Doris Graces Us With Her Presence

“Doris” arrived from Sydney yesterday. At this morning’s high tide, the pilot steered the 182m vessel up the river aided by the tugs “Ballina” and “Wilga”.

In the Burnett River - left to right "Tharion", "Wilga", "Doris" and "Ballina" 11 Dec 2011 ©2011 JoWo12

 Now some of my blog followers may be asking about shipspotting in Bundaberg and how to find out the information of arriving and departing ships. My main source of ship schedules are various pages from the Port of Gladstone website. Remember that the Port of Bundaberg is under the control of the Port of Gladstone.

So for the longer forecast, the shipping companies nominate approx when the ship might be due – up to 3 weeks in advance http://www.cqpa.com.au/webscripts/ShippingNotifications/ShippingNominations.asp?terminalid=92   Remember that there are two berths in Bundy and sometimes they sneak in a molasses ship at the other berth.

Closer to the estimated arrival time, I check qships for finer information selecting the port of Bundaberg in the top right corner http://www.qships.transport.qld.gov.au/Public/PublicMovements.aspx

When 2 days out from estimated arrival, I check the Duty Pilot Vessel Movements, looking for notations “BDB” or “sugar” – sometimes it is not obvious!!! http://www.cqpa.com.au/webscripts/Pilots/Schedule.ASP

So there you have it – all you would be shipspotters, come on down and see it happen. The best viewing area is between the Bundaberg Port Marina and Wallace Creek – the ship channel is closest to the bank at that point.

One last thing – to find out about a ship that is coming into port, or anywhere else in the word goto http://www.marinetraffic.com/ . Here is a link to the page on “Doris”  http://marinetraffic2.aegean.gr/ais/shipdetails.aspx?MMSI=215080000

See you there next time.

Posted by jowo12 on December 11, 2011

https://jowo12.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/doris-graces-us-with-her-presence/