Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

15 Nov 09 - Goole and Grove Wharf

Mon Nov 16 2009

Monday 16 November 2009: Having had rain from Thursday through Friday and well into Saturday it, was nice to find that Sunday had turned out fine with a gentle breeze blowing, clear skies and not too cold. As She Who Must be Obeyed was planning to spend the afternoon watching cricket on the TV, she graciously granted me day release (well, afternoon release to be exact) to go off in pursuit of ships. In fact there were very few about and, under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have bothered - the only two locations with anything on the go were Goole (x 5) and Grove (x 2). I dithered about going for a while but, of the 7 ships present, I figured that 3 would be new sightings and, as I had another little (non-ship related) project on the go, I grabbed the opportunity and headed off for Goole.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

20 Oct 09 - Mersey

Sun Oct 25 2009

Sunday 25 October 2009: Attracted by Queen Mary 2_s maiden call at Liverpool, I headed for the Mersey on Tue 20 Oct 09. The weather forecast had been for torrential rain but, in the event, this managed to hold off until I was well on my way home. The drive over the M62 was as bloody as it usually is with miles and miles of bloody roadworks with a 50mph limit and not so much as the slightest sign of any actual work going on and, of course, wall to wall trucks. I arrived at New Brighton before sun up and discovered, as I got out of the car, that the shipping forecast was dead right about the force 8 gale that had been predicted and that it was freezing cold as well. However, spirits perked up once some ships started showing up and the final score for the day was 26 ships of which 23 were new sightings. I can_t remember when (if ever) I_ve racked up a score like that in the UK _ maybe on the Tees when I was still very low on the collector_s curve. A very successful (if somewhat chilly) day.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

GUEST COLLECTION - Explorer of the Seas cruise 26 Sep 09

Mon Oct 19 2009

Monday 19 October 2009: This is a new departure for this site as it is the very first Guest Collection I have put on here. My good friend from the USA, Gail Bean, recently did a cruise to Bermuda on board Royal Caribbean_s, Explorer of the Seas. Gail is now thoroughly hooked on ship photography so, to give her a bit of encouragement, and to ensure that she is totally ensnared in the hobby, I have published a selection of her photographs on my site. The cruise was from the Cape Liberty Cruise Port, near Bayonne in New Jersey direct to Bermuda where there was an overnight stop, followed by a return to passage to Cape Liberty. The Cape Liberty Cruise Port is a relatively new terminal, operational since 2004. It is located near Bayonne on the New Jersey shore of the Hudson just downstream from Liberty Island and built on the site of the former Military Ocean Terminal at Bayonne (MOTBY), a US military base that was operational from 1942 until 1990. The opening of the terminal was significant in that it marked the return of large passenger ships to the Jersey Shore after a lengthy absence since Hamburg-America Lines left their Hoboken terminal several decades ago.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

04 Oct 09 - Goole, The Trent, New Holland

Tue Oct 6 2009

Tuesday 6 October 2009: On Sunday 4 September a brief spell of autumn sunshine in the midst of our probably even briefer Indian summer tempted me down to Goole and the Trent for the afternoon. In all honesty there wasn't a lot around but the weather was too good to miss. I managed to resist the strong temptation to go to Hook for yet another photograph of Cementina and headed straight for Goole where there were five ships including one new sighting. The Trent had one at Neap House, two at Grove and one at Gunness, including another new sighting. And, because the weather was so good, I decided to head over to New Holland where there was a third new sighting on offer. A long way around for not much return but the sunshine was pleasant, the fresh air was great and the exercise was probably highly beneficial.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

20 Sep 09 - Goole

Tue Sep 22 2009

Tuesday 22 September 2009: A totally unexpected outbreak of sunny weather and the presence of a couple of ships tempted me down to Goole on Sunday 20 September. I went more for the drive than anything else as, having glanced at the ABP movements site in the morning I could see anything that I could be sure was a new sighting. I thought that one of the ships at Howdendyke might be, but the others all appeared to be nothing more than the usual suspects. Nevertheless the weather was perfect and She Who Must be Obeyed graciously agreed to accompany me thus obviating her normal tactic of laying a major guilt trip on me when I got back. As things panned out there were three ships at Howdendyke (first time I've seen three there for a long time) and five at Goole. Not only that, but four of these turned out to be new sightings. Normally I'd have to go all the way to Keadby to get anything like that many, so all in all, it was a successful outing. The only disappointment was that I hadn't known in advance that Wheldale was doing "cruises" around the docks - had I known that I would have left herself at home and taken the tour, so that will just have to wait for another day.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

13 Sep 09 - Hartlepool

Tue Sep 15 2009

Tuesday 15 September 2009: To Hartlepool on Sunday 13th September for lunch with friends. I had been hoping to catch a bulk carrier at the Ore Terminal, given that it's quite likely that there will be very few more such visitors. However, this was not to be and the omens were a little sparse in terms of other movements. However there was a geared bulker alongside at Irvine's Quay and this was enough to temp me to Hartlepool Docks for a very quick visit. As luck would have it I was also able to get a very reasonable sequenee of the small, ex Russian, survey vessel Finder entering port, and a couple of photos of her oppo Clupea already alongside at the Deep Water Berth. So, although it wasn't possible to get down to the riverside after lunch, three new ships was a pretty good score for such a very short visit.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

06 Sep 09 - Goole and the Trent

Mon Sep 7 2009

Monday 7 September 2009: My visit to the Tees the other week finally ispired me to get off my fat behind and get out and about around the local area again. Since the beginning of May I seem to have spent my entire time flogging through several thousand images from the Mediterranean. All very nice, and loads of new sightings, but it was quite refreshing to get back to the old stamping ground again. As another nod in the direction of tradition, my visit was made more or less blind, as the Humber.com site had been down since Saturday, so I had only the haziest idea of what might be around. As I set off from York, the sky to the west was looking very dark and ominous and I almost turned back before I even got onto the ring road. However, as I headed for the A64, I could see that the skies down Goole way, although still cloudy, looked a great deal brighter, so I carried on. I had half an idea that I might take the Waterways Museum boat trip around the docks but the threat of rain and the limited time available once again prevented this _ I_ll manage it one day. In the end, the rain stayed off, there were a few blinks of sunshine and, although the ships on offer mostly comprised the usual suspects, I was rewarded with four new sightings for my efforts, so I would count the trip a success.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

20 Aug 09 - Tees

Fri Aug 28 2009

Friday 28 August 2009: Well, with all the time I_ve had to spend sorting out ship photographs from exotic foreign parts, I_m afraid that the local area has been being sadly neglected. As it happened, an opportunity presented itself to rectify this to some extent, when Nathan Hobday proposed, and very kindly and efficiently organised, a boat trip on the Tees for a gang of North East ship photographers. I jumped at the chance to participate in what would prove to be a most interesting _cruise_ giving a quite unique perspective on the river. In order to maximise the sightings, I decided to make a day of it and 0600hrs on Thursday 20 August found me back on the South Gare and very happy to be there. The weather was, to quote the late lamented Douglas Adams _Mostly Harmless_. The morning, in particular, stayed dry against the odds, but there were a couple of quite heavy squally showers in the afternoon, one of which occurred just as we turned to back up the river at the end of the boat trip. This involved much manoeuvering for position to find a sheltered spot on the boat and keep camera equipment dry. Fortunately it didn_t last long. It was a surprisingly productive day in terms of ships with 14 new sightings (if you count the truly crap, long range shots of stuff in the anchorage).

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

QV Mediterranean Medley Cruise - Return to Southampton 02 May 09

Wed Aug 26 2009

Wednesday 26 August 2009: And so endeth another cruise _ but at least the weather was a little better for this return up Southampton Water than the last one had been. Also the number of new ships around the place was quite gratifying _ not huge, but enough to take the sting out of the _end of cruise syndrome_ that is such a depressing feature of getting back home. It wasn_t possible to get any photographs before Fawley and even by then light levels were still extremely poor but, to trot out my oft repeated mantra yet again, you have to play the cards you_re dealt, so please excuse the poor quality of some of the earlier shots in this collection. For me, the highlight was having Queen Mary 2 follow us in to port and it was possible to get some shots of her _in the landscape_ so to speak.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

QV Mediterranean Medley Cruise - On passage Gibraltar to Southampton 30 Apr - 1 May 09

Tue Aug 25 2009

Tuesday 25 August 2009: The leg from Gibraltar to Southampton took two days but, as there weren_t that many ships on either day, I_ve combined the two into one collection. A lot of these shots were taken at extreme range and in poor light so I apologise for the poor quality of some of these images. Nevertheless, I have manage to stick to my self imposed rule of only publishing on the site those ships for which I was able to make a positive identification.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

QV Mediterranean Medley Cruise - Gibraltar 29 Apr 09

Wed Aug 12 2009

Wednesday 12 August 2009: Well, in ship terms this wasn_t the most productive cruise I_ve been on, but Gibraltar came up trumps as always. Despite the fact that I had seen most of the bunkering tanker fleet before, the port call still manage to produce 77 new ships, which by coincidence was exactly the same number of new sightings as it produced last time around. In addition to that the weather was excellent _ not an accusation you could level at all of the other ports of call. As I had pretty much _done_ the landside of Gibraltar on our last visit, I decided to stay on the ship this time. This was easy to sell to She Who Must be Obeyed as a strategy promoting a little bit of marital togetherness and quality time but, in fact, it meant that I could sit on the balcony all day, binoculars in one hand and camera in the other so both sides of the argument were satisfactorily addressed. This time around I_ve grouped the photos of individual ships together as far as possible, so the ships will appear in roughly the order in which they were first seen. The few exceptions are some that were seen as we were approaching Gibraltar in the morning but which didn_t actually turn up in the Straits or in the anchorage until a good deal later in the day. Wherever possible, I_ve listed any movement information that I could find from the web. The Gibraltar Port Authority site has been, as ever, an absolute mine of information. It_s a real gem of a site _ far and away the most comprehensive I_ve ever seen in terms of movement information. On the other hand I was a bit disappointed to find that the Port of Algeciras site appears to have gone a major revamp. The port itself is now called Port of Algeciras Bay and the movement info section seems to have disappeared. If anyone has discovered it tucked away in some obscure corner of the site I_d be very much obliged if you could let me know where it_s gone.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

QV Mediterranean Medley Cruise - Palma de Mallorca 28 Apr 09

Sun Jul 12 2009

Sunday 12 July 2009: After Civitavecchia, our next port call was supposed to be the Sardinian town of Alghero. However, the weather, which had already been threatening to turn nasty during our call at Civitavecchia, turned wet and windy and Captain McNaught decided that tendering was not an option so we pressed on past Sardinia and headed for Palma de Mallorca. There, fortunately, the weather was beautiful, although the sea was still a little lumpy but, as no tenders were required here, this didn_t stop us entering port. In shipping terms, general cargo vessels and other freight types were somewhat lacking, but there was a good selection of ferries and a couple of other cruise ships. This was quite enough to keep me occupied as we berthed and, with that and the lovely weather, I was somewhat reluctant to disembark and go on the shore excursion. Anyway, the usual caveat applies _ the individual vessels occur more or less in the order in which they were photographed, and in a couple of cases, morning and afternoon photos are shown together for the sake of continuity.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

QV Mediterranean Medley Cruise - Civitavecchia 26 Apr 09

Tue Jun 30 2009

Tuesday 30 June 2009: I would be lying if I didn_t say that Civitavecchia was a little bit disappointing. For a start the weather was dismal _ the sort of thing you_d expect around Goole, grey sky, drizzly rain increasing to heavy rain at times, and no hotter than UK for the time of year. However the real disappointment was the lack of ships. There was some reasonable quality but the numbers were very low. I had also expected a much larger port. For the major port for the capital of Italy it seemed remarkably cramped. Still, from what I can tell I didn_t, on this occsion at least, miss very much in the way of shipping by going on the inevitable shore excursion. So here is what there was. Once again, the ships occur more or less in the order in which I saw them, and photographs taken at different times of day are grouped together for the sake of continuity.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

QV Mediterranean Medley Cruise - Villefranche sur Mer/Nice 25 Apr 09

Fri Jun 19 2009

Friday 19 June 2009: I_m not entirely certain how to describe our stop at Villefranche Sur Mer. The cruis itinerary had scheduled a port call at Monte Carlo for Saturday 25 Apr, but the Captain, having examined the weather forecast, decided that the conditions were likely to be too windy to berth safely at Monte Carlo so he decided to take Queen Victoria into the bay at Villevranche instead. So, I still can_t make up my mind whether this change of plan was a bonus or a disappointment. However, as one of the main reasons for booking this particular cruise was to provide an opportunity to fill in a glaring gap in my list of countries visited, namely France, then that aim was achieved without difficulty. I headed for Nice on a shore excursion in the morning and, although could still have gone to Monaco on the afternoon shuttle bus, in the end, I opted not to. Against the odds, I still managed to find a few ships to photograph in Nice, although most of what_s in here represents mostly the fringe areas of ship photography!

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

QV Mediterranean Medley Cruise - Barcelona 24 Apr 09

Tue Jun 9 2009

Tuesday 9 June 2009: The first port call of the cruise was Barcelona. Given the time of year, the sun took its time putting in an appearance but, which it finally did so, the weather remained glorious for the rest of the day. I was able to get a substantial crop of ship photos on the way in to port although some of the early ones are a little grainy due to the low light levels. The shore excursion was quite short and, in the afternoon, I was able to get the shuttle bus into the city where I made the most of a few more opportunities for ship photography. The final score for the day was 49 new ships and, although I haven_t done even a rough count yet, I don_t think that even the final stop of the cruise at Gibraltar will match that figure. The ships in this collection appear more or less in the order in which they were photographed although, where I photographed one in the morning and again in the afternoon, I have put the photographs in sequence for the sake of continuity.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

QV Mediterranean Medley Cruise - On passage Southampton to Barcelona 21-23 Apr

Sun May 24 2009

Sunday 24 May 2009: To avoid having the place littered with small collections of half a dozen photos I_ve combined the photos for the three days from Southampton to Barcelona into one collection.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

QV Mediterranean Medley Cruise - Southampton Departure 20 Apr 09

Sat May 23 2009

Saturday 23 May 2009: We hadn_t intended going on a cruise this year as next year is our silver wedding anniversary and the plan was that we_d do a longer than average cruise that year, more than likely taking in the USA and Canada on QM2. However, this cruising lark has turned out to be a lot more addicitive than I ever imagined it would be _ and not solely because of the potential for photographing new ships! So, in the end, we chucked a bit more of the family silver at a 12 night cruise to the Eastern Mediterranean and, once again, we travelled on Queen Victoria (now fast becoming our favourite ship). We sailed from the City Terminal in Soton on Monday 20 April in company with QM2 and P&O_s Oriana, and this smallish collection concentrates fairly heavily on the departure of these two ships, both of which were supposed to sail after us. As fate would have it however, there had been some problems associated with disembarkation from QV that morning and we were delayed somewhat so QM2 sailed first, followed by Oriana, and we brought up the rear of the convoy.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

13 Apr 09 - Goole and the Trent

Wed Apr 15 2009

Wednesday 15 April 2009: On Easter Monday, despite preparations for our next cruise being in full swing, I was tempted out of the house by the presence of a ship at Burton Stather Wharf. The wharf was already disused when my ship photograph _career_ began and, since it reopened last year, I_ve managed to miss all of the (rather few) ships that have called there. It was lucky that the occupant of the berth was a new sighting for me as that was the only one there was. The weather in York was a beautiful spring day but, as I got closer to Goole the sky became darker and darker until, by the time I arrived, it was fully overcast and all trace of the sun had gone. Anyway, here are the results of the afternoon_s work.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

QV Russian RV II - Return to Southampton 06 Jul 08

Sun Apr 12 2009

Sunday 12 April 2009: I absolutely loathe the final day of a cruise. Everything always seems to start with a rush and end with sitting around for ages waiting to disembark. You are on the ship, but not of it and, the longer the cruise has been, the worse the feeling of upheaval is. Anyway, I was determined to make it up on deck on this occasion in time to see the Nab Tower and I made it although the results hardly justified the effort. The weather was drizzling rain, highish winds and a choppy sea with very poor visibility. By the time we passed the Nab Tower it was still effectively dark and the rain was getting heavier. Ah, the joys of returning to UK.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

QV Russian Rendezvous II - On passage Gdynia to Southampton 4/5 Jul 08

Sat Apr 11 2009

Saturday 11 April 2009: As the pickings on the way north from Zeebrugge had not been particularly rich, I hadn_t expected a lot of action in terms of ship photography on the way back again. However, as luck would have it, on the first day out from Gdynia, Captain Rynd decided that there would be just enough water under the keel to allow him to take Queen Victoria through the Drogden Channel that passes between the islands of Saltholm and Amager close to Copenhagen instead of taking the more conventional route that passes closer to the Swedish shore. This allowed him to trim a significant distance of the journey home but also provided me with an unexpected bonus in terms of ship photography. The passage produced a number of interesting ships, the weather and visibility were excellent, and the route through the channel meant that it was possible to photograph each passing ship from two or three different angles. The second day, on the other hand, was almost a ship free zone, so I_ve tacked the three that I did get onto the end of this collection.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

QV Russian Rendezvous II - Gdynia 03 Jul 08

Fri Apr 10 2009

Friday 10 April 2009: One of the first features of cruises is that, eventually, they come to an end, and we_re now getting close to the end of this one. Gdynia was the last port call, although that didn_t mean these will be the last ships because there is still the two passage from Gdynia to Southampton to come and, of course, the return to Southampton itself. The weather in Gdynia was excellent but sadly, we were berthed some way away from the main commercial docks so, whilst it was better than Tallinn, the body count was again a little on the low side. The main feature of this port call was the large number of Polish Naval vessels that I was able to photograph; and, after Kronstadt, it was a pleasure to see that every one of them was in excellent condition and looked very well maintained (as befits a NATO country, of course).

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

QV Russian Rendezvous II - Tallinn 02 Jul 08

Sun Apr 5 2009

Sunday 5 April 2009: For once, arrival in Talling was fairly late in the morning. The weather was a little bit hazy to start with but it promised a good day in prospect. Unfortunately the commercial docks were a little bit far away from the cruise ship berths so the _body count_ was a tad low on this occasion. In fact the best shots were obtained as we were departing from Tallinn in the evening.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

29 Mar 09 - Goole and the Trent

Wed Apr 1 2009

Wednesday 1 April 2009: For quite a long time now I have been looking at the idea of purchasing a good quality, capable, compact camera that I could carry with me more or less at all times so that I would have some alternative means of image capture other than the jaw dropplingly crappy ___camera___ built inot my mobile phone. My spec was relatively straightforward. The camera in question would have to have at least a 12Mp sensor, and a zoom range that could at least compete with my two most frequently used lenses for my DSLR. Given that those two between them covered a 35mm equivalent range from approx 27mm to 450mm that spec set the bar pretty high and, for ages there was very little out there that could compete. And then, just like buses, two came along together (or at least they didn___t ___come along___ but at least the race to get them into Jessops began). The two in question were the Olympus SP-590UZ with a 26 times optical zoom and the Nikon Coolpix F90 with a 24 times optical zoom. The price differential was small with the Nikon product coming in at only __40 dearer than the Olympus. In terms of bells, bangs and whistles there was also little to chose, so I decided to purchase the first one of the two that made it onto Jessop___s shelves. On Saturday 28th March the race was one by a short head by the Nikon; that met my spec quite nicely ___ the 24x optical zoom means that it covers the enitre range of my two existing zooms with a comfortably large overlap at the long end. So having purchased the little beast, I spent Saturday afternoon learning to drive it, then decided to head out for Goole on the Sunday to try it out on some real subjects (ie, ships!). Sadly, there weren___t that many around, and the ones that were present were mostly old familiar regulars. One nice little piece of quality though was berthed at Neap House in the rather strange shape of STK-1012. I___ve only ever seen two others of this odd class of small Russian river/sea ships and, given the less than ideal location, I was keen to see how the Nikon performed. As an added educational motivator I decided to go out with only the Nikon and none of the rest of the gear ___ this provded a tiny bit unsettling, but the incredibly light weight of the compact after the weight of the DSLR was a pure joy. You can make your own judgement on the following photos but, all in all, I think the Coolpix performed very creditably. In particular, it seemed to cope very well indeed with the difficult lighting at Neap House ___ indeed I would rate it___s efforts as the best I___ve ever produced there. No image that it produced anywhere required more than the most basic of Photoshop tweaks at the post-processing stage and, with the exception of a little cropping and sharpening, the vast majority of these images are more or less as they came off the camera. I was using the D-Lighting feature at it___s highest setting . This claims to preserve detail in areas of deep shadow but, whilst it generally apperas to do what it says on the tin, there were a couple of lighting situations where it proved to be a slight disadvantage so, in future, I think I___ll have to be alittle more selective in the use of that particular gizmo. I noticed that, in most situations, the camera had a tendency to slightly over-expose and this is completely contrary to my experience with my three DSLRs which generally underexposed (in particular if there was so much as a sliver of light sky in the shot). Anyway, here are the photos.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

QV Russian Rendezvous II - St Petersburg 30 Jun 08

Sat Mar 14 2009

Saturday 14 March 2009: The second day in St Petersburg wasn_t quite as productive in terms of new ships as the first day had been but that was understandable as a lot of the new stuff that I had seen on arrival was still there the next day. I had, of course, to attempt to square the circle in terms of the compromise between the amount of time available for on-ship photography and the amount of time already all allocated (and paid for) to on-shore photography. However, the _shore_ excursion on day 2 also included a very pleasant boat trip on the Neva River which, amongst other things, granted me an excellent viewpoint for photographing the preserved cruiser Aurora.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

08 Mar 09 - Hartlepool

Tue Mar 10 2009

Tuesday 10 March 2009: On Sunday 8th March we made an unscheduled visit to our friends in Hartlepool and I managed to squeeze in the traditional, post-lunch visit to the Power Station sands. The weather was extremely windy with intermittent snow and hail showers and, although not very cold, the wind-chill factor was high. So high in fact that we decided not to linger on the off chance that we might see some movements. A pretty good decision as there turned out not to be any. In addition, there were very few ships on berths that were within camera range and most of what I have put in this collection was anchored way out in Tees Bay. On a more positive note I finally managed to get some kind of a photograph of Clemenceau lying in the TERRC basin awaiting demolition. The image isn_t going to win any prizes any time soon, but as a record, it will suffice.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

22 Feb 09 - Middlesbrough/Hartlepool

Mon Feb 23 2009

Monday 23 February 2009: Well, as work on finishing off the ship photographs from last summer has currently stalled due an enthusiasm failure, a visit to our friends in Hartlepool on Sun 22 Feb provided a welcome change. My photographic aims for the day were twofold, first to try to get some sort of photograph of Clemenceau awaiting breaking at Able_s yard in Seaton, and secondly to photograph the two container ships currently laid up in Middlesbrough. The primary aim was a complete failure but the secondary aim was achieved. I had hoped to see Clemenceau arriving but that had turned out to be impossible. Knowing the layout of the Able yard, I had anticipated that Clemenceau would simply be berthed alongside of, and outside, the four former USN ships from the James River reserve fleet. Unfortunately, for reasons that I can_t fathom, the outer two US ships had been moved and Clemenceau had been berthed between the two groups. That was difficult enough, but work is also in progress in dismantling a rig, and large chunks of its structure are piled up around the dock. The result was that there was no clear line of sight that allowed anything more than a tiny part of Clemenceau_s bows to be photographed. Only time will tell whether future movements will eventually provide an unobstructed view of the ship before she is finally dismantled. The two container ships laid up at Middlesbrough proved to be an altogether easier proposition. A short diversion from the A19 took us down to the Riverside Stadium where there were absolutely no problems with access or the light. I was also pleased to discover that a short walk along the riverbank led to a clear view of Clarence Wharf and also permitted a long range shot of the Cargo Fleet Wharf. Shortage of time meant that I had to pass up on AB Liverpool that was alongside Irvine_s Quay in Hartlepool but, after lunch, a quick visit to the Power Station sands resulted in a few new sightings. The final total for the day was 7 new ships (including some long distance crap in the anchorage) and the fresh air was very beneficial.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

18 Jan 09 - Goole and the Trent

Mon Jan 19 2009

Monday 19 January 2009: At one time a four month gap between visits to Goole would have been unthinkable but these days it_s very rare for there to be sufficient new and interesting ships around the local area to tempt me out. In the end a blink of sunshine in between days of rain finally persuaded me to rise from my backside and go out and get the first ship photos of 2009. The exercise and a bit of sunshine were very pleasant which was just as well as there were precious few ships around, new or otherwise. From a total of 6 ships spread between Goole and Gunness, 3 were new sightings _ a success rate of 50%. If only I could replicate that rate when there were a few more ships around I_d be entirely happy.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

QV Russian Rendezvous II - St Petersburg 30 Jun 08

Mon Dec 29 2008

Monday 29 December 2008: In his daily broadcast to passengers before arriving in St Petersburg, Captain Rynd had said something along the lines of _you don_t need to bother about getting up early as we will be berthing in the commercial port and all you_ll be able to see will be dockside cranes and cargo ships and so on_. Sounded pretty damned good to me so a 0400hrs start was in order. As it turned out I slept in a bit and didn_t make it on deck until about 0500hrs, by which time we were well into the dredged channel and approaching St Petersburg. However, there was heavy clould cover and, even as far north as this, the light was still extremely poor. I had hoped, in passing to get a few shots of the naval base at Kronstadt but I missed it because of my _late_ start. The sun did, eventually, put in an appearance and we berthed in the commercial port just early enough for me to get a few more ship photographs before having to head off for the first of two marathon shore excursions (0700 to 1700hrs each day!). The photographs in this collection are presented more or less in the order in which they were taken and, because of the numbers involved, some will have little information associated with them.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

QV Russian Rendezvous II - Helsinki 29 Jun 08

Wed Dec 17 2008

Wednesday 17 December 2008: Just like Stockholm, the previous port, the early morning approaching Helsinki looked unpromising in the extreme - grey and drizzly. I had planned a slightly less labour intensive shore excursion for this one; in fact _shore excursion_ was a slight misnomer as it involved a boat trip round the harbour and islands around Helsinki. During the early part of this mini cruise it threatened to rain quite heavily at one point but it just managed to hold off and, by the time we got back to the quay near the city centre, the sun had come out and it stayed out for the rest of the day. The return to the ship was by the courtesy shuttle coach and after a _light_ lunch I decided to get the shuttle back into town for some general photography. As it turned out, this little bit of foot slogging probably generated more ship photographs than the tour around the harbour, so it was well worth it. All in all quite a pleasant and productive day, although some of the ferries were already becoming quite familiar from previous ports.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

QV Russian Rendezvous II - Stockholm 28 Jun 08

Thu Dec 11 2008

Thursday 11 December 2008: A very early start for Stockholm as I_d been told that the scenery on the voyage through the archipelago was spectacular. As it happens the day started very misty and damp and the omens didn_t look great. However, as we got closer to the port, the weather began to clear. The scenery in the archipelago was indeed spectacular _ even more so as we sailed out again in the evening. The theme of the day was definitely the large number of small ferries, mostly of similar design, operating short local routes across the fjord and probably the best new ship on this port stop was the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Cole making a courtesy visit to Stockholm.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

QV Russian Rendezvous II - on passage Copenhagen to Stockholm 27 Jun 08

Sat Oct 25 2008

Saturday 25 October 2008: This small collection contains a few photographs taken whilst on passage from Copenhagen to Stockholm. Generally, I found that the decision to take a balcony cabin on the starboard side of the ship was probably a poor one, as most of the action always appeared to be to starboard. I_ve no idea as to the precise location where any of these were taken and I have no movement information on any of these ships, so all that_s in the captions are the basic technical details.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

19 Oct 08 - Hartlepool

Tue Oct 21 2008

Tuesday 21 October 2008: On Sunday 19 October one of our periodic visits to our friends in Hartlepool provided the opportunity for a little bit of ship photography. Things down on the Power Station sands were a little bit windy and very cold, but at least the rain held off. Final score was five new ships - not at all bad for a visit to a place that doesn't always reward a casual visit.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

QV Russian Rendezvous II - Oslo 25 Jun 08

Sun Oct 19 2008

Sunday 19 October 2008: Oslo was a little quieter in ship terms than Zeebrugge and most of what was on offer consisted of small (and often rather anonymous) local ferries. There was little in the way of coastal/cargo vessels evident, so this is a relatively small collection.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

08 Oct 08 - The Tyne, Sunderland and Hartlepool

Mon Oct 13 2008

Monday 13 October 2008: On Wed 8 Oct 08, QE2 visited the Tyne, making the final port call of her farewell Round Britain cruise. I had hoped to be able to get up there to watch her arrival - a relatively simple plant, but one that turned out to be a lot harder to achieve in practice than it ought to have been. The first problem was that I couldn_t find a reliable ETA for the ship. Offerings ranged from 0500hrs on the Port of Tyne 2008 Cruise Schedule to 1100hrs (source not known). On the morning in question the Port of Tyne shipping movements list had her booked to arrive at 0700hrs and I estimated that this would be too early for any kind of serious photography. A check on AIS before leaving for work at 0630hrs showed the ship about 20 miles offshore and standing in towards the coast. The bridge cam showed total darkness, apart from the lights of Tynemouth only just visible at the top of the frame. So I went off to work somewhat disappointed at a missed opportunity. At around 0720hrs I decided to do a quick check on the bridge cam again and, to my surprise, found that the ship was just approaching the Tynemouth breakwaters in full daylight. This was even more disappointing! Having now comprehensively bogged up any chance of obtaining arrival photos, I decided to check the berth. The Port of Tyne site gave this as Northumbrian Quay. That wasn_t a name I was familiar with, but some fairly intensive digging revealed what I should have known all along _ Northumbrian Quay is, in fact, the old Tyne Commission Quay with a new name. By this time the weather had turned into one of the best days we_d had in ages, and a little bit of creative diary management resulted in me taking a slightly foreshortened flexi day and heading for South Shields. In the events, the crowds weren_t excessive, it was still possible to park near the various viewpoints, the weather was fantastic and, in total, 13 new sightings were obtained (although I had to stop at Sunderland and Hartlepool on the way back to boost the numbers). All in all a great day out and one that serves, in some small measure, to justify the name of this site that was set up in some haste before I realised that my opportunities for visiting the Tyne would be rather more limited than I had originally anticipated. Please note that I have loaded these photos this morning to take advantage of a fast internet connection. The detailed captioning and notes will have to wait till this evening.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

21 Sep 08 - Goole and the Trent

Wed Oct 1 2008

Wednesday 1 October 2008: Well, I finally got tired of hanging around the house ploughing through endless holiday snaps from the cruise. The weather was nice and, although there didn_t appear to be much that was new and exciting (!) around, I decided to head for Goole and the Trent. I did manage to get two new ships but, mostly, the place was full of old, well known, faces. At least the weather stayed good though.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

QV Russian Rendezvous II - Zeebrugge 23 Jun 08

Sat Sep 13 2008

Saturday 13 September 2008: Zeebrugge meant a very early start and I was anticipating that it would be a rich source of new sightings. In the event this proved to be reasonably true but a lot the day was _wasted_ by going ashore and taking photographs of not ship related subjects in Bruges. Nevertheless the weather was extremely friendly and there was much of interest, including some well known regulars from the Humber and the Tees. Not sure of the exact score in terms of new sightings but 44 would be a good estimate. It_s been an awfully long time since I had anything like that number of new sightings anywhere in UK.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)

23 Aug 08 - Southampton

Wed Aug 27 2008

Wednesday 27 August 2008: On the August Bank Holiday weekend, a visit to family in Basingstoke provided the opportunity to get down to the Solent for a bit of ship photography. The main attraction was the scheduled 1700hrs departure of 4 cruise ships. The afternoon was successful (if slightly lucky) We cut things rather fine and got held up a bit by roadworks on the M27 with the result that, when we arrived at Hythe Pier, Norwegian Jade had already passed the end of the pier and was on the way downriver. The weather stayed friendly but started tipping it down shortly after we got back to Basingstoke. The final score for the day was 10 new sightings.

Published in Shipping - Tyne to Humber (and occasionally elsewhere)