JANUARY

  • THE German coaster Selene Prahm arrived in the port in the early hours of January 3 from Newport, South Wales, to shelter from the uncompromising weather conditions. And, after a long wait for her bunkers due to the weather, the Liberian reefer Durban Star sailed in the late evening of January 6 for St Petersburg, Russia.
  • The Devonport tug SD Hercules arrived from Plymouth for a short refit at the docks.
  • The Danish wind farm launch and crew boat Achiever arrived for bunkers, en-route from Dover to Liverpool.
  • The Dover to Calais P&O car ferry Pride of Kent arrived from Dover and entered dry-dock at the start of her annual refit.
  •  The RN Fishery Protection vessel HMS Tyne was alongside the Queen’s Wharf where she underwent minor maintenance.
  • Veryan commemorated the sinking of the German barque Hera.

FEBRUARY

  • The British tug Vortex left the Carrick Roads to stand by the livestock carrier Express 1 which had broken down and was drifting in the English Channel.
  • Storm force winds saw a tug pushing up on the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Mounts Bay moored on the Queen’s Wharf. The ship holds a great deal of windage and with the gale force winds blowing directly on her beam a tug was positioned to keep her alongside the wharf.
  • The charity ship Jubilee Hope, enroute from Scotland to Mombassa, remained in port sheltering from the bad weather.
  • The FastCat Condor Express returned to Falmouth to dry-dock.
  • The world’s largest sloop, M5 (Mirabella V), was put through her paces in the seas off Cornwall after a major remodelling project was carried out at Pendennis Shipyard.
  • The Irish Ferries’ Oscar Wilde sailed from dry-dock for Ireland.

MARCH

  • Andrew Halcrow, who was attempting to circumnavigate the globe on a west about voyage from Falmouth, aborted his challenge after his vessel Elsi Arrub was dismasted west of Cape Horn.
  • Falmouth coastguards were asking boat owners to register their emergency beacons, after an early morning call-out resulted in one such activated device being found on dry land.
  • The Polish sail training vessel Fryderyk Chopin made a brief return call to the port where she had undergone repairs a few years earlier after being dismasted.
  • A&P’s tug Ankorva was undergoing repairs in dry-dock along with the Clyde-based Serco tug SD Mars and the Southampton tug  Switzer Sarah.
  • Falmouth Pilot Gig Club unveiled a memorial plaque to its founder and former president Ted Pentecost.

APRIL

  • THE Fowey tug Cormilan set off from Falmouth for her home port after undergoing a short refit at the docks.
  • The Falmouth tug MTS Vulcan 2 towed the German coaster Taranto into port after she broke down off Penzance.
  • Port operations director at A&P Falmouth for 17 years, Mike Reynolds, resigned from his post. Mr Reynolds, who worked tirelessly to promote the port to top cruise firms, said he was “going self-employed” giving management advice to various companies.
  • The cruise ship Funchal arrived in Falmouth to embark passengers for her South to the Sun cruise.
  • The schooner Adix arrived from southern Spain to take part in the Pendennis Cup races off Falmouth at the end of May.
  • Two ships named Sea Breeze arrived in port– one a Danish wind farm crew boat and the other a Barbadian-flagged coaster.

MAY

  • A massive 280-metre long oil defence boom, which was also an oil collecting device, was deployed a cable south east of Trefusis Point. It was positioned there by Falmouth Harbour Commissioners who were carrying out an exercise to test the planned response to possible oil pollution incidents in the port’s inner harbour.
  • Members of the public were invited to look over the historic steamship Shieldhall when she was berthed in Falmouth Docks.
  • The state-of-the-art, self-propelled, jack-up vessel Seajacks Leviathan was in port for minor repairs and the mobilisation of equipment prior to starting her next contract in the Irish Sea.
  • The Devonport fleet tender SD Cawsand and tug SD Adept entered dry-dock at the beginning of their annual refits.
  • The quincentenary  of Trinity House was reached.
  • The cruise ship Funchal delayed berthing after missing the tide.

JUNE

  • The cruise ship FTI Berlin made a day-long call to Falmouth carrying mainly German passengers.
  • HMS Illustrious, or “Lusty” as she is known in the Royal Navy, steamed out of Falmouth Bay after spending six hours at anchor operating with helicopters from RNAS Culdrose.
  • For the second time in two years, the 66,000-ton cruise ship Marina had to abort her planned call to Falmouth due to a heavy south easterly swell in Falmouth Bay. The cancellation led to more calls for the port to be dredged.
  • A&P Falmouth was appealing to the public for unwanted sports and games equipment that it could send to children in an African orphanage.
  • Oceanus 2, an experimental wave energy device built at Falmouth Docks, moved to location at the Wave Hub facility off Hayle.

JULY

  • WHILST the port of Falmouth remained in a state of limbo regarding the capital dredging scheme, other ports in Western Europe were reaping huge benefits from improved infrastructure programmes designed to attract the major cruise companies.
  •  A&P Falmouth won a major contract to repair the Grimaldi Lines’ vessel Grande Atlantico and, according to the yard’s managing director Peter Child, another two ships from the company were likely to be stemmed in the near future.
  •  Falmouth Harbour Commissioners fell foul of the Health and Safety Executive after local boat owner Andrew Campbell reported them regarding what he felt were faulty ladders on North Quay and Customs House Quay.
  •  Black Rock, the navigation aid at the entrance of the harbour, was given a new top mark painted with an IALA danger mark.

AUGUST

  • Hapag-Lloyd’s Europa, one of the world’s most luxurious cruise ships, arrived in Falmouth from Dartmouth. The vessel was carrying passengers on a round Britain cruise.
  • The large, semi-submersible heavy lift vessel Black Marlin (58,000 tons) arrived in Falmouth Bay for bunkers after a two-month long voyage from Shanghai via the Cape of Good Hope.
  • Falmouth and Brixham based (MTS) Marine and Towage Services latest tug MTS Vanguard paid a fleeting visit to the port to tow the Windsor Castle to Leith where she will be a floating hotel, lying next to the former royal yacht Britannia.
  • Thomson Cruises’ ship Thomson Spirit made an impressive entry into Falmouth inner harbour under the direction of pilot Nick Martin. The vessel, the former Holland and America ship Nieuw Amsterdam, was on a round Britain cruise.

SEPTEMBER

  • IN the sheltered waters of Falmouth Docks, the crews of the barge Excalibur and the tug MTS Vanguard were finalising preparations for a mammoth, 8,300-mile tow to Coquimbo, Chilie, where both vessels would be engaged in a major drilling contract being undertaken by Falmouth-based Fugro Seacore.
  • Work on the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Mounts Bay, Falmouth’s adopted ship, stepped up a gear at the docks as workers began an intensive programme to refit the vessel prior to its next major deployment.
  • Magnus, a German-owned tug, arrived in Falmouth Bay from the Black Sea to load bunkers before sailing for Bremerhaven, Germany.
  •  Falmouth Harbour Commissioners re-launched its pilot service under a new brand name – Falmouth Pilot Services.
  •  Manx tug Thrax carried out sea trials in Falmouth Bay.

OCTOBER

  • The offshore pipe laying vessel Calamity Jane was towed across the harbour by the tug Ankorva before sailing from Falmouth after undergoing  repairs in No 2 dry-dock.
  • Falmouth Harbour Commissioners answered questions about their latest activities in and around the harbour when they held a public meeting at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall.
  • The Royal Fleet Auxiliary RFA Argus made final preparations at the docks before deploying to West Africa to help combat Ebola as part of the British government’s Operation Gridlock.
  •  L’Hermione, a replica of the French navy frigate made famous by carrying General Lafayette to Boston in 1780 to help fight in the American War of Independence, anchored in the entrance to the Helford River to avoid gale force winds.
  • The newly-delivered ro-ro cargo ship Grande Lago, which entered service in September, arrived in Falmouth Bay for bunkers.

NOVEMBER

  • The super yacht Northern Star was alongside at the Port Pendennis marina undergoing repairs.
  • Gypsum Centennial, a vessel that arrived from the Ebola stricken country of Sierra Leone, was dry-docked in the Queen Elizabeth Dock for repairs as Public Health England staff monitored her crew on a daily basis.
  • The refrigerated cargo vessel Brazilian Reefer, which had been laid up in the River Fal above King Harry all summer, was towed  down river for reactivation.
  • Ocean Observer, a frequent visitor to Falmouth between 1987 and 2007 under her former name of Mermaid, was once again in and around the port.
  • Pendennis Shipyard was looking to recruit eight apprentices. The super yacht builders were busy with three major refit projects.

DECEMBER

  • Foodstuffs, toiletries, toys, clothes and sports equipment were enroute to an orphanage in Sierra Leone aboard the Gypsum Centennial thanks to the generosity of people across Cornwall who responded to an appeal to help those in the Ebola affected country.
  • The Royal Navy survey vessel HMS Echo was alongside Queen’s Wharf at Falmouth Docks undergoing a period of maintenance.
  • The Liverpool to Belfast passenger car ferry Stena Lagan was undergoing her annual refit in dry-dock.
  •  Perfect weather conditions in the Carrick Roads allowed the heavy-lift vessel Happy River to offload two motor yachts, Constance and an unnamed Sunseeker 82, after she arrived from Genoa in Italy.
  • Former employees of Falmouth Docks enjoyed mince pies and a chance to chat about “the good old days” when they attended the A&P Falmouth annual Christmas dinner, held at Falmouth School.