Dover Strait

The busiest shipping lane in the world. It is the 18 mile wide passage between England and France. Two shipping lanes with more than 400 vessels passing daily and of course a lot of Ferries crossing. Strict navigational regulations are in force here, coordinated by Her Majesty's Coastguard. The Coastguard regime for Swimmers, Surfers, Bathtub Captains and other Channel crossing Lunatics are more tolerant on the British side than on the French side, so that's where these crazy missions often start. Basically, the navigation here is very simple; the shipping lanes are printed Magenta in the charts, everybody can do it!. Just follow the arrows and stay between the two lines. In case of doubt, just follow another vessel. It is/was a common practice with a lot of the so called Flag of Convenience vessels. Often manned by barely certified deck officers asking other vessels about their destination and just following them. The only thing you have to check is his draught being bigger than yours, otherwise you might get grounded where your pilot vessel is passing the shoals safely!

On the left of this picture you can see an airplane of the FotoFlite company. They are taking pictures of almost all ships passing Dover Strait. They must have the biggest ships database in the world.

Last night at sea, tomorrow morning Rotterdam!