This morning, I was looking on the Marine app and saw a new vessel in the Wilmington, NC harbor, the Yang Ming – Warranty. The icon for the vessel was large, and when I viewed the image for the ship, she was a large container vessel. I see that she was built in 2019, three years ago.
I was also looking at my various, favorite web cams, and stopped to look at the Wilmington view. Surprisingly, at about bridge level, the name “YAN MING” was displayed as if underlined by the bridge. I caught the vessel, in mid-stride as she was being turned around in the Cape Fear. I’ve seen that she was due in port at about 9 am today. Looks like she is inching her way to the dock.
ADDENDUM [12/23/22]: “Wilmington NC Sets Record for Largest Container Ship Arrival” article published 10/28/20. I just came across this article on the Maritime Executive website. The article includes three photos of the Warranty, the first time she came to the Wilmington, NC port. One of the photos shows the Warranty as she is being turned around, and as I commented, she looks as if she is almost touching both sides of the Cape Fear River during the turn. *This is one of those things, that “was meant to be”. That I happened to view the Warranty, as she is being turned around at Wilmington… that I just happened to view the Warranty as she was in the Panama Canal lock at Cocoli and that they had a webcam. [end addendum]
Looks like she came through the Panama Canal on November 3rd, and then headed up to New York City where she was in-port for almost three days. Then she came back down to Norfolk, VA and then is now docking in Wilmington. She is now hidden by one of the tall supports of the Cape Fear River bridge.
It is Wednesday, December 21, 2022. I just checked the Maritime App and the Yang Ming – Warranty was in the Panama Cocoli Lock.
There is a web camera at Cocoli Locks (Panama Canal Expansion). When I pulled up the page, the Warranty was there in the lock. It was moored, while the lock water line was being adjusted. I took several pictures (stills) and saw the mooring line going limp and then the ship beginning to move through the lock. She will now be in the Pacific Ocean, and I see from the Maritime App that the vessel is headed to Busan, Korea. The ETA to Busan is 01/20/23. *I checked online and 18 days is the suggested crossing time from the Panama Canal to the port of Busan, so I am not sure why the extra time for the crossing.
I was attempting to upload the lock pictures of the vessel, and am having a problem with Windows not being able to find the images. They would have been impressive. Perfect timing of the vessel in the Canal.
Managed to recover 5 of the 6 canal images I took.
ADDENDUM [ 01/26/23 ]: The YM-Warranty arrived a few days early and waited for her time to dock/moor and offload/onload. Today she made her way to the docks and moored in Busan, KO. She is scheduled to depart on 01/28/23. *Amazing about the turn around time, but nothing special about the “monotonous” circuit: Busan, Pacific, Panama Canal, Atlantic, New York, Norfolk, Wilmington, NC Port, Charleston, Savannah, Panama Canal, Pacific, Busan…
Addendum [01/26/23]: The BBC Volga arrived in Shanghai, CN yesterday, and proceeded to moor at a location on the Huangpu River Minhang District of Shanghai.
There is something wrong with the Google Map for Shanghai. All the streets are offset by about a block, so you see gray street lines that end deep in the river.
*Not sure if the BBC Volga has been sold. I would imagine that this vessel will stay near the China coast and run in the Asiatic Pacific. Doesn’t make sense for a vessel of this size to travel back and forth across the Pacific Ocean (like the YM-Warranty).
ADDENDUM [02/04/23]: When I referenced the “monotonous” circuit of the YM Warranty, I did not know there were several other ports to be included in China before returning across the Pacific to the Panama Canal. And worrisome, to me, is that the YM Warranty is currently anchored, along with many other cargo vessels, a short distance from Qingdao, CN. Worrisome, is that she is currently showing an ETA of 03/09/23? Why would you put the vessel “on the shelf” for over a month? It would seem that keeping her going, from port to port, efficiently (with just a few days in each port for loading/off loading) would be the goal.
I have not been able to pull up anything on the Web regarding why the YM Warranty is sitting just off from Qingdao, CN with a projected ETA of March 9th. But today, another reason for this extended anchorage came to mind. This may be COVID related. I see that some vessels were quarantined during the height of COVID. Although I have not been following COVID in China, I think they are having a resurgence. So, my current guess is that the YM Warranty is under quarantine.
The BBC Volga is again “on the move” toward Dalian, CN [ 02/10/23 ]. Interesting, to me, is that because the YM Warranty is currently sitting off from Qingdao, CN until about March 9th, the BBC Volga and YM Warranty will once again be near each other.
[NOTE]: Okay, March 9, 2023 arrived and the YM Warranty quickly made it into the port at Qingdao, CN. Not a clue why she sat idle just a few miles from Qingdao for over a month. I checked at least a couple of times to see the arrival dates of some of the other vessels that were parked near the Warranty, and all of them were scheduled just days from the date I was checking. The Warranty was being treated differently, for some reason. I still don’t know why you would take an almost new, extremely large, container ship out of the rotation, when we are having shortages due to supply line problems. [end note]
Bill Gibson, II 