Visit to Bronnoysund

click images  to enlarge

Brønnøysund

A pretty little town rich in history and maritime atmosphere 


Brønnøysund is situated on a narrow peninsula on the mainland, surrounded by islands and water. Here, you're actually at the halfway point along the western coast of Norway. The small coastal town of 5,000 inhabitants is centered on the narrow but strategically situated harbor, that caters to all trade and fishing. It is a vibrant and pretty little town with an attractive visitors' marina.

We spent some time some strolling among the shops just across from where we docked - including a Coop food store. to stroll around the streets – perhaps a walk along Havnegata, where you can enjoy looking at the small boats and bustling life of the archipelago. Sample the street life and go into one of the pubs, or treat yourself to a delicious meal at one of the restaurants.

Shortly after leaving the town, we made a slight detour for ....

  Torghatten

On deck we saw the strange mountain Torghatten (rising 850 ft above sea level), famous for its
distinctive hole right through the middle. The hole is 525 ft long, 115 ft high, and 65 ft wide, and was created during the Ice Age.


Stay on deck to see the hole from the sea, as is natural for seafarers (who in the past were the only ones visiting the place).

Additional photos can be found on our Norway Shutterfly page

Brønnøysund
Torghatten





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Emissions Regulations Prompt Deployment Changes

North American Emission Control Area     Source: EPA

New Rules Impact Cruise Industry

We are eighteen months away from the implementation of new regulations restricting the Sulfur oxide (SO_x) emissions of marine fuel in the North American Emission Control Area (ECA).   Under the new regulations, effective January 1, 2015, cruise ships operating in the zone must only emit .01% instead of the currently allowed 1% levels.  The ECA requirements will become enforceable in the U.S. Caribbean ECA in January 2014.

Complete details can be found in this EPA Briefing.

These low-sulfur fuel requirements could dramatically increase operating costs for the cruise lines and Carnival Cruise Lines has announced deployment changes of several ships as it tries to get ahead of the curve of the new regulations.

Where is the North American ECA 

The area of the North American ECA includes waters adjacent to the Pacific coast, the Atlantic/Gulf coast and the eight main Hawaiian Islands. It extends up to 200 nautical miles from coasts of the United States, Canada and the French territories, except that it does not extend into marine areas subject to the sovereignty or jurisdiction of other States.


Carnival Cruise Lines Deployment Changes

The announced redeployments means reduced Atlantic Canada cruises and no ships homeporting out of Baltimore, Boston or Norfolk, Virginia.These are the first announced changes that site the North American ECA and associated fuel costs as the determining factor.

Carnival Cruise Lines and others, including Royal Caribbean, which has ships in the same ports, are working closely with the EPA to find alternative means to reduce the emissions. One possibility is scrubber technology as cited in the letter in the references below.

Ship / Effective Date	Deployment Changes
Carnival Pride December, 2014	Repositions from Baltimore to Tampa
Carnival Glory November, 2013	Sailed seasonally from Boston or Norfolk; Repositions to Miami

The cruise lines have held the line on passing fuel surcharges along to consumers. Hopefully they will be able to find an economical solution to protecting the environment.

April 2013 CLIA Position on North American ECA

The Cruise Line International Association (CLIA) made the following statement earlier this year:

"CLIA supports the goals and principles of the North American Emission Control Area (ECA). Our industry is committed to protecting coastal air quality not only because it is the responsible thing to do, but also because the very nature of our business depends on a healthy natural environment. We are proud of the environmental stewardship of our member lines and their proactive response to applicable international and Federal air emissions requirements wherever their ships operate."  

They, along with the IMO, have proposed the following:

"The industry supports a variety of flexible approaches that can be utilized to achieve equal or better health benefits, including averaging based on air quality, innovative exhaust scrubbers, using alternative energy sources such as shore power in port, and adjusting ship speeds."  [Full article]



Additional References:

EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality web site

Designation of Emission Control Area to Reduce Emissions from Ships in the U.S. Caribbean

Designation of North American Emission Control Area to Reduce Emissions from Ships (PDF)

Letter to IMO from EPA and U.S Coast Guard regarding equivalent methods to comply with the ECA fuel sulfur requirements (PDF)

We will continue to monitor this developing story.   It is unfortunate that Carnival Cruise Lines has made these changes, but hopefully they will be able to return to these homeports in the future.

Where's My Ship Right Now

Have you ever wondered if there's a way to find out where a ship is located? There are many times when you might be curious about the location of a cruise ship or other vessel.  The most practical situation that comes to mind is when hearing about inclement weather or some other natural disaster.   Are there any ships in danger?


How vessel positions are recorded

The system is based on AIS (Automatic Identification System). Since December 2004, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) requires all vessels over 299GT to carry an AIS transponder on board, which transmits their position, speed and course, among some other static information, such as vessel’s name, dimensions and voyage details.

The chart above is a live interactive map generated by MarineTraffic.com,  an academic, open, community-based project. It is dedicated to collecting and presenting data which are exploited in research areas such as simulation of vessel movements in order to contribute to the safety of navigation and to cope with critical incidents.

More about AIS

AIS is initially intended to help ships avoid collisions, as well as assisting port authorities to better control sea traffic. AIS transponders on board vessels include a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver, which collects position and movement details. It includes also a VHF transmitter, which transmits periodically this information on two VHF channels (frequencies 161.975 MHz and 162.025 MHz – old VHF channels 87 & 88) and make this data available to the public domain. Other vessels or base stations are able to receive this information, process it using special software and display vessels locations on a chart plotter or on a computer.

 Some Ship Tracking Resources

 

 Live Ships Map - AIS - Vessel Traffic and Positions

 Cruise ships and ocean liners

  FleetMon - the first public Ship Wiki, your tool for live ...

  Shiptracking.eu - Real time ship traffic

 

 

 

 

 

Village of Oia, Santorini Greece

Our Tour Continues

After concluding our visit at SantoWines Winery, we reboarded our motorcoach for the scenic ride to the Village of Oia. View our photo album, Drive to Oia - Santorini, to get an idea of the scenic countryside of this part of Santorini, Greece.

Arriving in Oia

Pronounced "Eee-ah," the village of Oia is perched high atop the cliffs of Santorini's northern terminus. Known for its quiet beauty and spectacular sunsets, this spot boasts superlative views of neighboring volcanoes.  Following our guide, we strolled through the narrow, cobblestone lanes, viewed the brilliantly whitewashed buildings, shops, sun-bathed cafés and blue-domed churches.

Church of Panagia of Platsani

Today Oia, as an Orthodox village, has the picturesque blue domed chapels, pristine white bell towers and volcanic stone trimmed church doorways dotted all along the caldera cliffs. Each chapel is of course named after the Saint it honors and was built by a local family, many to pray for the safe return of the seafaring members of the family.

There are two main churches in Oia that have a priest conducting weekly services. The Church of Panagia of Platsani is the principal church and located at the center of the village. It was built in the 1800's and maintained in perfect condition.

More than 70 churches, with the characteristic blue domes, dot the countryside of Oia.   The churches resulted due to the maritime life of its inhabitants.  Families would build churches in order to ensure that God would favor them with safe journeys on the sea.

In some cases, the parents and wives of the sailors and the captains  promised to erect a church to a saint so that their beloved ones would come back safely. Upon return from a dangerous voyage, the sailors and the captains also built churches honoring a saint that had kept them safe from bad weather or other dangerous situations.

Consequently, most of these churches are privately owned as they were inherited by the ancestors of each family. Family members were also buried at these churches.  They are typically closed to the public except for on the Saint's Name Day when a festival is held and everyone is invited to attend.

Postcards came to life as we continued our stroll through the village of Oia.  We had time to explore on our own, browsing for souvenirs, enjoying refreshments and marveling at the incredible views. The natural beauty and tranquility of Oia's landscape has inspired artists from around the world, and numerous galleries can be found nearby.

Photo Album:  Village of Oia

In the album above, which can be found on our Facebook Fan Page, we have shared some of our own postcard images captured as we continued our stroll from the center of the village, through the narrow cobblestone lanes, which lead us to the Kasteli (Castle) of Agios Nikolaos. From that vantage point you have excellent views of the volcano and all of the village. If we were still at the castle during sunset, we would be among the hordes of people that have gathered for a breathtaking view.   Our view from the ship was equally impressive.  

We'll share the rest of our day in Santorini in additional blog posts.   Be sure to bookmark this page so that you can follow the rest of our journey.   Also, become a fan (like) our Facebook Fan Page so that you'll be notified of additional stories and photo albums of our 12-Night Greek Isles & Mediterranean Cruise on Star Princess.    We hope you are enjoying your virtual journey thus far.

Additional photos can be found on our Facebook Albums.




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