Proteus, Shinkai, and a new coat of paint for The Lido

Scene on the Sound w/e Friday April 17, by The Captain

The last week or so has been quite quiet on the Sound. The Dutch frigate HNlMS Groningen finished a week’s training with FOST and departed for operations. And the Norwegian frigate, HNoMS Otto Sverdrup has arrived to keep the FOST staff busy. It is not known how long she’ll be around, but as she seems to have spent a week alongside (the normal ‘harbour week’ at the start of a sea training period, it is assumed she’ll be here for a few weeks.

Beagle-favourite RFA Proteus arrived yesterday – she is the RN’s ‘Survey and Surveillance’ ship – probably the first of a few (money permitting). Her role is to keep an eye on the UK’s undersea infrastructure.

A couple of more unusual visitors are the superyacht Shinkai – seen pictured at the top of the page alongside in the Barbican – and the Training Ship John Jerwood. Shinkai is unusual in a couple of ways – firstly, her owner is not anonymous. She is owned by the Belgian billionaire Eric Wittouck. Shinkai is worth about $100m. However, as Mr Wittouck is worth about $9bn, he can well afford a superyacht. The other unusual fact about Shinkai is that she is a fully-equipped expedition yacht with a range of 5500 miles – more than many warships.

Amongst her capabilities, she has a 3-man mini-submarine (another $3m on its own) and is ice strengthened, so she can go well into the Arctic and Antarctic.

The John Jerwood is owned by the Jerwood Foundation and used by the Sea Cadet Corps to give young people the experience of being part of a team at sea in a disciplined environment. The Jerwood Foundation was founded in 1977 and its primary mission and purpose is to support young people in their education and well-being, with humanity at the heart of the activities and initiatives.

And finally – another sign of the coming summer – the Lido has been repainted!