Inward bound from Rotterdam and fully laden, the tanker catches the flood tide (7 images)

grebeman

Old Codgers Group
Whilst watching a tanker at anchor outside Plymouth Breakwater I noticed the tell tale puff of exhaust smoke that indicated she'd started her main engines, so I walked to the end of Mount Batten Pier knowing she'd be using the Cobbler Channel to access the fuel terminal in the Cattewater, and hence passing close by.

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The harbour tug Prince Rock was the next indication of the action that was to occur

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Then the pilot vessel Agility put to sea. In the background the iconic Smeaton's Tower, the upper part of the third Eddystone lighthouse that now stands on Plymouth Hoe

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I watched her slow progress form some 1.5 miles out until she was close and I had to switch to a wide angle lens

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She passes the end of Mount Batten Breakwater and enters the Cobble Channel

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The channel passes below the citadel, built in the time of Charles the Second, so about 1660-65

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The Prince Rock now begins to assist the tanker to turn

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Having swapped sides the tug now steadies her swing as the launch under the starboard bow takes the first mooring line ashore

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Safely berthed she can begin to discharge her cargo of fuel oil

Barrie
 
Nice set! Pretty harbor you've got there, much more picturesque than where she came from. Do you know if she just sails back and forth between Rotterdam and Cattewater, or does she visit other destinations as well? If it's the former I might go out and look for her in our harbor (I'd need to do some googling first, randomly looking for a ship is pointless in the almost 70 square kilometers of our port)...
 
Bart,

You could use this site to track her Live Ships Map - AIS - Vessel Traffic and Positions , just enter the vessels name ESHIPS COBIA and it will show you where she is. I've just checked and she has sailed and is currently underway east bound in the English Channel having passed Start Point in south Devon, so just a few miles from where I'm writing this. For some reason her destination is showing as withheld.

Barrie
 
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