Your fleet locations for Thursday, January 28, 2010!

[luvtwotrvl]

 

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Amsterdam – Punta Arenas, Chile 7:00 am - 8:00 pm

Eurodam – At Sea (from Oranjestad, Aruba to Half Moon Cay, Bahamas)

Maasdam – Puerto Chiapas, Mexico 8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Noordam – At Sea (from Samana, Dominican Republic to Kralendijk, Bonaire)

Oosterdam – At Sea (from San Diego, CA to Vancouver, BC – for 2010 Winter Olympics)

Prinsendam – Callao (Lima), Peru Midnight - 5:00 pm

Rotterdam – Rangiroa, French Polynesia 8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Ryndam – Santo Tomás de Castilla, Guatemala 7:00 am - 5:00 pm

Statendam – Vancouver, Canada Midnight – Midnight

Ballantyne Pier to house security for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games until next departure March 4, 2010

Veendam – At Sea (from Scenic cruising Canal Sarmiento & Amalia Glacier to Santiago/Valparaiso, Chile)

Volendam – Tauranga, New Zealand 8:00 am - 8:00 pm

Westerdam – Willemstad, Curaçao 8:00 am - 5:00 pm

http://www.webcamcuracao.com/

Zaandam – Nawiliwili, Kauai 8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Zuiderdam – Gatun Lake, Panama 9:00 am - 10:00 am

[Himself]

The Panama Canal and Nawiliwili are both great destinations. I have been to both places. It sure beats driving and shoveling snow! Thanks for the post.

[Himself]

I wonder if the OOSTERDAM is taking any passengers to Vancouver?

[Atomica]

I wonder if the OOSTERDAM is taking any passengers to Vancouver?

 

No - if there are any, they will be RCMP or security officers who will stay onboard her until she docks at Ballantyne Pier.

[eetonaee]

Security around cruise ships that will house police, military to be beefed up

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Larry Pynn, Vancouver sunJanuary 28, 2010 8:02 PM

 

 

 

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Holland America's Statendam is one of three cruise ships that will be housing police and Canadian Forces personnel at Ballantyne Pier during the Olympics.

 

Photograph by: Mark van Manen, PNG

 

 

 

 

One of the Olympics’ biggest security risks is not a competition venue or athletes’ village but three cruise ships being positioned at Ballantyne Pier on Burrard Inlet to house thousands of police and Canadian Forces members.

To bolster security for the three ships — officially described as “accommodation vessels” — an “Olympic Marine Security Zone” has been established around Ballantyne Pier effective now through March 5 within which unauthorized mariners are not permitted.

The zone will be patrolled by marine security vessels monitoring VHF channel 9 and 16. Scuba divers might also be deployed to ensure the security of the site.

The zone extends 50 metres beyond a floating barrier complete with lit buoys fitted with bilingual signs. A five-nautical-mile speed limit also applies in the harbour south of a line between Vanterm and Brockton Point light.

RCMP Const. Mandy Edwards of the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit confirmed that a “large conglomerate” of the Olympic security force will be living aboard the three ships.

“We need to maintain the security of the people staying there,” she said in an interview, without giving specific numbers.

Edwards said Wednesday that no further action will be taken against boaters who innocently find themselves inside the restricted area if they leave when contacted by marine security.

“If the boater refuses to leave the secure area, the police have authority to remove the boater, occupants and vessel from the secure area,” she said. “If the boater has committed a Criminal Code offence such as obstruction of a peace officer or other offence, police may take enforcement action that may include arrest, removal and detention.”

The first cruise ship is already at Ballantyne: Holland America’s Statendam, 219 metres in length, with a capacity of 1,258 passengers and 580 crew. Two others are due to arrive by month’s end.

Edwards said the cost of hiring the three ships for the Olympics is $76 million plus GST.

Marine traffic will also be subject to no-go “exclusion zones” around Canada Harbour Place and the media centre in Coal Harbour, the athletes’ village in False Creek, the Richmond Olympic Oval by the Fraser River and the Sea to Sky corridor. These areas will be surrounded by “controlled access zones” which may be entered with approval of the Integrated Security Unit led by the RCMP.

The marine threat from terrorism was underscored by the Oct. 12, 2000, suicide bombing of the USS Cole that killed 17 sailors and injured 39 others in Yemen. The terrorist approached the destroyer during a refuelling stop in a small ship packed with explosives.

lpynn@vancouversun.com

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