Animals aboard the RMS Titanic "Titanic"s first port of call after Southampton. The animals travelled on their own tickets and even the canary that left at Cherbourg had to be paid for, to the tune of 25 US cents. Like any other ship of the time, "Titanic" had a substantial population of rats. One was seen running across the Third Class Dining Room on the evening of the sinking, to the shock and amazement of the diners. Some of the women who saw it burst into tears, while men tried unsuccessfully to capture the rat. Few of "Titanic"s animals survived the ship's sinking. Three of
Port of Southampton is Britain's second largest deep sea terminal, after that at Felixstowe. The railway line from Southampton has been upgraded to the relatively large loading gauge of W10 on the route between the container port and the ABP terminal in Birmingham, where it links with lines that have already received this treatment. This allows the railway line to handle the taller containers now in widespread use. Permission was obtained from the Marine Management Organisation to extend the container terminal into berths 201 and 202. The quay was rebuilt to accommodate 400m vessels. The depth of water in the main channel was