, and many of you will know, ships were once the only way for people to travel from Europe to North America. In the early years of these routes, ships would be filled as much as they could with passengers, cargo, and crew. Most of the time, these ships would make fairly uneventful crossings. However, when things went wrong, they went very, very wrong. One of these, while en route to Quebec, Canada, ran aground off the coast of Newfoundland with a loss of more than half her passengers and crew. This week, we're looking at the wreck of the SS Anglo Saxon.
Read MoreOne of the most important rules when it comes to being on the water is that if someone else is in trouble, and you can help, you do it. It doesn’t matter if you and the skipper on the other boat don’t get along, or if you’re competing for the same catch. If someone is in trouble, you help. This is even more evident with this week’s story. The crew of a fishing boat got into trouble off the coast of Cape Breton, and radioed for help. Ships nearby responded, including a Canadian National Railway (CNR) railcar ferry that was tied up in North Sydney. Through a series of truly unfortunate events, however, this act of kindness and duty would result in some of the crew of the rescue vessel paying the ultimate price. This week, we look at the story of the F/V Enterprise and the M/V Patrick Morris.
Read MoreShipwrecks litter the shores and banks of any coastal area. Sometimes they lie just below the surface, or as washed up wreckage on the shore. Occasionally the rusted out skeletons remain above the surface, serving as reminders of time past. Previously I've covered the SS Charcot, SS Florizel, SS Kyle, HMS Calypso and the SS Ethie, all wrecks that are visible from land. This week, we look at the wreck of a cargo ship on the shores of Gander Bay, the SS Ahern Trader.
Read MoreHello all! The format for "This Week in the Harbour" is going to be a bit different going forward. Rather than showcasing the ships in one long post, I'm going to do shorter posts highlighting each individual ship. This week, we're going to start with the first cruise ship of the St. John's season that arrived on May 26th. This was the MS Marina.
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