MS Spirit of Britain near the White Cliffs of Dover, Dover Harbour, Kent, UK

After wandering around in small circles in the North Sea off Deal and Sandwich for a couple of hours, the MS Spirit of Britain super-ferry finally entered the Eastern Entrance of Dover Harbour at 11.05 am (my camera's time) on Sunday, 9th of January, 2011.

The above view, with the White Cliffs of Dover as a backdrop, was taken at 11.17 am and shows the brand-new cross-channel ferry three-quarters of the way through an 180 degree turn to starboard prior to reversing into the ferry terminal of the Eastern Docks, out-of-shot to the left.

The Eastern Arm pier is behind the ship.

Right-of-centre on the cliff-top is the South Foreland lighthouse, a bit blurry from the ferry's exhaust.

This zoomed photo of the Spirit of Britain was taken 1750 yards away from near the lighthouse end of the Prince of Wales Pier.

The MS Spirit of Britain is scheduled to begin operating on the Dover to Calais route on January 21st.

Ship's Details (1):

Name: Spirit of Britain
Operator: P&O Ferries
Port of registry: Dover, United Kingdom
Route: Dover-Calais
Builder: STX Europe, Rauma, Finland
Yard number: 1367
Launched: 8 June 2010
Status: Completed

General characteristics (2):

Tonnage: 49,000 tonnes
Length: 213 m (698.8 ft)
Beam: 31.4 m (103.0 ft)
Draft: 6.5 m (21.3 ft)
Installed power: 4 x MAN 7L 48/60 Diesels
Propulsion: 2 x controllable pitch propellers
3 x Bow thrusters
Speed: 22 kn (41 km/h)
Capacity: 2,000 passengers, 650 vehicles
Call Sign: 2DXD4
IMO: 9524231
MMSI: 235082716

More info on the original MS Spirit of Britain near the White Cliffs of Dover, Dover Harbour webpage.

John Latter / Jorolat

Dover Blog (Social Psychology)