After the influx of warships and other vessels last week for the Battle of The Atlantic celebrations it was quiet in Liverpool yesterday as most of the visiting ships had left leaving only a few stragglers. 

After the crowds over the bank holiday weekend where some 500,000 people visited the riverside to see the warships, tall ships and military displays including a Hurricane and Spitfire flypast, wandering along the front on my own did feel a bit strange and the fact the ships had gone was a bit sad.
 
Although there were some ships I had seen before I only saw three new ships.

Bulk Carrier Pedhoulas Builder (IMO 9589255, GT 44289, 2012) was moored in the main basin at Seaforth, built by  Zhejiang Ouhua SB Co, Zhoushan in China (Yard No.616) this was possibly her first visit to Liverpool, checking her AIS now she is still in port and will probably leave over the weekend.

Belgium flagged Trawler Stormvogel O51 (IMO 8308642, GT 217, 1983) was further down the docks towards the city centre. Over the years I have seen quite a few similarly flagged trawlers here. At first I though there was a company who had won a maintainance/repair contract but as the ships come and go so quickly and visit Liverpool from so far away I am not sure that this is correct.

General Cargo Ship Blue Dragon (IMO 9370288, GT 2545, 2006) was at Bromborough alongside the river wall. She was built by Damen Bergum, Bergum, NL as Yard Number 9398 and is due to leave for Wicklow over the weekend.

I should be back in Liverpool on Tuesday, hopefully some interesting ships will arrive between now and then.

On the rear starboard side of Johan de Witt was L9569, a Mk5c class LCVP (landing craft vehicle personnel) built by Visser Shipyard in Den Helder in 2010.

She is 15.7m long has a beam of 4.27m and 0.65m draft with a gross tonnage of 295.

Propulsion consists of two Volvo Penta D9-575 four stroke single action diesel  engines producing 846KW powering 2 Ultrajet 410 water jets giving her a speed of 20 knots.

Unusually this small vessel has an IMO i.e. 9483920.

Seen Liverpool 3 March 2013.

Rotterdam Class Landing Platform Dock HNLMS Johan De Witt (L801) of the Royal Netherlands Navy at Liverpool's cruise liner terminal 3 March 2013.

Ordered in 2002 and built by Schelde Shipbuilding of the Royal Schelde Company, Vlissingen in the Netherlands, she was launched in February 2007.

She has a displacement of 15,000 tonnes and is 176.35m long with a beam of 29m and 6m draft.

Powered  by four Stork Wartsila model 12SW28 diesel-electric engines she can make 19 knots and at this speed has a range of 6000 nautical miles. 

She is designed to undertake amphibious tasks include the ability to embark, transport and disembark a battalion of troops including all their combat and logistical support vehicles and equipment. Johan de Witt can land troops and equipment off-shore without any harbour or similar facility, this is done by lowering the stern of the ship by up to 4m, this enables seawater to fill the dock and landing craft can then leave the ship.

The ship is operated by a crew of 124, including 13 officers. Accommodation and storage is also provided for a fully equipped battalion of approximately 500 to 600 troops. Able to carry a variety of landing craft she also has the capability to carry 90 Armoured Personnel Carriers or up to 32 Main Battle tanks 

Together with the ships crew, troop accommodation and storage areas she also has extensive medical facilities including operating theatres and treatment rooms.

Main armament consists of two Goalkeeper CIWS 30mm guns providing a maximum firing rate of 4200 rounds / minute up to a range of 1500m. This is supplemented by up to six .50 calibre machine guns. To support the Goalkeeper CIWS, a Thales Nederland IRSCAN infrared search and track system is fitted, this  can detect and track targets to a maximum range of 20km.

The rear flight deck can accommodate two helicopters simultaneously and the main hanger can hold either 6 x NH-90 or 4 x Chinook helicopters. 

As well as military operations she can be usefully deployed in crisis-response operations, natural disasters and evacuations.

Groningen as seen moored at Liverpool's cruise ship terminal on 3 March 2013.
 
Commissioned in 2011 she is one of four Holland Class Class ships constructed by Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding in Vlissingen. The total cost of all four vessels was €467.8m.

The ships are built to a modern 'stealth' design that reduces the ability of hostile radar systems to detect them.

She has a tonnage of 3,750 is 108.4m long, 16m beam with a draught of 4.55m. Her propulsion system is a combined electric or diesel  (CODELOD)   system driving a pair of 3.2m diameter controllable pitch propellers. This gives a top speed of 21.5 knots and a range of 5000 nautical miles at 15 knots.

The ship's complement is 50 with accommodation for up to 40 other personnel.

Her armament consists of a 76mm/62 caliber Oto-Melara Super rapid Gun, a 30mm Oto-Melara MARLIN WS (Modular Advanced Remotely Controlled  Lightweight Naval Weapon Station), two 12.7 mm Oto-Melara Hitrole NT, two 12,7 mm Browning M2HB MG and six 7.62 mm FN MG.

The ships also carry two Fast Raiding Interception Special Forces Craft (FRISC) each having a top speed exceeding 40 knots.
 
A stern flight deck and hanger is able to accommodate a NH-90 helicopter.

Groningen' s primary weapon is a 76mm/62 calibre Oto-Melara Super
Rapid gun.

Barrel length is 4.72m and the weapon weighs approximately 7.5 tons.

It is highly manouverable being able to traverse 360 degrees and elevate from -15 degrees up to +85 degrees.

With a 85 round magazine its rate of fire is 120 rounds per  minute with a muzzle velocity of 925 m/s and range of 30,000m.

Seen quite a number of new ships in the last few days including warships from Poland, Canada, Germany, Russia and Belgium which have visited Liverpool as part of the Battle Of The Atlantic celebrations.

AP Drzic (Bulk Carrier) IMO 9331684
Blue River (General Cargo Ship) IMO 9211066
Maersk Kiera (Tanker) IMO 9431305
HMCS Iroquois 280 (Iroquois Class  Destroyer)
African Spirit (Crude Oil Tanker) IMO 9250737
HMS Pembroke M107 (Sandown Class Minesweeper)
HMS Example P165 (Archer Class Patrol Vessel)
HMS Pursuer P273 (Archer Class Patrol Vessel)
HMS Smiter P272 Archer Class Patrol Vessel
FGS Gromitz M1064 (Frankenthal Class Minesweeper)
ORP General T Kosciuszko 273 (Frigate)
Ioannis (Crude Oil Tanker) IMO 9183295
RFS Vice Admiral Kulakov 626 (Destroyer)
Wigeon (Bulk Carrier) IMO 9358395
Neptun 10 (Tug) IMO 9568615
Cito (General Cargo Ship) IMO 9356517
Union Diamond (Tug) IMO 9220548
BNS Louise Marie F931 (Frigate)

I have also added the tourist boat pictures from my blog yesterday to the miscellaneous section on my main page.

Sara Camilla (Tourist Boat)
Alex Royal (Tourist Boat)
Galaxy Sharm (Tourist Boat)

Whilst on holiday in Egypt earlier this year we booked a snorkelling trip. 

We joined our dive/snorkelling boat in the tourist port of Sharm which at the time (April 2013) was under military control.

In the port there were at least fifty vessels all waiting to take a steady stream of tourists arriving by coach out to the various reefs in the National Park.

We took the pictures below in between three snorkelling stops on different reefs during a full day out on the water.

Moored in the harbour and seen from the stern is Egyptian Navy Vydra Class Landing Utility Craft Pennant 340. 

These vessels which as far as I can determine are unnamed have a displacement of 600 tons fully loaded and measure 54.9m long, 7.6m wide with a draught of 2.0m. Powered by two diesel engines generating 600 bhp with twin screws they can make 11 knots. 

They can carry 200 tonnes of equipment / troops.

Armament consists of 2 dual 37mm or 40mm guns.

The vessels are soviet built and were transferred to the Egyptian Navy between 1967-1969.

Egyptian Coastguard vessel P407 with a sister ship which were moored not far from the military vessel noted above.

Nearing our first stop.

A selection of boats used for snorkelling and diving. Our boat was very similar to the largest of these and consisted of an upper deck for relaxing and sunbathing and a lower deck where the food and drink was served. Access into the water was via a pair of drop down ladders at the stern.

Bedouin camp on the beach.

Beached boats against the arid backdrop of the mountains of the Southern Sinai. 

Egyptian flag on the stern of our boat

On 16 February 2013 HMS Illustrious visited Liverpool and I was lucky enough to get on board. After accessing via a gangplank on the starboard side we were able to tour the hanger and flight deck where a couple of helicopters were on display.

She is the second of the three Invincible class aircraft carriers and was laid down in 1976 at Swan Hunter on the River Tyne as Yard No. 102. She was  launched in 1978 and formally commissioned on 20 March 1983.

She has a displacement of 22,000 tonnes, 209m Length, 36m beam and 7.7m draught and is powered by 4 Rolls-Royce Olympus TM3B gas turbines providing 97,000 hp (75 MW). These give her a top speed of 30 knots and a cruising range of 5000 nautical miles at 18 Knots.

Her full complement consists of 685 crew in addition to 366 Fleet Air Arm personnel.

Armament consists of 3 × Goalkeeper CIWS (Close In Weapon Systems), these are 7 barrelled 30mm calibre weapons with a rate of fire of 4200 rounds/ minute and an effective range of between 350m and 2000m depending on ammunition type together with 2 × GAM-B01 20 mm close-range guns. 

She can also carry up to 22 helicopters.

Although she was completed too late to take part in the Falklands War she was deployed to the South Atlantic after hostilities and remained on station until the airfield was repaired. 

Since the 1980's she has taken part in numerous operations in many different parts of the World. 

Illustrious now acts as a helicopter carrier following the recent axing of her Harrier contingent and is due for withdrawal from the Royal Navy in 2014.

Photograph of the ski ramp which was used by Harriers leaving the ship.

Sea King helicopter on the flight deck.

View of the bridge

One of 814 Squadron (The Flying Tigers) helicopters on the flight deck. The pod beneath the cockpit contains the Blue Kestrel radar.

View down the starboard side of the ship

Photograph of the rear of the island.

View in the hanger of the rear flight deck lift mechanism.

A picture taken from my balcony on the Serenade of the Sea in the Mediterranean June 2012. The landmass is Sicily and was taken after we had travelled through the Straits of Messina and turned East on route to Athens.

Built in the Netherlands in 2009 by Intgervak, Harlingen (Yard No. 221) Shoalway is a trailing pipe dredger measuring 90m long, 19m wide with a maximum draught of 6.80m and 4088 GT.

Owned by Westminster Dredging she has a 900mm trailing pipe and
is able to work to depths of 30m.

She can accommodate 4500m3 of dredged material and can make 11
knots fully loaded.

Seen and photographed 21 May 2013 in Liverpool.

Late night shot of the reflection of the moon on the sea. Picture taken from my balcony on the Serenade of the Seas somewhere in the Mediterranean June 2012.