Newhaven shipping

Photograph taken from the entrance to Newhaven's East Pier.

This long shot, from beside Newhaven Fort, also shows the improvements being made to the quays on the east of the harbour. At present this seems to be mainly a tidying and strengthening job.

The websites about this hi-tech vessel all seem to be in Dutch. As Google cannot seem to cope with making a translation that is intelligible, you will have to make your own researches into its many innovative features. If I put any information here it could be wildly misleading! It is interesting that this, like many other boats, is still measured in feet, although Holland is a metric country. Its presence at Newhaven seems to have been due to a nautical emergency - www.juicebrighton.com/news/local-news/newhaven-lifeboat-c... 10.11.2012 Ecolution is still at Newhaven today. 12.11.2012 No sight of the masts as I went through Newhaven Harbour station today!

Shown on a ship movements website as 'stopped' It was there on Saturday and was still there today - Tuesday. I believe that the small vessel to the right of the picture is Seabeam, a survey ship, shown to be in port at Newhaven on the 17th. It headed out way into the Channel past the Dubai, which I had thought to be its destination.

The ferries generally load through the bow and then go stern first out of the port. I had never seen a ferry turn within the port, before this. Note that the bow door is still being closed. Having spoken to one of the crew, they turn in port when the weather is rough and it is better to enter the open sea bow forward. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were on an official visit to Newhaven, Southease and Lewes. HMS Ranger is tendered to the Sussex University Royal Naval Unit offering training in seamanship to undergraduates of Sussex & Brighton Universities, so it is the local representative of the Royal Navy, although I haven't seen it in Newhaven before. RNBL 17-27 is a relief lifeboat, when 17-21 is in for a service.

Her Majesty's Cutter Valiant moored at Newhaven during patrols in the English Channel.

The ferry from Dieppe (twice daily in the summer) is heading into Newhaven Harbour, while local fishing boats work away, probably servicing lobster or crayfish pots, judging by the marker buoys with their flags, There could be others working out there - on the horizon, to the left/east of the photo seems to be a drilling or exploration rig. This area will be at the eastern end of the recently approved Rampion Wind Farm, albeit 20+ miles off the coast. Newhaven Harbour is set to become its on-shore base, which should bring some income to the town, which sorely needs it. Another maritime development in the town is the establishment of a University Technical College with a Marine Engineering Department under the auspices of Brighton University.

The pilot boat appeared to be keeping a watchful eye on the ferry as it arrived from Dieppe. Perhaps the master was new to the route. There didn't appear to have been a point at which a pilot could have been put on board the Seven Sisters, so I assume that the master must have been certified for Newhaven.

Now was this an emergency or an exercise? The weekends are a good time for the latter, especially for lifeboat volunteers and retained firemen, who wouldn't have to rush away from their jobs - assuming they don't work at weekends. 3.11.2011 - Thanks to the South Coast Leader (newspaper) we now know that William Mary snagged its nets on the bottom 21 miles out to sea. There was a fire in the engine room and one crew member had burns to his hands. The lifeboat was called out at 5.16am on Saturday. The fire was extinguished and the nets recovered. The lifeboat then towed the trawler back to port, arriving at about 11.30am.

Two scallop trawlers from distant UK ports, moored at the commercial quay, rather than the fishing piers.

One complication of photographing at a modern quayside is the presence of security and safety fencing. I am always interested to see 'foreign' trawlers. Padstow is the furthest west I think I have noted, but we have had boats from Peterhead and Dumfries. The last must be the furthest from its home port, as Dumfries is on the west coast of Scotland.

This was the last picture of this old ship in this condition. There were shots of it ablaze on the net recently, so I shall be interested to see what it looks like now, when I am in Newhaven tomorrow. Later - I now see in the local paper that it was a controlled fire, that got a bit out of control! Demolition workers were clearing the wooden parts before cutting up the steel hull. Will it be gone tomorrow - doubt it. Six-year-old grandson will be upset. It was one of his favorite landmarks when we first moved here five years ago.

Volunteer Spirit is one of the RNLI's relief boats, on station at Newhaven, while their regular boat is away at Falmouth for repairs.

Another in the series showing the removal of this tatty, if characterful, hulk from the riverside in Newhaven. This shows that some of the stern and most of the superstructure had gone. An access port had been cut in the landward side. It looks as though internal structures had also been removed.

Except in stormy weather the ferries back out of Newhaven Harbour en route to Dieppe. As it was fairly rough out in the Channel, this very tight manoeuvre was undertaken.

I haven't seen this fishing boat before. It has a number I haven't been able to identify. The name is in relief lettering on the stern and seems to end with " ..INTY" - possibly Dainty. It is moored between the pilot boats and the ferry berth, not over on the West Quay with the other fishing boats.