All aboard the Southern Highway!! Though this is a K-Line ship, it is showing up on the WW tracking system.

http://schedule.2wglobal.com/AppTracking/

Similarly, though the K-Line schedule does not show this ship stopping in NYC, the WW site says that it will go to New York.

I thought that I would have to wait at the pier until 7/31 for the next WW ship but instead, I get my new MINI 6 days earlier. WooHoo!

Anyone else on board with me?

 

Is it possible that the WW site is showing the Southern Highway cargo ONLY to the NYC port? Perhaps they "hired" the Southern Highway from K-line for this one shipment to one port only?

The reason I ask is that my MINI is also waiting for a ride to Charleston, and could easily have made it onto the Southern Highway (based on the VINs going to NYC), but my VIN does not show up in the WW tracking info. So, I am thinking that I may well be on the boat, but I would be the "property" of K-line at this point and therefore I am not showing up in the WW database.

 

That's quite possible, since it is a special stop which is normally not on their schedule.

 

Make sure you have downloaded the latest K-Line schedule. Mine is dated 7/23.

See attached.

The dates are for the following ports, ordered as they appear.
Bremerhaven - 21-JUL/23-JUL
Southampton - 24-JUL/25-JUL
Baltimore - 05-AUG/05-AUG
Jacksonville - 03-AUG/NEWARK
Charleston - 07-AUG/07-AUG
Santander -
Bremerhaven - 19-AUG/20-AUG

Note that the Jacksonville date is actually before (timeline) the Baltimore date and is noted "Newark". Looks like a special stop just for us!

 

Our ship just arrived. It docked a few minutes ago in Southampton! Tomorrow it is off across the Atlantic for us.

http://www.ais-live.co.uk/AIS%20Live...uthampton.html

 

From the Live AIS Southampton link:

Name: SOUTHERN HIGHWAY
Callsign: 3EOJ8
MMSI: 356580000
IMO: 9338632
Status: Moored
Dest: NEWARK
ETA: Jul24 23:00
Type: Cargo
Speed/Dir: 0 kts / 38
Size: 188m x 28m x 7.5m
Received: 2008-07-25 13:05:45UTC


Current time is 13:12:04 (UTC), so there are just 10 hours left before the Southern Highway departs.

Ready?

10...

 

I stand corrected! It is no longer at the dock, it left at 23:00 UTC, yesterday!

 

I am correcting myself, again, and then shutting up!

After the first post today, I went back to the site and it wasn't there! Strange thing is that is the Dock for the QE2 (check it out on Google Earth).

After the second post, I looked again and it is back again.

I am losing my mind again, aren't I?

 

Yeah, it is definitely still at the dock for now. My car was loaded at 12:27pm GMT. I expect that we should be on our way by this afternoon!

Don't worry DoubleO, all this MINI anticipation is making me feel like I am losing it also...

 

My car has been awaiting transport since completion on the 7/18.
I checked the WW site and my Vin isn't showing up.
If I don't get onto the Southern Highway today, I will be very sad.

 

Woo hoo! LOADED ON VESSEL SOUTHAMPTON 25/07/2008 12:27

Pretzel Logic, If we don't cross paths before then, I will am planning going to the MINIs on Top event next year. I am really looking forward to participating in the MINI events in New England. There are SO many great roads in New England to drive! Twisting, turning, roller coaster...

 

Well since I was completed on 7/16 and am Charleston bound...I am going to assume I am on the ship until I can confirm mid-next week with my MA.

 

I am also headed for CHS, but I did not make the Southern Highway. I know this because I am now booked on the Courage! Even though I made it to the terminal pretty early yesterday, I guess the line was too long so I had to wait for the next boat. Hope all of you have a great trip on the Southern Highway. We will be in a pretty good race though, because the Courage is due in to CHS on Aug-6, one day before the Southern Highway! That's only because we don't stop in NYC first.

 

Absolutely. I was a little bummed that I did not manage to get my MINI in time for MOT 2008, but there is always next year. There are some good events that I have read about in N.E. and certainly some great roads... either through the mountains or along the coast. Depending on when my car gets here, my wife and I may take it to our place in the Outer Banks at the end of August... if we can figure out how to fit everything we normally bring in there.

 

DMAC and NSX JR, sorry you guys did not make it aboard with us. Though technically you should arrive in SC earlier on the Courage. DMAC, you especially have been waiting for a while. I was surprised to find that your IL delivery is being shipped to SC... seems out of the way, but maybe it avoids the traffic and whatnot in the Eastern corridor?

 

I won't know if I am on the Southern Highway until next week I am sure. For the Charleston bounds MINI's, they are listed under the K-Line manifest and NY is listed under the WW manifest on the Southern Highway.
WW does not show my VIN, so I am not on the Courage departing on Monday. I better be on the Southern Highway

Most mid-south and mid-west MINI/BMWs come through the Charleston VDC.

 

DMAC I would have to bet that you are already on some K-line vessel heading over here. My car just got checked in at Southampton yesterday and I already have my ticket for the boat ride. I don't know why they would keep yours at the end of the line, unless it started bullying other MINIs who were just minding their own business. FWIW, there are a few MCSCs on the Courage, so you could check the VIN range (shown below) and see if they are above or below your serial number. If they all have higher serial numbers on the Courage then I bet you made it on the Southern Highway. Here they are:

WMWRH33588TU81728
WMWRH33518TU81697
WMWRH33518TL97640

 

Southern Highway has left Southampton!

Name: SOUTHERN HIGHWAY
Callsign: 3EOJ8
MMSI: 356580000
IMO: 9338632
Status: Underway
Dest: NEWARK
ETA: Aug01 16:00
Type: Cargo
Speed/Dir: 11.9 kts / 222
Size: 188m x 28m x 7.6m
Received: 2008-07-25 18:40:58UTC

 

That's right, we are on our way home! Once we hit international waters, everybody head to the onboard casino, and meet at the blackjack table with a martini or beer of choice.

Interesting to note that WW site states August 03 arrival in NYC and the ship report above states August 01... though I guess it doesn't really matter. NYC VDC is closed on weekends so our cars likely won't get processed until the 4th anyhow. I am hoping to pick up my MINI in Boston... maybe August 8th?

 

In talking with my MA this week, she said boarding a ship is based on dealer allotments cycles. My MINI was slated for a July build and August delivery to the dealer. She said I am ahead of schedule on the build. So what I gather, build date has no bearing for shipment date. I just hope since I have been classified as an "August Delivery" by the dealer, I am hoping for an early August delivery vice a late August delivery.
Maddie is a proper lady and has not been bullying , but once she boards the cruise ship no telling what she will do....don't be suprised if she goes topless .

My VIN is a 33528TU81664

 

I'll take a Plymouth martini, straight-up, extra-dry, with olives, please!

The 8th is about what I figured too! It would be great to pick it up before the weekend. I would also love to be there when they unload mine! I probably wouldn't be able to leave until I could drive it home, though. I could just sit and watch them put on the final touches!

 

My MINI is winning all kinds of cash at blackjack, but may have had too many Belvedere martinis... time to go lay out in the sun a little bit.


I've tried to track Southern Highway on SailWX but no success...
http://www.sailwx.info/

 

Yes, one of the drawbacks of being on K-Line... We're lucky that we were booked through WW, but we're, err, all in the same boat, in regards to tracking K-Line ships along their atlantic crossing. The AIS tracking that will provide its current location is prohibitively expensive for just eight days of usage. It was nice to be able to watch (well, track) it leave Southampton, though.

I have searched long and far for other methods of getting voyage tracking sites which have the Southern Highway to no avail. The site vesseltracker.com offers a free 24 hour delayed tracking, but that is pretty useless for my tastes. The google-based vesseltracker.com is no longer even showing the Southern Highway. The web-based vesseltracker.com shows in still at dock in Southampton. Because vesseltracker.com is based on AIS data, I wonder if the paid version would even provide any tracking info at this point. I am sure that someone has paid the price to track the voyage of their baby.

Time for another matini!

 

Geez,,,,,I may be enjoying this crusie and may not even know it. I hope Maddie is being good.

 

I how they load the cars... I wonder what it looks like inside? They must chain/strap them down. Mine will need to be!