I know ETA is still unchanged, but given the last position and speed it is unrealistic. I think she is 18 hours behind this schedule. She was in the US Virgin Islands 52 hours ago and she is doing 17 knots at best. The voyage to Colón is 1000nm. Not accounting for currents, pirates in Maracaibo, etc. that would bring her right now at 10:00 PDT to just over 125nm out of Colón (see attachment). If that's correct, she should reach Colón/Cristobal in just a bit under 8 hours or around 18:00 PDT today. Will probably be in range an hour before that.

Crossing the canal is supposed to take 10 hours ±1 hour or so and the total time to cover the 3000nm from Colón to San Diego according to http://www.vesseldistance.com/?page_id=2 is just 7.5 days (see attached screenshot). That means if she's in Colón at 2012-04-01 01:00 UTC (18:00 PDT) she should be in San Diego on 2012-04-08 12:00 UTC (05:00 PDT), 5 days before the 13th. Maybe she needs to moor in Colón for 5 days until she gets a slot to pass the canal? But then again, I thought that's what the ETA in Colón was supposed to be for (you can reserve slots ahead of schedule). I have no idea how it works. Or maybe she's unloading at another port before San Diego? (I doubt it/wouldn't know where--San Diego is the first port in the US and I doubt she will unload in Mexico).

 

BTW my wife thinks I am a total dork for tracking the vessel. Good thing she's still asleep!

 

Excellent points. Thank you. I will start looking for the Glorious Express to show up on tracking later today. I have been assuming that it will dock in San Diego on the 13th, the vehicles (the capacity is 5,195 cars!) will be unloaded by the 15th and if all goes well, could be delivered to my dealership in Rocklin, CA sometime during the week of the 23rd. I am in North Carolina from the 17th to late on the 23rd so I am hopeful I get to pick it up shortly after I get back.

I have to admit, I do enjoy tracking the vessels. My wife thinks it is a bit dorky as well, but that's OK, it is fun!

 

I think my Cayenne might be on the same vessel too !

 

That's great! The Glorious Express arrived in Panama last night and then moved closer to the entrance of the Canal where it sat for a while. It is now underway at 10 knots very close to entering the Canal

 

Mine too. I had a screen devoted to it at work for a while!

 

You can watch the Glorious Express live on the webcam at the Gatun lock. It is just approaching now.

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

 

Now she's anchored again on Lake Gatún right behind the Gatún locks. In case you missed the webcam, here is a series of snaps

 

next 5 ... The high-res camera shots are facing north towards Colón, the low-res camera shots south towards lake Gatún.

 

... and the last 3 of her exiting the Gatún locks.

 

I watched the entire process on both the webcam and Marinetraffic.com Until you mentioned the webcam previously, I had no idea that this was possible. I really enjoy this! I plan on keeping a close eye on it all the way to the destination.

 

It seems she is anchored because maximum-size vessels allowed through the canal ("Panamax" class) need to transit during daylight. And since she passed through the Gatún locks shortly after 4pm local time, there were only a little over two hours of daylight left. Sun rises at 6:15am, though, so she could be on her way again as early as 4:30am PDT. If that's the case, you need to rise early if you still want to see her in the Miraflores locks!

 

She hasn't moved from last nights position yet. I plan to keep an eye out and hopefully catch another look as she exits the canal. It will be interesting to discover if there are any other stops along the way. Unless she sits in her current position for several days, it sure seems quite possible to reach San Diego early.

 

Moving again. Probably had to wait for a pilot to become available.

Yes, I think she might be in San Diego early. Maybe as early as the 10th.

 

Just passed under the Centennial Bridge. Not long before she reaches the Miraflores locks