John Oram's photos with the keyword: P&O Arcadia

As the mass stranding of the world's ships dragged on with the industry appearing to be under an ever increasing threat of substantial contraction, the view from Bournemouth continued to offer a changing panorama of vessels. On the afternoon of Monday 17 August 2020, P&O Arcadia could be seen with RCCL Allure of the Seas in the distance. Also in the area was Anthem of the Seas. By the morning of the next day, Arcadia had sailed and the two Royal Caribbean ships had been joined, albeit distantly, by a third, the highly peripatetic Majesty of the Seas which has visited Portsmouth (rather than Southampton) several times. 200_4_P1000005CE

2020 was a year like no other in the life of the Port of Southampton and this picture reflects some of what that year meant as viewed from Mayflower Park. It is unusual to see a Cunard ship on 101 but that's where Queen Victoria was today, taking a break from other south coast resting places. Alongside were the bunker vessel Whitonia and the Veolia waste disposal vessel Seagreen, both well known to habitués of the port. My pictures usually show one or the other with a cruise ship but rarely both. In the background is P&O Arcadia on 106, also taking a break from short distance cruising between Hampshire and Dorset. A part of the background, starboard of Queen Victoria might go unremarked in photographs up until now but the slightly majestic Solent Mills is now undergoing demolition to be replaced by who knows what. There are, apparently, good reasons to demolish rather than preserve the building but it is sad to see it thus reduced. 5300_DSC_2160E

As recorded earlier in my photos, P&O Arcadia joined three other ships off Bournemouth on the evening of 5 July 2020. All four had become wanderers due to the coronavirus pandemic. The movements of ships between, Torquay, Weymouth, Bournemouth (Poole), Southampton and the Isle of Wight became difficult to follow. The three ships which had preceded Arcadia to a Bournemouth anchorage all left in the course of the afternoon and evening of Monday 6 July leaving Arcadia to make a short move to the spot previously occupied by sister ship Aurora. There she basked in the evening sun as those fortunate enough to be on land went about renewing their confidence to sit and eat in restaurants. 5300_DSC_1886CE