Svitzer Ferriby photographed in Southampton on 11 April 2015.
 
She is a Damen type ASD2411 tug and was completed by Damen in their Gorinchem yard in 2005.
 
Main engines comprise twin Caterpillar 3516C TA HD/D marine diesel engines (4180kW) which via twin five bladed 2600mm Rolls Royce US255 Azimuth stern drive propellers give a top speed of 13.2 knots.
 
Overall she is 24.55m long with a 11.49m beam and 4.60m draft.
 
Bollard pull is 70.4t ahead and 65.0t astern
 
GT = 243 & DWT = 150.
 
Up to 2007 she was known as Adstream Ferriby
 
MMSI - 235025323
REG -  UK, Grimsby
IMO - 9277618
Call Sign - MHMR3
Tug
Built - Damen, Gorinchem, NL
Yard No. - 512202
L 24.55m W 11.49m
GT 243
Year - 2005
Southampton, 11 April 2015

Cheesden Valley photographed during a circuitous walk from the nearby village of Birtle on 24 January 2016.  The valley runs on a North-South alignment and is located between Bury and Rochdale.

Cheesdon Brook runs through the valley and eventually joins Naden Brook.

Flints from the Meosolithic period have apparently been found in the valley indicating human activity from 8000 BC. These were noted as being discovered on higher ground close to water and may have been left by bands of hunters moving through the area.

In later times the people who farmed the inhospitable countryside made a living by weaving probably using wood from their own sheep, this was followed by mills during the industrial revolution. We saw a number of overgrown quarries during our walk and as early as 1580 coal mining had been granted in the area.

Scotland Lane looking West. The lane after passing through a farmyard which you can see in the distance changed to a narrow sunken stone paved footpath before becoming a muddy track that followed the edge of the hill. The path eventually reached a high point skirting the remains of an old quarry before turning South and downhill back towards the village.

Saga Pearl II photographed in Southampton on 4 April 2015.
 
She was built in Germany by Howaldtswerke as yard number 165. Laid down in February 1980 she was completed in December 1981, she was ordered by the German Company Hadag Cruise Lines but was quickly sold to South African Company Safmarine.
 
Overall she is 164.3m long with  a 22.6m beam.
 
Previous names include:-
 
1981 to 1985 - Astor
1985 - 2002 - Arkona
2002 - 2010 - Astoria
2010 - 2012 - Saga Pearl II
2012 - 2013 - Quest For Adventure
2013 - Saga Pearl II
 
Powered by  MAN (15,400 kW) Marine Diesel engines she has a maximum speed of 21.4 knots
 
The cruise ship has capacity for a maximum of 449 passengers and 220 crew.
 
MMSI - 256878000
REG - MT, Valetta
Call Sign - VQEUS
Passenger Cruise Ship
Built - Howaldtswerke-DW, Ross, DE
Yard Number - 165
L = 164.3 x 22.6m
GT = 18591
Year - 1981
Southampton, 4 April 2015

Funnel of Carolina A (IMO 9570565, GT 3593, 2011) photographed as we sailed past Fawley on 11 April 2015.

She is owned by Marittima Emiliana who are headquartered in Parma but who also have offices in Augusta (Italy) and Rhoon (The Netherlands).

The Company was founded by Odoardo Amoretti (1921-2008) in the 1940's as a road haulage business but they soon commenced operations in transportation by river and by sea.

Currently they have a fleet of twelve vessels.

The Company is still under the management of the Amoretti family.

Nasmyth & Wilson Steam hammer manufactured in 1917.
 
This was manufactured in Patricroft for Thomas Walmsley and Sons of Bolton and was used until 1975 to process wrought iron using the indirect or puddling process at the Atlas Forge.
 
The possibility of steam hammers was first noted by James Watt (1736-1819) in his 1794 patent for the steam engine. James Nasmyth (1808-1890) and Francois Bourdon (1797-1865) reinvented the steam hammer independently in 1839 as they were trying to solve the problem of forging cranks for steam engines of increasing size for use in locomotives and paddle steamers.

Nasmyth noted the need arose for a paddle shaft for  Isambard Kingdom Brunel's new transatlantic steamer the SS Great Britain which with a 760mm shaft diameter was larger than any that had previously been forged. He sketched a proposal for his steam hammer design in 1839 but the need disappeared when the SS Great Britain was converted to screw propellers.

Bourdon came up with an idea for a steam hammer also in 1839 and made detailed drawings of his proposal. Bourdon built the first steam hammer in the world in 1840 at the Schneider & Cei works at Le Creusot after the Bourdon and Schneider had visited the Nasmyth works in England and been shown his sketch.

Nasmyth visited Le Creusot in April 1842 to see the hammer working and built his own steam hammer later in 1842 after returning from France.
 
The design of the steam hammer continued to improve although during the 20th Century they became obsolete in heavy industry due to the advent of more advanced technologies in the form of hydraulic and mechanical presses.
 
Atlas Forge was founded in the 1860's by Thomas Walmsley & Sons in Bolton not far from where the steam hammer I photographed now sits. They produced wrought iron until 1975 and were the last wrought iron manufacturer in the UK.
 
Naysmyth and Wilson was founded in 1836 in Patricroft, Salford, England and was located close to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, Bridgewater Canal and Manchester Ship Canal.
 
Photographed as I walked from a meeting in Bolton, Lancashire, UK on the 4 January 2016 - This was my first day back after the Christmas holidays.

Whitaker Tankers Whitchampion photographed in Southampton on 11 April 2015.
 
Whitakers is a fifth generation family run company who have been operating for over 130 years in the bunkering industry. They operate a fleet of 13 vessels which includes sea going barges and sea going tankers in both the UK and European waters.
 
Built in Turkey by Tuzla Gemi in 2003 as Yard Number 24 she is 84.95m long with a 15m beam and 6.3m Summer draft.
 
Total cargo capacity is 4540.107m3. Equipped with Svanehaj Deepwell pumps and Blaxkmer lub oil pumps she has a maximum loading rate of 660m3/hour and a maximum discharge rate of 400m3/hour.
 
Main engine is a MAK 6M25 (1850kw @750rpm) marine diesel engine which gives 10.5 knots at 90%.
 
She is also equipped with three auxiliary engines comprising two Cummins KT19 (312Kw) and a single Cummins (80Kw) engine. The vessel also has a 600 hp Omega Azimuth (440Kw) bow thruster.
 
MMSI - 235009956
REG - UK, Douglas
IMO -  9252278
Call Sign - VQPX7
Oil Products Tanker
Built - Tuzla Gemi, Tuzla, TR
Yard No. - 24
L 84.95m W 15m
GT - 2965
Year -  2003
Southampton, 11 April 2015

Lined up at Fawley I the company of Frank, Philipp Essberger and Houyoshi Express II.

Hanne emerging from the early morning mist and passing me at the end of the esplanade in East Cowes a few days after I photographed her at Fawley.

MMSI - 235598000
REG - UK, Aberdeen
IMO - 9190638
Call Sign - VQEUS
Crude Oil Tanker
Built AESA, Sestao, ES
Yard Number - 318
L =265m x 40m
GT - 72245
Year - 2000
Fawley, 4 April 2015

Yarmouth harbour and boat yard photographed on 30 October 2015.

Yarmouth was established as a settlement in about AD991 and was called Eremue.  It has had a turbulent history and was for a long time on the front line during the 100 Years War with France.

The town has its own castle which is on the shoreline which was built in the 1540's to defend the town.

The Harbour breakwater was constructed in 1847 at a cost of £1,200 and in 1863 the first road bridge was opened across the River Yar. Before that, passengers were taken to and from Yarmouth by ferry. In 1876 a pier was built and is reputed to be the longest timber pier in the country still open to the general public.

Between 1889 and 1953 Yarmouth was linked with other Island towns by a railway line. 

The town is home to the Wightlink Yarmouth - Lymington ferry and the RNLI Lifeboat is based in the Harbour.

Today over lunch I have updated the ship list and yearly statistics to reflect the 426 new ships I saw both in the UK and abroad in 2015. Towards the end of the year I did struggle to see any new vessels and a couple of visits to Liverpool in December both resulted in not a single new ship despite getting to the banks of the Mersey for lunch and driving along the docks on my way home from work.

GT now stands at 82,046,465 and if you put all the ships in a line end to end they would stretch 351.54km.