Here's the latest piccie of our new Euroferries Ramsgate - Boulogne supercat, 'Bonanza Express', still laid up in Tenerife. This shot was taken on Tuesday, two days ago.The mystery of why the Euroferries logo has been painted out deepens. One theory was that in previous shots the logo had been daubed on digitally, using some kind of Photoshop thingo, so it was never physically 'there' in the first place. However, you can just about see the faint outline of 'Euroferries' on the side in this photo, so it clearly was 'there' and has been painted out in the not too distant past. Click on the picture for a closer view. I've enhanced it slightly for the blog, but there's a link below if you want to see the original.
The clincher is that this shot comes from the Spanish website fotosdebarcos.com (or boat spotters to you and me) and the snapper has made a point of saying that it's still possible to see the Euroferries logo through the, er, whitewash.
Click here for 'Bonanza Express' on fotosdebarcos.com
Click here to see boats currently moored in Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Update: It's not unknown for Photoshoppers to do some convincing nautical dib-dabbing. This unfortunately named vessel, for example, started life as the perfectly respectable 'Titan Taurus' before the internet hoaxers got hold of it!
29 comments:
Its nothing sinister, they either used the wrong kind of Paint, they used the wrong colour or they intend to name ferry after one of Thanet's finest.
Like ECR express or the ladybird express or the sandy express or it could that its being named after the partner, the fred express.
In other words you don't know, anon 1:52...
That's ridiculous 1:52!
Why on earth would a ferry company not have its own name on the side of its ship? That would be like TransEuropa painting out 'TransEuropa' and replacing it with, er, 'RustBucket'!
With respect to your last photo ...
See the following shipping index web site.
It appears that this ship was called "Titan Uranus" at the time of the photo and only renamed as "Titan Taurus" in 2006.
Other shipping index web sites appear to have the same information.
I understand that, after a Board Meeting, they decided not to name the vessel after a retired decathlete Mr Thompson.
2 .53 made me smile ........... Perhaps it will be called the Cliftonville express
Ho ho. 'Daley' Express!
If 'Titan Uranus' is/was a real name, why not call the fast ferry 'Bumhole Bonanza'?
Or, for those inclined to think of Ramsgate as a crap destination, "Pony" ?
Now now. That's the Millionaires' Playground you're taking the mick out of there. I'll have to see you outside!
Pizza Express
National Express? Would fit in with their plan to bus people in.
Dr.Ladyman was responsible for introducing the company to the Council and has been working over the last year to facilitate their discussions.
"This is great news. Potentially it could bring a lot of money into the local economy and transform the prospects for the Port. It has taken a lot of work by a lot of people to get the project this far so we now just have to keep our fingers crossed until September 1st."
Quoted from his website .... he introduced this company to the council, utter b*****s !
There can't be many in Thanet that haven't heard of Euroferries and its failed attempt before.
....and why is he still keeping his fingers crossed ? Is there still more to this saga ?
I think that we should have a committee made up of Del Boy,Trigger,Sunglasses Ron,Paddy the Greek,Ronnie Nelson,Monkey Harris and Young Towser.Surely they would do a better job.
Vision Express? No sorry that's absolutely ridiculous of me to suggest that there'd be anything that involved 'vision' in Thanet.
Having been on one of the gut-churning devices, I'd go with 3:58PM's Pizza Express.
Though LOVExpress, has a certain charm, expanding on 6:19PM's idea.
I think as always the French will have the final say... l'express
I vote for 4.08's suggestion - National Express - they could then play the song of that name to entertain the 2 million passengers - it was by Divine Comedy - quite appropriate!!
Why not follow in the tradition of naming it after a lady ;-
Sally Express
That would be a good omen.
Just a thought, but with Fred Olsen's older boats doing little in The Canaries and Euroferries having no past form, could we see Fred Olsen back on the side of The Bonanza Express? Rebecca's mob keep pushing the Fred Olsen pics; why?
I hope it will display ECR's Thanet Flag.
Its to confuse us - is EF or Fred running this service. Could call it the Vomit Comet - usually get autumn storme in the channel - never mind 75 mins to Boulogne - probably 75 hrs!!
Two ECR flags and pics or Sandy and Roger on the side!
Bit late at night to post but not much else going on here at the moment, her AIS transponder last sent signal on: 21/7/2009 12:41:17 PM (UTC) Lon/Lat: -15.8656 / 28.379999 Speed/Course: 17.4 kn / 288°. (In the middle of the sea).
So either she sank and this is a ghost ship “Celeste Express” or someone doesn’t want people to know where she is and turned it off.
AIS (Automatic Identification System) from December 2004, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) required all vessels over 299GT to carry an AIS transponder on board, which transmits their position, speed and course and some other information, such as vessel’s name, dimensions and voyage details.
AIS is mainly intended to help ships avoid collisions, it also assists port authorities to control sea traffic better.
If you look at marinetraffic.com Michael they don't have coverage for Tenerife, which is why she went off the radar. As far as I know she's still there.
As for the name, I like Neptune Watcher's suggestion. Let's have a bit of National Express by Divine Comedy now, shall we?
Theres a jolly hostess
Selling crisps and tea
She’ll provide you with drinks and theatrical winks
For a sky-high fee
Mini-skirts were in style when she danced down the aisle
Back in 63 (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
But its hard to get by when your arse is the size
Of a small country
Ah, the talent! And I can thoroughly recommend Neil Hannon's recently released cricket-based oeuvre The Duckworth Lewis Method. This line is about Shane Warne's 'ball of the century' during the 1993 Ashes, written from Mike Gatting's perspective:
If such a ball could be bowled
I don't know but if you ask me
If it had been a cheese roll
It would never have got past me
Genius!
here is a link for another tracking system :
http://www.localizatodo.com/?zoom=10&latitud=28.31760&longitud=-15.8440&pais=es&tipo=3&presenta=0&mmsi=224768000&year=2009&mes=7&dia=21
AS of two minutes ago Bonanza was still in Santa Cruz
Thanks for that. Have popped a link in the item.
The latest double page spread in the IOTG makes interesting reading! Permission needed to get Bonanza from the Spanish Inquisition, and then its gotta do 12 round trips before it can go into service!! Oh, and the website not going live until Freddy Bonanza arrives!! Here we go again - more delaying tactics. Also, the locals saying how good its gonna be - our local reporters should talk to ECR and Bertie!!
So, when will all the IOTG problems raised be dealt with ?
If this ferry doesn't get going in September, then it is not worth the bother until Spring next year.
BONANZA EXPRESS is now on a slipway in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Maybe for signwriting or to have her bottom scraped WHO KNOWS?
Night pics dated 10/8/09 still show FREDIES livery ?????
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