KAPITAN GOTSKY is a specialist, icebreaking, shuttle tanker, serving the Varandey offshore terminal near Murmansk. Russian oil is taken to the ice-free Sarne Fjord for transhipment into normal tankers for onward shipment to refineries worldwide

I think Mr Hartung is making a sarcastic joke. I see the point but think others have missed it

Masters of ships rarely make decisions as to ports of call

In matters of safety the master WILL have the final say and he may also consult with the head office on whether to cancel a call due to scheduling problems, perhaps caused by a delayed departure from an earlier call or an unexpected medivac requiring an unscheduled stop or return to port.

It should be borne in mind that this story is from the Daily Star. Not the most reliable of serious news sources.

Surely the 3,000 passengers were made aware of the reason for missing the port call. Maybe they will even be compensated for it. Cancelled calls happen from time to time on cruises for a variety of reasons other than bad weather. It would, however, be mildly interesting  (to some people) to know what the reason was and the rude comments were indeed quite uncalled for.

What has the Valemax affair got to do with this one of container consortia?

As I recall it, somebody made a first comment that the reason P3 was rejected was that no Chinese lines were involved. That, I am also convinced, is the real reason!
Unfortunately the original comment poster used a naughty word to emphasise his disagreement with the public relations waffle in the original press report so probably his valid comment was deleted.

A courtesy flag (or courtesy ensign) is flown by a ship in foreign waters as a token of respect by a visiting vessel. It is usually a smaller version of the national maritime flag of the host country, although there are countries (such as Malta) where the national, rather than the maritime flag is correct. The flag is customarily worn at the starboard crosstree of the foremast.

If it hadn't been for animal rights protesters barricading the port of Dover (didn't any of them have jobs to go to?) and persuading the proper ferry operators to stop livestock shipments,these sheep, no matter where they were headed or why, would not have had to endure such a long voyage on that silly little river ferry.
BTW, the trucks in the video are Dutch, which suggests to me that the animals in them are not, as the commentator suggests they might be, headed for Eastern Europe of Turkey.
This video, in my opinion, is little better than a sensationalist propaganda film that will impress only the loonier elements of the animal rights movement

Emotive, one-sided, ill-researched, shock-horror, hack tele-journalism! 

Has there ever been a case of a mule failing to let go and getting pulled into the water?

I suppose she's too big for LCY, otherwise the Tilbury spotters would have been able to photograph her on the way upriver

I wonder how many of these containership cracks were caused by the vessels being loaded incorrectly. I remember one shipping bod admitting that he once sent one out with a negative gm

The one I saw in Kiel in the 1980s was GALAXY, formerly the mount of Radio London

There was also, as I rememmber, a Dutch pirate station cslled Radio Veronica, which could also be picked up in SE England. Also, in the 1980s I remember seeing a pirate radio ship in Kiel, Germany (moored alongside the old U-boot pens). Looked like the one now in Tilbury. Was it the same or another?