Cruise ship catches fire

The Fred Olsen cruise ship Black Watch has caught fire while on the way to Madeira.

The ship spent 24 hours at sea from the Azores on its way to Funchal with only one engine and in almost darkness and affected communications.

With 696 passengers and 365 crew on board, the fire was soon controlled, and only damaging electric cables.

Captain Henrik Mattsson had kept all guests (mainly British) fully informed and all arrived safely in Funchal port in good spirits. A charter flight was laid on to take all passengers back to the UK, and have been told they will be fully compensated for their holiday.

Is Funchal Port a ticking time bomb?

Funchal today

Funchal Port Filling up....

Portuguese Submarine

The Portuguese Submarine Harpoon is in the port of Funchal today and staying till Monday.

Thanks to Pete for the photo of it arriving earlier today.

In Port. 

Funchal Building Works.

The building works on the front of Funchal which started in September last year with the joining of the two rivers Santa Luzia and João Gomes, and which will continue for the next 2 years with the redevelopment of the landfill from the storm of February 2010 seems to be progressing well.

I have a photo album with photos of the work being carried out and will update this album on a regular basis.

The 18,000,000 euro contract which was awarded a couple of weeks ago to Somague and Etermar (a joint partnership I think) was due to start in the first quarter of 2013, and it looks as if it is well under way. Tonight on the news this evening they are saying the Beatles yacht The Vagrant will need to be moved, which is good news for many I would think, its need to go for a long time as it was often in stagnant water and never really looked appealing for visitors. 

The area is in much need of improvement, and it was decided to use the landfill there instead of trying to move it all at a huge cost, the new pier will make space for more cruise ships and other smaller boats and yachts. 

You can see photos on the link below, and I will keep this album updated as time goes on.

Photo Album

Photo by Peter Askew

Photo by Peter Askew

Happy New Year

I hope you all had a very happy New Year.

I know I did...... The weather was perfect and the fireworks were excellent, despite the cut back on the budget. 

 Below im just sharing a few photos of the harbour and fireworks to send us into the new year.

Photos by Carlos Mendes and Hugo Reis Photography.