[ 66 ] THE SHIP OF THE FUTURE Having cleared the Suez Canal by 9pm, it was then full speed ahead to Limassol, incidentally P&O Pioneer’s homeport, where she moored alongside DP World’s terminal in the morning of 22 March. There was bunkering before leaving the Cypriot port again 13 hours later, at 8pm, with crew getting off and new crew joining. As P&O Pioneer had a fuel autonomy of up to 17 days, Limassol was the last bunker stop, with the price of fuel having dictated the ports visited for that purpose. It was then westbound through the Mediterranean with just a two-hour stop at Gibraltar’s east anchorage in the afternoon of 27 March. More crew, P&O Ferries representatives and contractors were tendered to the ship while other contractors jumped off. P&O Pioneer was expected to arrive in Dover four days later but as a 50-knot storm was blowing in the Channel, Dover Harbour Board and P&O Ferries jointly decided not to take any risks and postponed the Dover call. Instead, on 31 March P&O Pioneer sheltered off Poole and Bournemouth in DP mode until the wind reached speeds of 55 knots and she moved very slowly so as not to drop anchor and hove to ride out the storm. P&O Pioneer subsequently moved to Sandown Bay off the east coast of the Isle of Wight on 1 April, mainly to tender contractors ashore. The time was also used for training and lifeboat drills before leaving for Dunkerque on 2 April. Arriving off Dunkerque on the 3rd, P&O Pioneer had to wait at anchorage to obtain a slot for the lock transit to the inner port where it eventually arrived in the early morning of 4 April, 32 days after having left Guangzhou. “ The only real storm was the one in the Western Channel. The first four days were equally windy but after that the weather was simply fantastic with brilliant sunshine and temperatures reaching 30°C” Safely arrived at Dunkerque
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