Anyone Interested in Ships

[Hampshire Hog]

Princess Cruises  "Caribbean Princess" waits to unload her cargo early in the morning at Southampton a couple of weeks ago as most won't be awake yet?, picture taken from inside Cowes bound ferry because of the rain, hence poor picture.

 

 

Best Regards,

 

Kevin

Edited August 4, 2017 by Hampshire Hog

[jjb1970]

If we’re looking at warships then to my eyes nothing else comes close to HMS Vanguard. The proportions were perfect, the glorious hull lines with the alluring sheer curve and flared bow, the transom stern giving it a feeling of modernity, the clean, piled up superstructure, the classic two twin turrets fwd and two twin turrets aft main battery, the uptake arrangement, she was just a beautiful looking ship (well, to those who find beauty in ships). OK we’re probably not supposed to find satisfaction and see beauty in warships these days, but as far as I’m concerned there has never been a better looking warship.

[rob D2]

AIS works using VHF. Signals are sent as 'packets' of data which are received and decoded by ship, shore or satellite receivers. These signals give some ship data like name, callsign, ship type, heading, destination etc.

So is that a sort of air traffic control for boats then ?

[rob D2]

RFA Mounts Bay , Falmouth, 2015.

 

 

RFA Fort Austin was at Birkenhead last week, in the works there, surprised that's still going as it's falklands vintage

Edited August 4, 2017 by rob D2

[Nick G]

So is that a sort of air traffic control for boats then ?

 

 

Rob,

 

 

 

http://www.shipais.com

 

 

http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-4.4/centery:53.3/zoom:9

[eastwestdivide]

Do these count?

 

Dover 1989

[rob D2]

Rob,

 

 

 

http://www.shipais.com

 

 

http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-4.4/centery:53.3/zoom:9

 

Yeah, I know what it is, but VHF data derived for what purpose ? Is it for separation or just spotters gen

[Nick G]

Yeah, I know what it is, but VHF data derived for what purpose ? Is it for separation or just spotters gen

 

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_identification_system

[Bon Accord]

Do these count?

89-9-9 Dover.jpg

 

Dover 1989

 

Oddly enough, until 1996 hovercraft regulation and certification was the remit of the Civil Aviation Authority. Obviously somebody realised that was slightly daft and they were then brought into the maritime fold.

Merchant Navy people could crew them, however you needed a special endorsement (as I remember) and hovercraft people wore civil aviation style uniforms as opposed to the standard MN variety.

[jjb1970]

AIS has a few functions. It isn't an air traffic control type system, it is a tracking system that assists with maritime security and also maritime SAR. Also it's a useful marketing gimmick for shippers and is a useful resource for ship spotters. People in the industry use it as a market intelligence tool.

[Bon Accord]

AIS has a few functions. It isn't an air traffic control type system, it is a tracking system that assists with maritime security and also maritime SAR. Also it's a useful marketing gimmick for shippers and is a useful resource for ship spotters. People in the industry use it as a market intelligence tool.

 

For those of us of a certain age on the bridge it's nothing more than a colossal PITA....

[jjb1970]

Oddly enough, until 1996 hovercraft regulation and certification was the remit of the Civil Aviation Authority. Obviously somebody realised that was slightly daft and they were then brought into the maritime fold.

Merchant Navy people could crew them, however you needed a special endorsement (as I remember) and hovercraft people wore civil aviation style uniforms as opposed to the standard MN variety.

 

It's even worse that some lunatic decided that wing in ground effect craft are within the remit of maritime regulation and class.

[Bon Accord]

It's even worse that some lunatic decided that wing in ground effect craft are within the remit of maritime regulation and class.

 

I'll hold my hand up and admit I had no idea such things existed or were even reflected in the latest version of "the rules" until a cadet we had onboard some years back mentioned it - I wasn't alone in my befuddlement!

I've still never seen one and don't know anyone who has.

Edited August 4, 2017 by Bon Accord

[jjb1970]

I'll hold my hand up and admit I had no idea such things existed or were even reflected in the latest version of "the rules" until a cadet we had onboard some years back mentioned it - I wasn't alone in my befuddlement!

I've still never seen one and don't know anyone who has.

 

They're one of those things that are always the next big thing, like hydrogen cars or Europe - Asia shipping switching to Arctic routing. We had a few projects at LR, but they never came to anything.

[jjb1970]

In terms of the next big thing, I'm waiting to see the look on the faces of people at the MCA and their overseas equivalents and class when the penny finally drops at just what autonomous ships mean for them.

As things currently stand, Flag and class certificate ships and seafarer competency but make sure that they have no responsibility for how ships are managed and operated. Luckily for them, they can almost always blame the crew when things go wrong and claim there was nothing wrong with their certification process.

With an autonomous ship, Flag and class are going to have to take responsibility for certificating safe operation as if one of these proposed roboships crashes there won't be a crew to blame and somebody has to make the decision that the things are safe.

People in Flags around the world and in class are falling over themselves to be associated with autonomous ships as it is the next big thing and a good way to make a name for yourself, in conversation it is pretty obvious that almost none of them have really thought about the implications for their own liabilities.

The interesting thing about autonomous ships is that it is all being driven by academics, certain class societies and equipment suppliers, to date ship owners have displayed remarkably little interest.

[rob D2]

Thanks nick et al , I understand it now .

[AncientMariner]

In 1969, I was instructed to join s.s. Erne in Swansea drydocks.  I was a 20-year old deck cadet, and the Erne was a 20,000 ton dwt product tanker, built in 1962, and was a fairly typical vessel of that era.

 

Technically and operationally, she was generally regarded as one of the less challenging vessels in the fleet, and with its relatively comfortable accommodation and exotic trading pattern, she was a popular ship.  I was delighted to get the appointment.

 

                                                                             

 

 

An early port of call was Port Everglades, where the Queen Elizabeth had been berthed, following its retirement from Cunard earlier that year.  I was able to seize an opportunity to get ashore and pay the Grand Old Lady a visit.  For some reason, I took a photo of the crow’s nest.

 

During my 7-month tour of duty, we called at New York, Puerto Rico, San Francisco, Houston, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Pago Pago, Tahiti, Venezuela, Curacao and Trinidad.  I was able to get a run ashore during many port calls, and managed to visit Disneyland, the top floor of the Empire State building (albeit in dense fog!), and the Nasa Space Center in Houston shortly after the Apollo 11 landing.

 

                                                                                     

             

Of the photos above, top left is at Port Everglades (I think), the next is taken in the Panama Canal. The lower left photo was taken in Pago Pago, and finally when experiencing a bit of lively weather.   I’m sorry that my photographic skills weren’t (and still aren’t) great.  It was a memorable trip, and definitely not typical of life on a tanker.

 

An unusual consignment during this trip was sacks of mail, loaded in Honolulu and discharged in Pago Pago and Papeete, carried in a tiny hold in the foc’s’le area.

 

Of course, life at sea was not always smooth sailing....

 

                                                                                             

 

Above is mv Quentin, a small LPG tanker on a run between Norway and Orkney, the photos were taken a few seconds apart in the 1980's.

 

Like other posters, I also find that the lines of many modern cruise liners to be less pleasing than the more classical shapes.  But for sheer ugliness, I would nominate Panamax-sized car carriers which, structurally, are essentially high-density car parks.  Nevertheless I did manage to find beauty on the inside of one - in the form of Porsche Carreras – 428 of them.

 

John

Edited August 4, 2017 by AncientMariner

[Bon Accord]

In 1969, I was instructed to join s.s. Erne in Swansea drydocks.  I was a 20-year old deck cadet, and the Erne was a 20,000 ton dwt product tanker, built in 1962, and was a fairly typical vessel of that era.

 

Technically and operationally, she was generally regarded as one of the less challenging vessels in the fleet, and with its relatively comfortable accommodation and exotic trading pattern, she was a popular ship.  I was delighted to get the appointment.

 

                                                                           

 

An early port of call was Port Everglades, where the Queen Elizabeth had been berthed, following its retirement from Cunard earlier that year.  I was able to seize an opportunity to get ashore and pay the Grand Old Lady a visit.  For some reason, I took a photo of the crow’s nest.

 

During my 7-month tour of duty, we called at New York, Puerto Rico, San Francisco, Houston, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Pago Pago, Tahiti, Venezuela, Curacao and Trinidad.  I was able to get a run ashore during many port calls, and managed to visit Disneyland, the top floor of the Empire State building (albeit in dense fog!), and the Nasa Space Center in Houston shortly after the Apollo 11 landing.

 

                                                                                    

             

Of the photos above, top left is at Port Everglades (I think), the next is taken in the Panama Canal. The lower left photo was taken in Pago Pago, and finally when experiencing a bit of lively weather.   I’m sorry that my photographic skills weren’t (and still aren’t) great.  It was a memorable trip, and definitely not typical of life on a tanker.

 

An unusual consignment during this trip was sacks of mail, loaded in Honolulu and discharged in Pago Pago and Papeete, carried in a tiny hold in the foc’s’le area.

 

Of course, life at sea was not always smooth sailing....

                                                                                            

 

Above is mv Quentin, a small LPG tanker on a run between Norway and Orkney, the photos were taken a few seconds apart in the 1980's.

 

Like other posters, I also find that the lines of many modern cruise liners to be less pleasing than the more classical shapes.  But for sheer ugliness, I would nominate Panamax-sized car carriers which, structurally, are essentially high-density car parks.  Nevertheless I did manage to find that beauty on the inside of one - in the form of Porsche Carreras – 428 of them.

 

John

 

John,

I take it that was pre "revolution" and she was still a Trident ship? I might be wrong, but didn't the ERNE end up on the Kiwi coast for many a year?

The name QUENTIN sounds suspiciously like she belong to George Gibbo's of Leith.

[Ozexpatriate]

Like other posters, I also find that the lines of many modern cruise liners to be less pleasing than the more classical shapes.  But for sheer ugliness, I would nominate Panamax-sized car carriers which, structurally, are essentially high-density car parks.  Nevertheless I did manage to find beauty on the inside of one - in the form of Porsche Carreras – 428 of them.

I don't know if the MV Cougar Ace meets your definition of "Panamax" but she sure is ugly, and not very seaworthy when laden, though apparently reasonably buoyant and watertight.

 

I understand this is defined as a "loss of stability incident".  My only familiarity with this vessel is that it was unloaded in the Port of Portland and a giant car crushing plant was installed to dispose of all those new cars inside that were written off - due to fluid contamination. The car crusher was quite visible underneath the flight path for take-off / landing at PDX.

[MarkC]

So is that a sort of air traffic control for boats then ?

No, you're thinking of the VTS services for ships at busy ports like Southampton, London, Tees etc

 

AIS is just a tool for identifying ships - (usually) saves on VHF calls like "Sheeeep on my starboard bow - what are your intentions?" The correct response to this, of course, if one could be bothered, is "I'm going to obey the Colregs, old boy - I suggest that you do the same..."

[MarkC]

John,

I take it that was pre "revolution" and she was still a Trident ship? I might be wrong, but didn't the ERNE end up on the Kiwi coast for many a year?

The name QUENTIN sounds suspiciously like she belong to George Gibbo's of Leith.

Quentin was indeed a Gibsons ship - and that was the Flotta to Rafnes run with Ethane, I think? She and Borthwick did that for several years.

 

I served in her on 3 occasions - the last being in 2002, when we sold her to Nigerians and I took her down to Lagos from Fawley. Renamed Awero, we ran her for a few months on behalf of her new owners, then left her to the tender mercies of her owners' people. I believe that she didn't survive long after that...

[AncientMariner]

John,

I take it that was pre "revolution" and she was still a Trident ship? I might be wrong, but didn't the ERNE end up on the Kiwi coast for many a year?

The name QUENTIN sounds suspiciously like she belong to George Gibbo's of Leith.

 

Correct on all counts, Jim.

 

I served my cadetship with Trident Tankers, and was still in the P & O group during the revolution.

The Erne did indeed end up on the Kiwi coast, having been converted into a bitumen carrier. I think she may have been on bareboat charter and manned by NZ crews - but I'm not 100% sure on that though.

I was with Gibsons (then under Denholm management) for a couple of years in the mid 1980's.  I served on the Quentin twice, and the Borthwick once, on the run described by MarkC.

 

John 

[admiles]

AIS has a few functions. It isn't an air traffic control type system, it is a tracking system that assists with maritime security and also maritime SAR. Also it's a useful marketing gimmick for shippers and is a useful resource for ship spotters. People in the industry use it as a market intelligence tool.

 

In the box-shifting industry it's also remarkably useful for find out where vessels really are as opposed to where the shipping lines tell you they are!

 

You'd be amazed at how far apart the two can be.....I'll point no specific fingers!

[AncientMariner]

I don't know if the MV Cougar Ace meets your definition of "Panamax" but she sure is ugly, and not very seaworthy when laden, though apparently reasonably buoyant and watertight.

 

I understand this is defined as a "loss of stability incident".  My only familiarity with this vessel is that it was unloaded in the Port of Portland and a giant car crushing plant was installed to dispose of all those new cars inside that were written off - due to fluid contamination. The car crusher was quite visible underneath the flight path for take-off / landing at PDX.

 

Good day Micheal,

 

Cougar Ace, with a beam of 32.26m is Panamax sized.  Another incident in UK waters was Hoegh Osaka, which I believe became unstable during a fuel transfer. The latter ship was deliberately grounded before things got worse.

 

Ironically, despite having its entire cargo written off, Cougar Ace is still trading and is now a 24 year old ship.  I did an AIS check this morning and she showed up in Bremerhaven.

 

John

Edited August 5, 2017 by AncientMariner

[jjb1970]

​AIS has certainly saved a lot of time in incident investigations as it is a lot harder to re-invent what ships had supposedly been doing. Along with the IMO number system I do think it has been a very useful innovation for the industry.