british

UK cruise ship is held in Madeira
Efforts are under way to release a UK cruise ship that has been detained by police in Madeira. The Van Gogh, which has about 460 passengers on board, was held on Tuesday shortly after it came into Funchal port in the Portuguese isles. Administrators claim the ships owners owe £2 million, after taking over the cruise at Christmas. Van Gogh Cruise Line Ltd said its lawyers were liaising with authorities. One passenger said she was shocked. Home straight The ship is on the final stage of a round-the-world cruise - stops included Egypt, the Caribbean, Ecuador, Tahiti and Cape Town - and had been due back in Falmouth on Saturday. It set off on 4 January from Falmouth, after its previous operator Travelscope went into administration at Christmas. A spokesman for Van Gogh Cruise Line Ltd, which is based in Cheltenham and a subsidiary of the Dutch-owned Club Cruise, said it was working with lawyers to get the ship released as quickly as possible. Passengers said the cruise director ...

Boatshed office in the Caribbean
Boatshed.com is very pleased to announce the launch of the very first Boatshed office in the Caribbean. And WOW what a start! The British Virgin Islands is a meca for sailboats around the world and BoatshedBVI.com has launched from its headquarters in Rhode Town, Tortola. BoatshedBVI.com is owned by Mr. Arjan Stoof who also owns and operates BVI Yacht Charters from his own 53 slip marina. A native Dutchman, Arjan has spent the last 23 years on Tortola and Boatshed HQ is happy to report he does know every boat, boat owner, bay and bar in the BVI’s. Also as a major Beneteau dealer, BoatshedBVI.com is very well placed to offer clients around the globe the very best brokerage vessels from the most unique location in the world. “With the charter side of our business we can also offer a “Try before you buy” on any of our Beneteau brokerage fleet” quotes Arjan. The short straw to assist in the training and launch of BoatshedBVI.com were Neil Chapman and Roger Bailey from Boatshed HQ who ...

Engine repairs free ice trawler
A British trawler stuck in Antarctic ice for more than a week has been repaired and is set to resume fishing once its engine warms up, crew say. A US air force plane was called in to drop a piston to the Argos Georgia, with an icebreaker due to deliver extra parts shortly. A number of British fishermen are among the 25 crew on board the ship, which lost its power in the Ross Sea. Fish master Shane Jennings said the ship would soon be back up to steam. He had earlier said he was extremely relieved that they would be able to free themselves, having been stranded since 23 December. Boring experience Describing how it felt to be stuck in the remote region, he said: It has been okay - a bit boring for the crew but its just part of the job. We have just been on watch, keeping an eye on the ice and making sure we are not running into any danger, or watching videos and playing cards. New Zealand, which is responsible for co-ordinating rescues in the area and has a research base there, ...

Sailors die after trawler sinks
Two French sailors have died and four others are missing after a French fishing vessel sank about 50 miles 80km off Cornwall. Two French helicopters were first sent to search for the crew of La P ite Julie at its last reported position south of The Lizard at about 0400 GMT. French authorities said one of seven crewmen from the 24.6m 81ft trawler had been rescued and two bodies found. Two helicopters from RNAS Culdrose have been assisting. One pilot said wreckage could be seen over a wide area. Two empty life rafts were found in the area where the trawler radioed for assistance before sinking. British rescue services were alerted to the incident at about 0700 GMT. Coastguards at Falmouth were contacted by French authorities and the first helicopter from Culdrose was scrambled at about 0730 GMT. Helicopter pilot Lt Chuck Norris said: We arrived at the scene at 0810 to find a French fixed-wing aircraft coordinating the search, and a French heliopcter. We searched about 20 square ...

Sealine SC35 wins Best Sports Cruiser of the Year
Sealine wins Best Sports Cruiser at the Motor Boat of the Year Award 2008. At the awards ceremony the new Sports cruiser was announced as the super cool SC35 - the range of practical and innovative features plus an exhilarating on water performance showed how it lived up to the name. The SC35 clearly showed the best combination of fun, style, practicality and price - she certainly exceeded all expectations since the launch in Sept at Southampton boat show. The event was held in January at a London hotel. The spacious 35 foot sports convertable was awarded the top prize for best sports cruiser under 45 foot. The award was voted by the editorial teams of the UKs leading Motor Boating titles and seen as the outstanding winner of its category. Managing Director, Steve Coultate said “We are thrilled to receive this prestigious award which firmly underpins our commitment to producing the very best in British design and for stretching the boundaries to create a truly innovative product ...

Evidence of a warming climate
A chunk of ice the size of the Isle of Man has started to break away from Antarctica in what scientists say is further evidence of a warming climate. Satellite images suggest that part of the ice shelf is disintegrating, and will soon crumble away. The Wilkins Ice Shelf has been stable for most of the last century, but began retreating in the 1990s. Six ice shelves in the same part of the continent have already been lost, says the British Antarctic Survey BAS. Professor David Vaughan of BAS said: Wilkins is the largest ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula yet to be threatened. I didn expect to see things happen this quickly. The ice shelf is hanging by a thread - well know in the next few days or weeks what its fate will be. Like an explosion BAS researchers were alerted to the break-up by daily monitoring of satellite images. They sent a Twin Otter aircraft on a reconnaissance mission to video what was happening. Jim Elliott, who was on board the plane, said he had never ...