[spn]

Originally Posted by Appropriate

I know... sux. I have been checking the above Panama Canal schedule though, and it hasn't changed.

The transit date won't change on Boyd's until the last minute. At least it seems that way. By the time the ship reaches the canal, I rarely go back and look at Boyd's because I am following the AIS radar at that point and I am actually watching the ship instead of Boyd's. But, I know Boyd's doesn't change most of the time until very late in the process. If you look at Boyd's schedule, you will see that initially all the ships have transit dates scheduled several days after their arrival date. But, if you look at the "Booked" column, you will see that some ships have been booked and their actual transit dates are scheduled one to two days after they arrive. It will be the same for DJ.

So, DJ will arrive on the 15th in the port of Manzanillo. The unknown part is how long DJ will sit in port in Manzanillo. If he arrives early on the 15th and can unload the same day, he will then go back out into the outer bay the evening of the 15th and prepare to transit the canal on the 16th. Most likely, though, he will sit in Manzanillo overnight on the 15th, go back out into the outer bay to wait his turn the evening on the 16th and transit the canal on the 17th. This would put him into SoCal on the 23rd, if all goes well.

[spn]

Just to fill our need for info, here are a couple current AIS radar views of the PanCanal region. I am checking in on this radar several times a day, now. As you can see, the ships have to be very close to port in order for AIS to pick up the ship's signal.

I am also tracking Camilla Ace (due PanCanal 4/15) and Hojin (due PanCanal 4/17), so I will be watching AIS very closely.

Has anyone on this thread been able to get aislive??

[spn]

Here is a close up of the Cristobal Anchorages. Manzanillo is that port area on the right side of the bay, where Summer Phoenix and Eurasian Brilliance are docked.

[spn]

Here is a current PanCanal web cam view of the Gatun Locks. The Gatun Locks is the first set of locks the ships enter on the Atlantic side. (That ship with the white top looks like a vehicle-carrying ship entering the locks, but I don't know which one. It is a small one. I looked on radar and the names aren't anything I recognize.)

If you look in the far distance of the web cam, that is the outer bay that DJ will sit and wait his turn to transit. You can see the same on the AIS radar screenshot, where all those yellow arrows are on the map. Those are ships waiting their turn to transit the canal. Hopefully, this will help give you a perspective of what you can expect to see.

[spn]

I just Googled the ship names that I see on AIS radar coming into Gatun to see what ship that is. That vehicle-carrying ship is WWLines Madame Butterfly. If you watch the web cam, you can see the WWLines name on her side. She's due into PH on April 17, but is apparently running late. She arrived at the PanCanal on 4/9, but has been sitting in port since then. She must have had some problems.

[spn]

Really, don't panic. DJ won't sit in port that long. Something happened with Madame Butterfly that she sat in the PanCanal that long.

Last month, Centaurus Leader ran aground as she was entering the port of Charleston and received a 22-foot gash on her side. They temporarily fixed the gash and she limped into the port of Manzanillo and unloaded all the BMWs onto the ship Kassel. All those cars ended up arriving at PH two (maybe three! I can't remember exactly) weeks late on Kassel. It was tough for those guys who were waiting for their cars, as they had to wait an extra-long time to get them. One guy gave up. He shopped around and found the exact same car that he had ordered at another dealership. He abandoned his car on Centaurus and bought the one at the dealership instead. He wasn't going to wait out Centaurus Leader and I don't blame him.

[rdsport323]

wow... what a mess... looks like a huge traffic jam. We should all be grateful to those that made the Panama Canal possible. Without that little passage... imagine having to wait for the ship to circle around S. America!

[spn]

Originally Posted by rdsport323

wow... what a mess... looks like a huge traffic jam. We should all be grateful to those that made the Panama Canal possible. Without that little passage... imagine having to wait for the ship to circle around S. America!

Really, so true.

If you look at the Gatun camera now, you can see Madame Butterfly in the Gatun Locks. It takes about an hour to go through the locks.

http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/ca...cam=Miraflores

[spn]

Here is an AIS radar update of the Panama Overview. The only interesting thing is Maersk Wave is hanging around the outer bay waiting to transit. She's not "booked" on Boyd's schedule, yet, and I don't know what she's waiting for. She's showing on the PH schedule for arrival on Friday, Apr 18, but unless she gets moving and really steps on the gas, she's going to be another late ship into PH. It takes them six days to get to SoCal. I don't know what is going on down there that both Maersk Wave and Madame Butterfly are running late. According to Boyd's, as of March 28, the PanCanal has reduced the number of booking slots of super vessels, so maybe the PanCanal is backed up. It will be interesting to watch these two ship's progress and see how much time they can make up, if at all. Maybe the captains have a way to really push these ships along faster. I have only seen the six-seven day time schedule to SoCal. So, I will find tracking these two late ships interesting.

Madame Butterfly has completey exited the PanCanal region. I can't find her anywhere, so she must be heading north to SoCal now. We will have to watch the PH schedule and see if they update it and show both Madame Butterfly and Maersk coming in late. I hope our ships don't follow this late schedule!

[spn]

I just found Madame Butterly. She's just exiting the PanCanal, so she's not on her way north, yet.

[rdsport323]

doesn't look too good does it?... thanks for the updates.. I'm expecting there will be delays to PH...

[spn]

Originally Posted by rdsport323

doesn't look too good does it?... thanks for the updates.. I'm expecting there will be delays to PH...

Don Juan is still on time. I wouldn't worry.

[spn]

Here is an update of the AIS radar. No Don Juan, yet. I will keep watching and post updates.

Just as a side note, Maersk Wave is at Gatun Locks. Here is a snapshot off the Gatun web cam and a photo of her off Vesseltracker.

[Appropriate]

I tried to sign up for the AIS trial and never heard back from them. Sigh.

[spn]

I am watching AIS in the PanCanal region very closely today.

Here is the latest snapshot of the canal region. Camellia Ace has shown up in the port next to the Panama Canal. I think it is the port of Barranquilla, but I can't find the aislive link for it, so I can't zoom in on it. Camellia Ace is also "Booked" to transit the canal on Wednesday. DJ is still not booked! Maybe tomorrow he'll get a booking date.

I will keep watching for DJ on radar throughout the day.

[Appropriate]

SPN,

Thanks a ton for keepin an eye out for us. We might all go nuts if we didn't have constant updates.

I am really excited. It's only 9 days out from L.A., and hopefully my car is only another 7 days max out from there to Denver! Woohoo!

[rdsport323]

Originally Posted by Appropriate

SPN,

Thanks a ton for keepin an eye out for us. We might all go nuts if we didn't have constant updates.

I am really excited. It's only 9 days out from L.A., and hopefully my car is only another 7 days max out from there to Denver! Woohoo!

+1.. yeah thanks spn

[spn]

You're welcome. I'd go crazy, too, if I couldn't track these ships, and especially, if I didn't have this "window" into their location with AIS radar. It is a good diversion for me until my car arrives. And, although it is a lot of fun to do, I am always thankful when I am done tracking, so I can go back to having a real life. Until then, the wait is just too intense and consuming.

I just checked AIS and he's not in site, yet.

[BruinEd03]

Don Juan is delayed:

Won't reach Manzanillo until 4/16/08 and won't reach Port Hueneme until 4/25/08 as updated on http://schedule.2wglobal.com/AppSche...esselSearch.do

[spn]

Originally Posted by BruinEd03

Don Juan is delayed:

Won't reach Manzanillo until 4/16/08 and won't reach Port Hueneme until 4/25/08 as updated on http://schedule.2wglobal.com/AppSche...esselSearch.do

Ughhh! Here are AIS updates anyways. I will keep watching for him.

[spn]

Originally Posted by BruinEd03

Don Juan is delayed:

Won't reach Manzanillo until 4/16/08 and won't reach Port Hueneme until 4/25/08 as updated on http://schedule.2wglobal.com/AppSche...esselSearch.do

I hope DJ isn't following the pattern of Maersk Wind and Madame Butterfly and being days late going through the PanCanal.

I have been wondering what this means on the Boyd's schedule web site and I wonder if ships are really having to wait out these times (96-120 hours) to transit the canal:

-------------------------------------------------------------
This weeks Traffic projections for 7, 15, 30, 60 and 90 days

Traffic projection
7 days - (Apr.14th – Apr.20th) During this period delays for SUPERS 96-120 hrs southbound and northbound on account of heavy arrivals. For REGULARS 120-144 hrs north/southbound.

15 days–(Apr.21st – May 05th) During this period delays for SUPERS southbound / northbound we estimate 96-120 hrs. For REGULARS vessels southbound/northbound 72-96 hrs.

-------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.boydsteamship.com/daily_traffic_report.htm

[Appropriate]

Lame!