Disney Magic photographed in Liverpool on 28 May 2016.
 
She was built in Italy by Fincantieri Marghera as Yard Number 5989 and is 294m long with a 32m beam and 7.7m draft.
 
Launched on 17 April 1997 her maiden voyage was on 30 July 1998 when she sailed from Port Canaveral. 
 
Propulsion consists of 5 Sulzer 16ZAV40S Diesel Electric engines with twin propellers giving a cruising of 21.5 knots and a maximum speed of 23.5 knots.
 
Passenger capacity is 2,700 with 945 crew.
 
MMSI -308516000
REG - BS, Nassau
IMO - 9126807
Call Sign - C6PT7
Cruise Ship
Built - Fincantieri Marghera, IT
Yard Number - 5989
L - 294m W 32m
GT -83338
Year - 1998
Liverpool, 28 May 2015

Adonia photographed in Southampton on 4 April 2015.

She was originally built as the last of eight R Class ships for Renaissance Cruises and entered service in 2001 as R Eight. 

After Renaissance ceased operations and filed for bankruptcy in late 2001, the vessel was seized by creditors and laid up in Marseille, France.

In 2003 she reentered service this time as the sole cruise ship in Swan Helenics fleets and was named Minerva II. She sailed as Minerva II until April 2007 when she was transferred by the parent company (Carnival Corporation) to Princess Cruises where she was renamed Royal Princess.

She was transferred to the P&O Fleet and renamed Adonia in May 2011.

Overall she is 180.45m long with a 25.46m beam and 5.95m maximum draft.

Equipped with four Wartsila 12V32 (13,500kW) marine diesel engines she has a top speed of 18 Knots.

She can carry 777 passengers and 380 crew.

MMSI -310530000
REG - BM, Hamilton
IMO - 9210220
Call Sign - ZCDV2
Cruise Ship
Built - Atlantique, St.Nazairem FR
Yard Number - z31
L - 180m W 24m
GT -30277
Year - 2001
Southampton 4 April 2015

Railway tracks alongside Prince's dock photographed on 18 May 2016. This parcel of land is shortly due to be built on and the tracks will no doubt be removed as part of the construction work.

The old dock wall can be seen to the right.

Construction of the dock started in 1810 and it was opened in on the day of the Prince Regent's coronation as George IV in 1821.

Stone plaque photographed at Pierhead, Liverpool on 18 May 2016.

It commemorates the unity between Britain and America during World War II and the fact that over 1 million US soldiers and cargo/supplies passed through the Port of Liverpool on their way to take part in the D-Day Landings.

I also believe it commemorates the Port Battalions of the US Army Transportation Corps who were based in Liverpool and worked as stevedores, winchmen, signalman, riggers etc alongside their UK counterparts. Many of those serving in the Port Battalions would have been part of the D-Day Landings and gone on to work in recaptured ports in mainland Europe or taken part in the Pacific Theatre of operations.

On the 12 May 2016 I was back in Liverpool with work for the first time in many months. Taking my normal route I came into the city from the North using the dock road all the way into the city centre before parking up and spending the day at Prince's Dock.
 
In total I added eight new ships to my list which apart from a few vessels seen on the Thames whist attending a training course earlier in the year had not been updated with any real ships for some time.
 
First new ship I saw was the container ship Nicolas Delmas (IMO 9220861, GT 26061, 2002) which was being unloaded/ loaded at the Seaforth Container terminal. Further down the docks was Arklow Brave (IMO 9638800, GT 2400, 2015) which is a relatively new addition to the Arklow fleet, bulk carrier China Spirit (IMO 9655846, GT 22434, 2013) and research vessel  Fugro Helmert (9662978, GT 496, 2013). All these ships have since left Liverpool, Nilcolas Delmas headed to Le Harve, Arklow Brave went to Ghent, China Spirit set sail for Gibraltar and Fugro Helmert went back to work off the North Wales coast.
 
The multi storey car park was busy at Princes Dock and as a result I had to park close to the top floor. This had the advantage of getting good views both up and down the river. I saw Heavy Load Carrier Jumbo Javelin (IMO 9243837, GT 15022, 2004) in Camell Lairds basin and looking North veteran Heavy Load Carrier Zhen Hua 25 (IMO 8700242, GT 38255, 1998)  was unloading new cranes at the docks. Again at the time of writing these vessels have both left Liverpool with Jumbo Javelin heading to Rostock and Zhen Hua 25 to Port Said.
 
Taking a break at lunchtime I walked to the river front but apart from the pilot boats the river was quiet and calm, in the distance I did however see the Container Ship Antwerp (IMO 9175781, 1999) heading slowly into port and later on my way home MSC Anahita (IMO 9148025, 1997) was in the docks and was the last ship I saw before turning East and heading home.

Sunset over Pennington Flash, Leigh in North West England photographed as we got back to the car after a walk on 2 April 2016.

Pennington Flash is on land that was prone to flooding in an area where there was subsidence from the local coal mines, a 'Flash' is a term for water filled hollow formed by subsidence.

Up to the early part of the 20th Century the land was used for farming but two farms eventually became flooded completely and had to be abandoned, the first Lower Allanson’s in 1907 and Urmston’s-in-the-Meadows in about 1910. During the 1920s the Flash sometimes almost disappeared and at other times caused flooding to nearby residential areas and farmland.

In November 1923 the residents on the northern edge of the Flash were forced to leave their homes because of flooding. A farm on the south side of the Flash was flooded in Spring 1926, sometimes the flash almost completely disappeared as in July 1926 but each winter the water returned. Summer 1927 brought another drought and once again there was very little water in the Flash, however floods in September and severe gales in October brought the water level up again. A railway that crossed the area was underwater in January 1928 and in May of the same year the track was reinforced and the rails re-laid.

Between January and March 1929 the Flash was completely frozen over for the first time since 1907. A storm in January 1930 caused the banks to break again causing severe flooding in the surrounding area. By the Summer 1930 the water had almost completely disappeared with the water only ankle deep. Yet again the water returned in the Winter months. The cycle of the water drying up in Summer and then the returning in winter with the risk of flooding the local area seems to be a reoccurring theme that continued  up to the 1960's.

In 1951 a weir was built to control the minimum level of water in the Flash but in August 1962 freak storms caused more floods. In December 1964 there was more local flooding and a £4000 plan was put into operation in March 1965 to prevent more flooding, this seems to have failed as the surrounding areas were flooded both in February & July 1968.

During the 1970s the idea for using the for recreation and conservation were emerging and a total of 858.25 acres, costing approximately £300,000 was bought.

Pennington Flash Country Park was officially opened in 1981. The Park has a number of tracks and paths that offer walks of varying length through the nature reserve.  More than 230 species of bird  have been recorded. Insects are also abundant with 20 species of butterfly and 16 species of dragonfly being recorded in recent years. Wild flowers also grow in profusion around the nature reserve.

Painting of the SS Falaba photographed on 2 May 2015 at Liverpool Maritime Museum.

She was built by A. Stephen & Sons, Ltd., Glasgow in 1906 and was owned by the Elder Line. 

GRT was 4,806 and she was 116m long with a 14.45m beam and 7m draft.

Her engine was a 1 x 3 cyl. triple expansion engine, single shaft, 1 screw with 4 boilers giving a top speed of 14 knots.

On 28 March 1915 Falaba was on a voyage from Liverpool to the West coast of Africa with passengers and general cargo when German Submarine U-28 stopped and sank her off the coast of Southern Ireland. 

Of the 145 passengers and 95 crew, 104 lives were lost

Port of London catamaran harbour patrol vessel Barnes photographed on the River Thames close to the Tower of London on 26 April 2016.

She is one of four sister ships used in the middle and lower districts of the tidal Thames, between Putney Bridge and the North Sea.

She was built by Alnmaritec, based in Alnwick, Northumberland and was  designed by Newcastle University.

The vessels are 13.5 metres long and 4.8 metres wide with a weight of 11 tonnes.

Two John Deere 200 horsepower marine diesel engines provide a maximum speed of 21 knots and a patrol speed of 18 knots.

The Port of London Authority cover 95 miles of the River Thames. They work to keep commercial and leisure users safe, protect and enhance the environment and promote the use of the river for trade and travel.