Anyone Interested in Ships

[phil_sutters]

I think that this batch brings my Newhaven freighters up to date. There are a couple more which will appear in a section illustrating the confined spaces in Newhaven Harbour and the operation of the swing bridge.

Edited as I found another in a camera - not downloaded!

Edited August 12, 2017 by phil_sutters

[NorthBrit]

Some more photographs on board Holland America cruise ship 'Zuiderdam'.

[62613]

How long have ships been carrying their official number on the stern? Is it compulsory these days? ISTR it was always carried on the E.R crane.

[jjb1970]

The IMO number scheme is a relatively recent innovation, it came in during my time at sea and has been a very positive change. Previously identifying ships and tracing ownership etc could be a nightmare as it was relatively easy for the wrong type of owner to wear a cloak of invisibility in the event of any unpleasantness.

The number has to be permanently affixed externally and internally, on bigger ships it is often welded onto the front of the superstructure under the bridge. Some ships put it on the stern, especially smaller ones. A lot of offshore vessels weld it onto the side of the superstructure.

[New Haven Neil]

There was certainly a lot of drinking done in Bibby's in my time, until they decided they could manage without my help in 1983!  One sparky would drink a bottle of Bacardi every night and us young engineers certainly could devour a few cans of beer when not duty officer (UMS - unmanned machinery spaces at night, just one duty engineer) aided and abetted by the more senior versions!  I recall a Chief falling off his bar stool he was so drunk. Things have changed for the better in that respect, if not many others.

[peach james]

There was certainly a lot of drinking done in Bibby's in my time, until they decided they could manage without my help in 1983!  One sparky would drink a bottle of Bacardi every night and us young engineers certainly could devour a few cans of beer when not duty officer (UMS - unmanned machinery spaces at night, just one duty engineer) aided and abetted by the more senior versions!  I recall a Chief falling off his bar stool he was so drunk. Things have changed for the better in that respect, if not many others.

Oh, I don't decree it as being bad- it has always been against the rules to render ones self unfit for duty onboard a RCN ship, but...the difference between treating someone as an adult or as a child  is letting them make their own bad choices...which is what I got steaming mad about.  I could dig up my mess bills, but I would be shocked if there was a month were it was over $30 of booze- that's at $2.00/can for beer.  (& probably includes days in port...).  Now, pop...well, that's different...the bills were more than for my alcohol that much is for sure.

 

Here's some photos from when Jesus was a Leading Seaman, as we'd put it at work- photos taken of my Great Granddad, Harold "Pop" Collins, who retired as Chief Steward off Orduna.  

 

Scan_June-9-2016-1-39-08-462-PM by Peach James, on Flickr

 

Scan_June-9-2016-2-13-38-842-PM by Peach James, on Flickr

 

Scan_June-9-2016-2-01-49-588-PM by Peach James, on Flickr

 

Scan_June-9-2016-2-00-51-838-PM by Peach James, on Flickr

 

Scan_June-9-2016-1-44-22-543-PM by Peach James, on Flickr

[The Stationmaster]

A little bit of contrast with Post 202 - the passenger (originally Elder Brethren's) lounge onboard THV Patricia -

 

1.  Looking towards the starboard side

 

 

2. Looking towards the port side - note the bar on the left (add your drink to the list if the steward isn't present, as is the case most of the time),  the onboard free entertainment is in the green box under the table on the right and consists of jigsaws although these have since been relocated to the meeting room for'ard.  I'm not at all sure what Mrs Stationmaster is looking at.)

 

 

Fancy decoration at the foot of the staircase up to the lounge

 

 

Our preferred cabin - looking aft

 

 

And looking for'ard (before the steward had made the bed so taken before breakfast)

 

 

 

And half the bathroom - part of the reason for preferring this cabin as it is pretty spacious (bath and WC are on the right hidden by the door)

 

 

Something a bit different IMO number painted on the front of the superstructure

 

 

IMO Number painted on a deck beam in the hold/stores area

 

 

There be Wales (you can probably see it if you enlarge the picture) look towards Starboard on the main working deck used for buoy handling - hence the lack of fixed rails

 

 

MS Oldenburg heading For Lundy

 

 

and having an interesting time of it

 

 

P&O cruise ship 'Adonia' alongside at Greenock

 

 

 

Channel LV with THV 'Patricia' beyond

 

 

 

And the Captain joins us for dinner

 

 

 

 

 

[DaveF]

A couple of photos of previous Trinity House Vessels taken at Harwich in the mid 70s.

 

 

Trinity House vessel at Harwich Feb 75 CV640

 

 

Trinity House Patricia at Harwich 12th June 76 CV0870

 

 

David

Edited August 13, 2017 by DaveF

[Fat Controller]

Aren't 'Old Men' young these days?

[New Haven Neil]

Aren't 'Old Men' young these days?

 

I was just going to say the same thing!

[MarkC]

I often sail with 'Old Men' younger than me, these days   Mind you, the first time that happened was in 1996

 

This trip I have again found myself to be the oldest on board...

[peach james]

You know you are getting old when you teach the children of your mates their job !  (ones who were born after you joined up) 

 

[jjb1970]

I was quite happy when ships went dry. OK as a teetotaller it didn't affect me personally but I found it just got rid of so many problems and made my life so much easier.

 

When I worked for P&OCL one of their ships, Kowloon Bay, ran aground on Rondo Island. Rondo Island is in the Malacca Strait (one of the busiest seaways in the world) and has a lighthouse on it. The second mate was sleeping off a hard night and the watchkeeper did nothing. One of Britain's finest he was, let the ship run aground because he reported the light but the second mate took no action, well he wouldn't if he was sleeping......I actually thought the AB a bigger ***** than the second mate as standing watching the ship head towards the rocks endangering everybody on-board was beyond stupid. Of course that assumes he was on the bridge, that was his story, most felt he was elsewhere....

When I was on the Encounter Bay one voyage we had to divert and medevac a third engineer who got drunk, fell down some stairs and smashed his head. When I worked for Maersk, we were working together with another Maersk anchor handler in Trinidad, we were both alongside with the other ship at the berth and my boat tied up to theirs. We had to swap positions and as we were required to load cargo and go out to the field on a hot shot run, a third engineer off the other boat was so drunk he failed to notice that his own boat hadn't came alongside ours and walked off the side of my boat into the oggin and ended up between two big anchor handlers coming together, all shafts and thrusters running, idiot. And he was ripped yo bits as after a couple of years in Trinidad both hulls were covered in marine growth. He was getting a years study leave to do his seconds (he had no exemptions) after that trip, instead of which he was sacked.

 

I took a no drink approach. I know most others in the company took a "don't ask, don't tell" approach and gave a nod and a wink to people to keep it discrete but I didn't want to end up a hostage to having it thrown back in my face if something happened and I was giving somebody a dressing down (I saw that happen). Our tours were six weeks, my own view was that if a person can't go without alcohol for six weeks then they need help.

[AncientMariner]

                                                             

 

 

LNG Carrier “Arctic Discoverer” anchored off Brixham yesterday, probably about 8/9 miles from the platform I was standing on.  I note that she’s been there for well over a week, and would guess that she is awaiting orders – not very unusual at this time of year when energy demands are lower.  I see on AIS that anchored off Southwold, there are around a dozen tankers in the 100,000 – 300,000 tonnes dwt range (Aframax to VLCC).

 

John

Edited August 13, 2017 by AncientMariner

[The Stationmaster]

Aren't 'Old Men' young these days?

 

He left school in 1999 so that would presumably make him born around the 1981 mark; he was a 1st Mate at the age of 21.  Spent some time on the North Sea and took over as Starboard Watch Captain on the Patricia in 2015, and will be leaving TH to take command of a very high tech wind farm support vessel in a week or two from now initialling standing by the ship while she completes building.  In addition to the motion compensated gangway for access to the wind turbines the vessel will also have a 3-D motion compensated crane - but is not exactly a pretty thing to look at, very much state of the art in support ship design.

 

http://gcaptain.com/norwegian-owner-ostensjo-rederi-commissions-new-wind-farm-service-vessel/

 

The second, 1938 built, THV Patricia seen in David's pics was replaced by the present vessel in 1982 interestingly she too had diesel electric propulsion (so was probably fairly early in the field for that arrangement?).  She is now a floating restaurant/bar in Stockholm but no doubt considerably altered internally.

[phil_sutters]

Looking up the DLR for another thread, turned up a couple of preserved ships outside the Museum of London at West India Quay.

[brian daniels]

A couple of pics of the old Saga Ruby in Southampton.

[brian daniels]

I take it these tankers can't get into Fawley fully loaded? Xin Yong Yang arriving on 15-06-17

[jjb1970]

An interesting and provocative op-ed piece:

 

http://www.maritime-executive.com/editorials/disruption-is-coming-to-the-shipping-industry

[Bon Accord]

This talk of automation does make me raise a wry smile when I think of some of the locations where there is little to no chance of it being workable for many, many years yet.

Take the attached photograph as an example. Whilst the island in question has (to an extent) embraced containerisation, there is still no suitable wharf and so containers - together with all the other "general" - is transshipped to a lighter and then taken to the beach where it is landed ashore by a suitably positioned road crane.

I wonder what the time and motion people from the big boxboat lines would make of this? I certainly know what ships I'd rather be on!

 

 

ANVIL POINT, Clarence Bay, Ascension Island, 17/07/12.

Edited August 14, 2017 by Bon Accord

[AngusDe]

I've a few (2nd hand) contributions from my dad, if  you are all interested!?

 

 

73 years ago dad was sunk by a German mine.

 

On the 3 October 1943, RFA War Nizam (pictured) rescued all the crew of HMT Meror (including dad) which had been mined and was sinking 1 mile south of H5 buoy - 12 miles east of Spurn Point at the mouth of the Humber.

 

After they'd been rescued the crew of the HMT Meror were  eventually taken back to shore and barracks in Grimsby, where the 2 guards on the gate were both from Ness  on the Isle of Lewis (as was dad) and let dad out unofficially to visit Angus Gilles (also from Lewis, and a pal of dads) who was on another minesweeper in the docks. When dad arrived Angus was just sealing a letter home to his father, which he reopened to tell his dad that our dad had been sunk and had survived. His dad, when he received the letter, walked down the hill to tell my grandfather the news. Of course, such communication wasn't allowed, but the letter was posted ashore (& possibly written in Gaelic?) away from the censors who checked all the mail posted on the barracks! Dad and his crewmates were eventually taken back to their home barracks in Lowestoft where there was a parcel for dad from my grandad of clothes etc. He got 14 days survivors leave for which he headed back to Lewis after which he was posted to Scapa Flow. He was in Ceylon when he was demobbed and joined the Merchant Navy, he went to sea up until his 65th birthday and today is still very fit and alert for a 93yo and still full of stories!

 

I've never found a picture of HMT Meror, hence the picture of the RFA War Nizam.

 

Hope it is of interest,

Angus

 

 

 

 

[Bon Accord]

 

I've a few (2nd hand) contributions from my dad, if  you are all interested!?

 

14572809_10154669481654445_1247329630484496814_n.jpg

 

73 years ago dad was sunk by a German mine.

 

On the 3 October 1943, RFA War Nizam (pictured) rescued all the crew of HMT Meror (including dad) which had been mined and was sinking 1 mile south of H5 buoy - 12 miles east of Spurn Point at the mouth of the Humber.

 

After they'd been rescued the crew of the HMT Meror were  eventually taken back to shore and barracks in Grimsby, where the 2 guards on the gate were both from Ness  on the Isle of Lewis (as was dad) and let dad out unofficially to visit Angus Gilles (also from Lewis, and a pal of dads) who was on another minesweeper in the docks. When dad arrived Angus was just sealing a letter home to his father, which he reopened to tell his dad that our dad had been sunk and had survived. His dad, when he received the letter, walked down the hill to tell my grandfather the news. Of course, such communication wasn't allowed, but the letter was posted ashore (& possibly written in Gaelic?) away from the censors who checked all the mail posted on the barracks! Dad and his crewmates were eventually taken back to their home barracks in Lowestoft where there was a parcel for dad from my grandad of clothes etc. He got 14 days survivors leave for which he headed back to Lewis after which he was posted to Scapa Flow. He was in Ceylon when he was demobbed and joined the Merchant Navy, he went to sea up until his 65th birthday and today is still very fit and alert for a 93yo and still full of stories!

 

I've never found a picture of HMT Meror, hence the picture of the RFA War Nizam.

 

Hope it is of interest,

Angus

 

 

 

 

 

Angus,

Now there's a coincidence! My Grandfather was AB in WAR NIZAM from 28/3/43-10/6/43 and 5/7/43-6/1/44 so he was onboard when your father was picked up. He's long since passed on unfortunately, but thankyou for the picture as I've never seen one of her before.

[MarkC]

This may be of interest

http://gcaptain.com/containership-cscl-jupiter-hard-aground-scheldt/

 

I'm awfully glad I'm in the Med at present.

 

It's reported that there were some very expensive-sounding noises heard from the hull of this behemoth as she was pulled off the mud - there will be some anxious insurers waiting to hear what is discovered when they check her over.

[The Stationmaster]

Interesting one to start - SD (Serco Denholm) Newton was the privatised former RMAS, then RFA 'Newton'.  

 

 

 

Another former RFA vessel - now SD Salmon

 

 

HMS Albion fresh out of refit

 

 

HMS Sutherland

 

 

Survey ship HMS Scott

 

 

HMS Mersey

 

 

HMS Ocean

 

 

HMS Daring

 

 

 

Laid up on the River Fal

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 15, 2017 by The Stationmaster

[t8hants]

I took these on Sunday after we had been playing leapfrog with the floating flats aka Celebrity Eclipse  all down Southampton Water.

 

Nice contrast in sizes