Why did the Sun not leave San Francisco?

They were supposed to sail to Portland ar 5:00 but sailed further into the bay and stayed. Any word?

They were supposed to sail to Portland ar 5:00 but sailed further into the bay and stayed. Any word?

Are you sure about sailing to Portland? AIS shows her in drydock at BAE Systems shipyard SF.

It is in drydock in San Francisco.

The Sun was originally going to dry dock in Portland, but it was later changed to San Francisco when the amount of time in dry dock time was shortened. Some of the info on the Port of SF website was not updated and still listed the ship as departing for Portland yesterday. But as chengkp75 posted she is at BAE systems dry dock in SF.

She's definitely in dry dock today. We can see her from our couch :)

She's definitely in dry dock today. We can see her from our couch :)

What a lovely view you must have! We really enjoyed the sail in yesterday morning, passing underneath the Golden Gate Bridge, with a great look at Alcatraz and the city skyline.

She's definitely in dry dock today. We can see her from our couch :)

Pics or is isn't happening. Besides your view sounds like it must be amazing and would love to see it :D

pics or is isn't happening. Besides your view sounds like it must be amazing and would love to see it :d

You can just barely see her smoke stack :D

...about 4 miles away.

You can just barely see her smoke stack :D

 

...about 4 miles away.

 

GCVT my long lost buddy and pal, can't wait to come and visit :D:D:D

Beautiful view, bet you never get tired of that. If you do let me know I'd be willing to suffer.

Seriously though, thanks for sharing the pic

GCVT my long lost buddy and pal, can't wait to come and visit :D:D:D

 

Beautiful view, bet you never get tired of that. If you do let me know I'd be willing to suffer.

 

Seriously though, thanks for sharing the pic

Jim, my old buddy! :D

Been in the same place for 23 years and never get tired of the view. It's definitely a cool spot to be when cruise ships are in dry dock here.

Here's Jewel just backing out of dry dock almost exactly two years ago. They always run around in the Bay for a few hours before heading out for sea trials. Fun to watch.

Couldn't edit my last post...

I didn't even know about the dry dock schedule change. The GF works at The Exploratorium on Pier 15 so she saw Sun yesterday while she was at work. Seeing the ships all the time drives her nuts! Pier 27 is actually only 4 piers away from Pier 15.

When I woke up this morning and saw Sun down in dry dock I mentioned it to her. She was like "yeah, saw her yesterday and noticed her again this morning". Talk about a "keeper"!

She's definitely in dry dock today. We can see her from our couch :)

When the STAR did DD at Vigor Portland OR there were a few photo opt

points to see what was being done.

The STAR did not have a good result of DD at Vigor having to be ferried to

Freeport in the Bahamas to finish the work on the Azipods (engines).

So this may explain why the DD is not being done at Portland or simply put

change in schedule to have it done somewhere else (SFO) ?

Wonder if the DD at SFO has any points to see what is being done to the

hull ? Obviously can't see what is being done inside the ship ?

What pier is the DD near ? - Don't know if there is any satellite imaging

on the internet to see it ?

I have to work tomorrow, but I am going to try to get down there on the way home to take a few pics of Sun and post them here. I've done it before for some Princess ships, but it's hard to get good pics because you can't get very close. Once you're down around 16th-20th Streets, it's mostly an industrial area where someone is probably camping in our stolen RV...LOL!

Potential photo update by 7:00PM tomorrow :)

Greg,

Thanks for the wonderful photos. ;)

Greg,

 

Thanks for the wonderful photos. ;)

My pleasure :)

When the STAR did DD at Vigor Portland OR there were a few photo opt

points to see what was being done.

The STAR did not have a good result of DD at Vigor having to be ferried to

Freeport in the Bahamas to finish the work on the Azipods (engines).

So this may explain why the DD is not being done at Portland or simply put

change in schedule to have it done somewhere else (SFO) ?

 

Wonder if the DD at SFO has any points to see what is being done to the

hull ? Obviously can't see what is being done inside the ship ?

What pier is the DD near ? - Don't know if there is any satellite imaging

on the internet to see it ?

As with most yards in the US, due to environmental concerns, the entire dock is tented while blasting and painting the hull to prevent spray and drift, so it gets very hard to see what is going on below the top of the dock's wing walls. If you got in a boat in the bay, you might get a look down the length of the dock, but the back end is pretty well blocked by yard equipment and then a whole area of old pier pilings, so again difficult to get a view.

I believe that NCL was underwhelmed by the work done at Vigor in Portland, which is why the Sun went to BAE, which they have used quite a lot before for the West Coast ships. Not too many choices on that coast.

I believe that NCL was underwhelmed by the work done at Vigor in Portland, which is why the Sun went to BAE, which they have used quite a lot before for the West Coast ships. Not too many choices on that coast.

Is it common for cruise lines to use US-based yards for this work? I know it made sense for NCL to use BAE in SFC for the POA since she is US flagged, but I thought most cruise lines used yards in the Caribbean and elsewhere for the dry dock work.

It would be nice to see more work in US yards, but I thought we had made ourselves less competitive in this area.

Is it common for cruise lines to use US-based yards for this work? I know it made sense for NCL to use BAE in SFC for the POA since she is US flagged, but I thought most cruise lines used yards in the Caribbean and elsewhere for the dry dock work.

 

It would be nice to see more work in US yards, but I thought we had made ourselves less competitive in this area.

There are only 3 yards available for commercial ship repair on the West Coast: BAE SF, Vigor Portland, and Victoria in BC. Depending on a ship's routing, many times it doesn't make sense to transit a ship to the Caribbean from the West Coast for a shipyard. Given that most of the "refurbishments" (all those remodeling and upgrading to the hotel that are not part of a technical drydocking) are done by foreign sub-contractors the cost increase for the US (or Canadian) shipyard is offset against the repositioning cost back and forth.

As for our competitiveness, even US flag ships have found that foreign yards (even accounting for the 50% customs duty on the total bill) are cheaper than US yards, and many yards in the US are not very interested in commercial ship repair with its tight scheduling and competitive cost structure, in comparison to US Navy work with virtually unlimited timelines and no profit concerns by the customer.

There are only 3 yards available for commercial ship repair on the West Coast: BAE SF, Vigor Portland, and Victoria in BC. Depending on a ship's routing, many times it doesn't make sense to transit a ship to the Caribbean from the West Coast for a shipyard. Given that most of the "refurbishments" (all those remodeling and upgrading to the hotel that are not part of a technical drydocking) are done by foreign sub-contractors the cost increase for the US (or Canadian) shipyard is offset against the repositioning cost back and forth.

 

As for our competitiveness, even US flag ships have found that foreign yards (even accounting for the 50% customs duty on the total bill) are cheaper than US yards, and many yards in the US are not very interested in commercial ship repair with its tight scheduling and competitive cost structure, in comparison to US Navy work with virtually unlimited timelines and no profit concerns by the customer.

Does the Victoria yard have a significant competitive advantage over it's US counterparts or is it pretty close to the same situation?

Roy

Does the Victoria yard have a significant competitive advantage over it's US counterparts or is it pretty close to the same situation?

 

Roy

I'm not sure of the regulatory environment in Canada, but I think its pretty close to the US, so unless there are significant subsidies, its probably close to the same cost basis as the US West Coast yards. Though for the POA, the same 50% customs duty would apply as any other foreign yard, so for a US flag ship there would be a significant penalty.

A freind took this picture yesterday of the Sun in drydock

Swung down there today to have a look...

....Pier 27 is actually only 4 piers away from Pier 15"...

It must be that new common core math :D

Great shots, thanks!!!!!

It must be that new common core math :D

It's more like 6 piers :confused:

SF piers are even numbered south of the Ferry Building and odd numbered north.