After a little research, I learned that my MINI is scheduled to depart Southampton aboard the "AIDA," operated by Wallenius Wilhelmsen.

According to the literature on the company's website, "The PCTC (Pure Car Truck Carrier) m/v AIDA has a capacity of 6,700 cars or a combination of 3,000 cars and 400 buses. With her 200 meters, this capacity makes AIDA the most efficient PCTC in the world. The vessel is built to the highest class of Lloyd's Register of Shipping with the following designations: +100 A1 Vehicle Carrier, moveable decks, deck No. 3, 5 and 8 strengthened for Roll on Roll off cargo + LMC, UMS and IWS."

That sounds great. All I know is my beloved MINI is aboard her now and ready to spend the next three weeks at sea before reaching our west coast. May she have calm seas and clear blue or starry skies for the duration of her voyage!

 

Okay, I'm officially stoked!

My car is listed on the ship's manifest. According to the WW tracking site, it's been "LOADED ON VESSEL." Anyone else sharing the ride?

 

I'm on the AIDA!!

 

Welcome aboard! I grabbed these screen captures from the ship tracker. Looks like nothing ahead but open seas!



The Aida appears at the far left side of the screen...



Next stop, Manzanillo, Panama Canal, then around up to Port Hueneme, California!

 

Me too! Four more weeks and I'll be cruising in my new Lightning Blue MCS YES!

 

That's my boat. Time to clean out the garage...

 

That's cool. You know, I wonder if the vehicle count can be higher if the Aida is transporting a lot of MINIs. I mean, if the vessel can transport 6,700 cars, does that mean that many cars of "standard" size? Seems a whole lot more MINIs could fit!

I'm finally going to put my garage parking space to good use. It's been vacant for over six months. That's the last time I had a car to park! Riding the bus to work has been interesting, but I'm ready to go out on my own.

 

Here's the latest information I gleaned from the very helpful and informative website, www.sailwx.info

FYI, the Aida's call sign is "SBLI" (Why I don't know. I thought SBLI stood for "Savings Bank Life Insurance"! )

Aida's Position:



Some weather conditions and relevant sailing information:



Who Aida's sharing the pond with:



I'll monitor the ship on my own for the next few weeks... at least until it nears port!

In the meanwhile, feel free to follow the link above to learn where the Aida is for yourselves.

 

My Cooper is hitching a ride on the Aida too. The fact that we, the public, have the tools to track it is awesome!

 

You're absolutely correct! Amazing technology. I STILL think this was MINI's idea all along... so we wouldn't pester our MAs to know where our cars were!

Oh, and I lied... Here's one more snapshot of the Aida's progress since yesterday... ya know, for comparison!



Apparently, the website allows you to chart the vessel's course over a number of days. Clearly, there's not much ahead in terms of land masses, so I probably won't post anything more until she snakes her way through the Panama Canal. Enjoy!

 

Common Aida... Don't you have an overboost function too???

 

Oh, man! From that angle, it looks as if the Aida is a million miles away!

Good thing is she keeps sailing, night and day, around the clock...

 

I am also aboard the Aida!! At 6:00pm on 8-2-08 she was here: N40degrees,48'/W024degrees30'. She appears to be making good time...well over 200 nautical miles out of Southampton. It is so cool to be able to track the ship like that! Where is your dealer located? Mine has to come all the way south to San Diego. What are your thoughts on how long they'll be in Port Hueneme? Since the Aida had 672 Mini's aboard, I'm thinkin' it might take longer to off-load, process, etc. I thought about calling up the captain of the Aida and asking him to make a short stop in San Diego . Who else out there is aboard the Aida?

 

My dealer is in Sacramento. From what I've heard, it can take anywhere from two days to two weeks at the Vehicle Distribution Center (VDC). It all depends on the condition of the cars as they're offloaded from the ship. If there is any damage, it may have to be held for repair. If not, I imagine it will be staged with others for loading onto car carriers for distribution to dealerships.

Hey Pigzoom, at least you can break out your binoculars and try to spot the Aida as it passes you by!



Yeah...are there any other NAM users out there that know they're on the Aida?

 

I'm on the AIDA too. Mine has to go to Escondido - Brecht MINI. On the MarineTraffic site, the estimated arrival at the Panama Canal 08/10 0500, so it looks like she's ahead of schedule (their original itinerary was 08/11). I'm hoping it will be to the dealer by the 22nd, motoring by the 26th.

 

Hey Minnie Mama, you made it over!

I have YOU to thank for helping me learn my car's status. Thanks! I've been monitoring the progress of other MINI-bearing ships that are ahead of us. I found this site that helps you watch vessels as they enter the locks of the Panama Canal, and/or navigate its waterways:

http://www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html

The schedule for the M/V Aida says it's expected now at 0200 on the 10th of August, that it's not yet booked, that it's #7 (not sure what that means... number seven in line for advancement through the canal system?), and that it should be through on the morning of the 11th. At least that's how I interpret the (rather cryptic) schedule. It appears to be somewhat nebulous; I guess it's subject to change given the weather, traffic, and other circumstances. For instance, a note on this site mentioned a 48 hour delay in the schedule overall due to foggy conditions:

http://www.boydsteamship.com/daily_traffic_report.htm

Amazing the stuff you can learn from those who've gone before us!

 

I've heard that the information on the MINI Owner's Lounge can be a little stale, and it's true, but I was nevertheless amused to learn that my MINI was FINALLY "En Route" yesterday, and NOT waiting on the dock for a ride!



While I'm here, let me share the Aida's progress with you:



It would appear that she's passing by the Azores.

 

Thanks for the updates AvidMini! My MCS is on the Aida as well.

 

You're more than welcome! I'm afraid that I've got a little O.C.D. going on here. Six months plus without a car AT ALL will tend to make you a little nuts about getting another car... especially when you're as big a car nut as I am!

I had it bad this weekend. I've been scouring toy stores and novelty shops in the Seattle, Washington and Vancouver B.C. area for DIE CAST models of MINIs! I even spent a few minutes talking to a "ZIPCAR" representative about the Chili Red MINI they had on display in downtown Vancouver!

Yep, I've got it BAD!

 

Hey, Minnie Mama! My car is also on the Aida and being delivered to Brecht in Escondido! Motoring by the 26th would be cool, but I am out of town until 9/3 . Had I known an early delivery was possible, I would have planned better!

Also, thanks to avidMINI for all the updates and communication. All of this really adds to the fun!

 

I'm cleanin' the binoculars as we speak! Shouldn't be that hard to spot as big as she is, and with the name of the shipping company in such big letters!

 

I'm a "me too" on the AIDA Cargo ship. My sister bought a Convertible (right after she got the news they had shut down the manufacturing) so it's been fun having a MINI already here as well as being able to track mine.

Pepper White MINI Cooper S
Crevier MINI in Santa Ana
Christian Banks is the MA

 

The party seems to be getting bigger by the day! I wonder if everyone on board is a NAM subscriber.

Well folks, here we are... twelve hours later. So much for not posting any more "status maps" until we reach Panama! I'm hopeless!

 

http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shi...html?call=SBLI

Ah it's every 24 hours status now... looking good

 

Man, that's what I call "PROGRESS!" Full steam ahead! The British are coming! The British are coming! And not a moment too soon.