The Thames to Antwerpen/Anvers

According to my (free) “locate my ship” website, Our Ship the Hyundai Singapore was supposed to be bound from Hamburg to Felixstowe. Either they made an error or the ship’s captain changed his mind and docked in the Thames instead (below is a screenshot taken 5 minutes ago, showing her having completed the task and departing towards the channel bound for the next port of call.)

Antwerp is located on the right (eastern) bank of the River Scheldt in Belgium, linked to the North Sea by the Westerschelde Estuary. Antwerp is the capital of the Antwerp Province, and is written “Antwerpen” in Dutch and “Anvers” in French on the signposts in Belgium.

(Above) The relative positions of the four ports of call in Europe so far: (1) Rotterdam,     (2)Hamburg, (3)Thames, and (4)Antwerp

All Tied Up in Rotterdam

Our Stuff on Our Ship, the Hyundai Singapore, is safely tied up and lying alongside in Rotterdam, preparing for the long trip towards the East. Probably one-third of the journey is now complete

Not Hitched Yet

The camera never lies. True. But people do, and the the photo of our ship the HS proves this point. Even though the ship appears to be leaving Cape Town, in reality she is lying just of the coast of The Netherlands near Rotterdam. This is an old photo.

Rotterdam is quite busy at the moment judging by the crowd of vessels lying around. As can be seen in the clip below, the HS (yellow inside the red parentheses) is lying at anchor and moving with the wind and tide (blue track lines). The crew will be sleeping in late while waiting for the All Clear sign from the port authorities. The important point is that the two week trip Cape Town to Rotterdam via Las Palmas is over, bar the shouting.  “Hello Rotterdam!”

Into the Channel

The Port of Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe, located in the city of Rotterdam.  From 1962 until 2002 it was the world’s busiest port, now overtaken by first Singapore and then Shanghai. In 2011 Rotterdam was the world's fifth-largest port in terms of annual cargo tonnage. Covering 105 square kilometres, the port of Rotterdam now stretches over a distance of 40 kilometres.

And of what interest is the Port of Rotterdam to us? Well, Rotterdam is the next destination for HS Our Ship (The container vessel Hyundai Singapore, remember?) She is due in port this weekend 16th. Currently moving Northwards at 18 knots in the English Channel.