Tanker Glenda Melissa photographed passing East Cowes on 31 October 2014.

Built in Ulsan South Korea by Hyundai Mipo in 2011 as Yard Number 2202 she is 183.31m long with a 32.2m beam.

Tank capacity is 52,245m3.

Powered by a MAN B&W 6 Cylinder 6S46MC-C Diesel Engine (10,690hp) she can make 14 knots.

She is owned by Glenda International Shipping and time chartered to d'Amico Tankers Ltd who commenced business in 1936 when the d'Amico family began operating in the shipping sector from Salerno.

MMSI - 636015000
REG - LR, Monrovia
IMO - 9494682
Call Sign - A8XY9
Chemical / Oil Products Tanker
Built - Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan, KR
Yard No. - 2202
L 183m W 32m
GT - 29130
Year - 2011
East Cowes, 31 October 2014

 Ro-Ro Cargo Ship Arrrow photographed early evening in Liverpool on 28 January 2015.

She is a sister ship to Clipper Ranger, Helliar and Hildasay and has had various names in her career including Varbola, RR Arrow and Dart 6.

Built in Spain by Huelva Astilleros as Yard Number 572 she is 122.32m long with a 19.8m beam and 6.2m draught. In total she has a 1057m of lane capacity which enables her to carry approximately 67 trailers with accommodation for 12 passengers, powered by two Wartsila 9R32 Diesel Engines (9,900hp) she can make 16 Knots.

Originally built as Varbolat for the Estonian Shipping Company, Tallinn she was chartered to the Dart Line in 1998 for use on the Dartford - Vlissingen route where she was re-named Dart 6 in January 1999.  In September 1999 the charter ended and she reverted back to being Varbola. Subsequent to this she has worked for Merchant Ferries for use on the Heysham - Dublin route, Norse Merchant Ferries on the Liverpool - Belfast and Heysham - Dublin routes, Condor Ferries where she  sailed between Portsmouth, Jersey and Guernsey, The Norfolk Line, The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company  and Seatruck Ferries.

GT = 7,606 and Summer DWT 5,656

She is owned and Managed by Seatruck Ferries.

MMSI - 235096892
REG - UK
IMO - 9119414
Call Sign - 2GFG5
Ro-Ro Cargo Ship
Built - Huelva Astilleros, Huelva, ES
Yard No. - 572
L 123m W 20m
GT -7606
Year - 1998
Liverpool, 28 January 2015

MCA cat 2 Personnel transfer vessel Gaillion picking up speed as she heads out of the River Mersey on her way to the new wind farm being constructed off the North Wales coast.

Built by Global Marine Design in 2011 she is 21.3m long with a 6.5m beam and 1.6m draught.

Powered by a CAT C32 1350 Diesel engine she has a top speed of 30 Knots.

She can accommodate 12 passengers and 3 crew.

She is operated by Guardline who are an international and multi-disciplinary marine service company based in Great Yarmouth, they have other offices in the UK and across 5 continents with principal international offices in the USA, the Netherlands, Singapore, Australia and Brazil. Gardline Marine Sciences is a member of the Guardline Group which was established in 1969 to provide marine support to the offshore oil and gas industry in the North Sea.

MMSI - 235086878
Call Sign - 2EON7
L = 21.3m, W= 6.5m
GT = 53

Photographed, Liverpool, 22 July 2013.

Wednesday last week found me in Liverpool but without my camera as I had a busy day of meetings in various parts of the city.

At lunch I walked a circuit that took in a stretch of the river and the Albert Dock, this also coincided with high tide and I saw a couple of vessels heading upstream.

It was cold and misty but the threatening rain thankfully held off until I had just got back to the office.

The above picture shows Cammel Laird facility on the Mersey, the tanker in the picture being repaired/worked on is Nariva (IMO 9172715, GT 20573, 1998).

The picture below taken from my phone is of the General Cargo Ship Icelandia Hav (IMO 8128884, GT 499, 1982) which passed me near Princes Dock.    

I also saw quite a number of other ships which I had seen before including Hedvig Bulker which I saw in the Eastern Mediterranean near Kythria in June 2012.

Seven new vessels were added to my list in the form of :-

Bulk Carrier 

AOM Georgina (IMO 9622552, GT 43022 2014)  

Tanker 

STI Mayfair (IMO 9686730, GT 29735 2014)  
 
Crude Oil Tanker 

Rose (IMO 9521435, GT 56320, 2012)    

General Cargo Ship / Cargo Barge

RMS Bremen (IMO 9617301, GT 2589 2012)
Icelandia Hav (IMO 8128884, GT 499, 1982)
Cargo Barge - Terra Marique (IMO 9281384, GT 2786, 2004)

Tug

Baloe (IMO 9382463, GT 126, 2006)     

At the time of writing AOM Georgina is still in port but Rose has left heading I believe for Portland, RMS Bremen left shortly after I saw her bound for Figueira Da Faz as did Icelandia Hav which left for Ayr. STI Mayfair has also since left and the last time I checked was heading to Rotterdam.

Sacred Heart Catholic church photographed on 26 December 2014.

The church was designed by Architect Edmund Kirby of Birkenhead and built on land donated by Lord Lilford. Materials were donated by John Holland who was a local colliery manager.

The parish was established in the nineteenth century in response to a growing local community of Irish immigrant families. The church was consecrated in 1869 and the foundation stone laid in 1875. It is constructed from squared rubble sandstone laid in shallow courses with ashlar red sandstone dressings and decorative banding, coped gables with cross finials and a slated roof laid in bands of blue and grey fish-scale slates.

The Sanctuary has three large stained glass windows by Meyer dating to 1881 with a further small window high on the south side, the roof is arched with exposed rafters and a scalloped central truss.

Originally a school built in 1888 was located to the South of the church but this has since been demolished. 

The church closed in about 2004.

Aframax Crude Oil Tanker Minerva Roxanne photographed in Liverpool on 29 July 2013, I was lucky enough to be walking alongside the river when she passed with assistance from local tugs on her way to Tranmere further up the river.

She was built in Koje, South Korea in 2004 by Samsung as Yard Number 1453 and is 243.56m long with a 42m breadth and 14.77m draught.

GT = 58,156 and NT = 31,033.

Tank capacity is 113,317m3 (at 98%) with a 4,395 ( at 98%) slop tanks.

She is powered by a HSD MAN B&W (19460 BHP) Diesel Engine, the vessel is also equipped with a 15t crane and three centrifugal cargo pumps with a capacity of 2800m3/hour  per pump.

She is operated by Minerva Marine Inc who operate a fleet of product tankers, crude oil tankers and bulk carriers, they were founded in 1996 and are based in Athens.

MMSI - 240198000
REG - GR, Athens
IMO - 9276585
Call Sign - SWSZ
Crude Oil Tanker
Built - Samsung, Koje, KR
Yard No. - 1453
L 243.56m W 42m
GT -58156
Year - 2004
Liverpool, 29 July 2013

Hurst castle on the UK mainland photographed 31 October 2014 from a view point on the Isle of Wight.

The sailing ship in the foreground is Challenger 3 which is operated by the tall ships youth trust. 

After spending a few hours at Fort Victoria we walked through woodland and found this view point where I could see the castle across the Needles Passage.

Hurst Castle was built between 1541 and 1544 by Henry VIII as part of a chain of artillery fortresses protecting key ports and landing places around southern England. The castle guarded the Needles Passage leading to the Solent, the port of Southampton and the growing naval base at Portsmouth. It was extensively modernised in the 19th century and remained in military use until 1956. 

The long shingle spit on which the castle was built leaves a channel between the Isle of Wight and the mainland only 1280m wide at this point. In 1539 fear of invasion from the united Catholic powers of Europe led the king to mastermind a series of defensive measures, although by 1540 the fear of invasion had generally subsided building work began on Hurst Castle in 1541.  After it was completed in 1544 the castle was armed with about 20 guns of varying calibres.
 
During the Civil War (1642–51) the castle was held for Parliament. It was never attacked but Charles I was imprisoned in the keep from 1 to 19 December 1648 after the Parliamentary army ordered his arrest and transfer from Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight. On 19 December 1648 he was taken from Hurst Castle on the journey leading to his execution in London six weeks later.

In 1700 Hurst was again selected as a secure prison, this time to hold anyone convicted for spreading the Roman Catholic faith. Only one prisoner was sent here, Father Paul Atkinson. Despite several pleas for clemency he remained in the castle for 30 years until his death at the age of 74.  

The outbreak of war with Revolutionary France in 1793 saw a rapid strengthening of Britain’s coastal fortresses and after hasty repairs to Hurst in 1794 18 captured French 9-pounder weapons  were installed and two five-gun batteries equipped with French 36 Pounders were also built on the beach on either side of the Tudor fortress.  

In 1803 the threat of invasion by Napoleon led to additional work on the coastal defences. At Hurst the centre of the Tudor castle was transformed with the installation of six powerful 24-pounder guns on the roof and a basement gunpowder store. The Tudor bastions were also improved so that they could safely support 8 Pounder French guns. 

In February 1809 all spare space here was turned into a temporary military hospital for survivors of Sir John Moore’s army. After their 250-mile fighting retreat through northern Spain to the port of Corunna these sick and wounded men were rescued by the Royal Navy and brought safely back to Hurst  

The moat was deepened in 1851 and its immediate defences strengthened. Between 1852 and 1854 the bastions and curtain walls were extensively modified so that a second tier of guns could be mounted. Outside the castle two large earthwork batteries were built for 29 heavy weapons.

These works were hardly finished before technological revolutions in weapon systems and the introduction of steam-powered warships made such fortifications obsolete. In 1859 a Royal Commission was created to consider the defence of the United Kingdom,  as part of this programme work to strengthen Hurst Castle began in 1861. The earthwork batteries were replaced by huge armoured wing batteries. Largely completed by 1874 these housed 31 new guns which fired shells weighing more than 360kg, Accommodation was also provided for a garrison of 143 officers and men.

In 1893 a battery for three of the new 6-pounder QF guns was built outside the end of the East wing. A little later three 12-pounder QF guns were added to the keep and the West wing together with searchlights.

Variants of these weapons together with AA Guns provided the castle’s armament during World War 2  where again the castle played a key role in protecting the western entrance to the Solent.  In 1956 Hurst Castle came into the care of the Ministry of Works, predecessor of English Heritage.  

The lighthouse to the left of the picture has ben operational since 1867.

Fishing vessel Double or Nothing (CS2) entering Portsmouth on 28 October 2014.

Built in 2006 with a material fibre glass hull she is 9.66m long with a 7.33 registered tonnage and powered by a 221kW engine.

Her home port is Cowes.

All Saints Church located on Church Street Ripley photographed on 30 December 2014. I took the picture as I was walking to the pub with my father-in-law on what was a very cold and icy day.

The church was built in 1821 and is constructed from gritstone with ashlar dressings and a slate roof.

The tower houses a complement of eight bells and was completed in 1902 to commemorate the coronation of King Edward VII.

Following damage during a severe storm in 1969 the stained glass window in the chancel was replaced.

As I have been walking a lot more recently I have found myself taking more photographs of buildings and in particular churches, I will be adding a few others to my site in due course, particularly ones relatively close to where I live.

Later today I am in Liverpool and hopefully will get time to drive past the docks before it goes dark. Checking AIS there are a number of vessels I have not seen before in port, hopefully they will still be there this afternoon.

Singapore registered Tanker Ebony Ray photographed at Fawley on 25 October 2014.

Built in Japan by Usuki Zosensho she is 145.53m long with a 24m beam and 6.4m draught.

GT = 11,590, NT 6,119 and Summer DWT 19.998.

Tank capacity is 20,834m3 @98% with additional 1,354 Slop tanks @98%.

She has a MAN B&W 2 SA 6 CY(6150.251kW) diesel engine.

Until April 2014 she was called Millennium Park.

The vessel is owned by Nitizo Marine and managed by Eastern Pacific Shipping who are based in Singapore

MMSI - 563136000
REG - SG, Singapore
IMO - 9363857
Call Sign - 9V2192
Tanker
Built - Usuki Zosensho,Usuki, JP
Yard No. 1711
L 145.53m x W 24m
GT - 11590
Year - 2008
Fawley, 25 October 2014