FTP problem
 

I'm sure this must be a webkit problem, but I'd love it if someone could suggest why it happens and what I can do.
I have ftp space on the server at the university where I work, address [url]ftp://218.193.53.74[/url] and up until a month or so ago, I could access it from Safari or OmniWeb as if I were a student to check downloads. They must have done something recently 'cos now I can't. If I try to open it in Safari, the location immediately changes to "Go to this page" and then OmniWeb opens, and shortly after reports:

Cannot Load Address
Error NSURLErrorDomain -1008
[url]ftp://218.193.53.74/[/url]

It's not an Intel issue on my new MacBook Pro, as the old TiBook does the same using Safari except that it calls up IE 5.2 <ugh!>. What is interesting is that it does that even when the machine is not connected to the internet!
If I try it using OW 5.5.2b2 directly it gives that same message ... And OW 5.5.1b2 on the old TiBook does the same.
On the other hand, Firefox on the MBP and IE on the TiBook both go to the log-in screen on the FTP site. Opera goes there instantly!
So, presumably, WebKit doesn't play with addresses like that. Is there anything I can do ... I want to use OW; I'm not that keen on Firefox, I quite like Opera, but I prefer to use only my favourite browser, OmniWeb!

TIA

Mark