STI Ville photographed in Liverpool Docks on 20 January 2014.

She was built in 2013 by Hyundai Mipo in Ulsan, South Korea as Yard Number 2350 and is 183.31m long with a 32m beam and 13.02m draught.

In total she has twelve holds in addition to two slop tanks giving a 55314m3 capacity at 100%.
 
Main engine comprises a Hyundai B&W 6S50ME-B9.2  (99 rpm. 8890 kW).
 
GT = 29715, NT = 14103 & DWT = 49990

She is owned by Scorpio Tankers Inc who have executive offices in Monaco and New York, they are a provider of marine transportation of petroleum  products Worldwide.

STI Ville was their twelfth new build MR tanker.

MMSI - 538005120
REG - MH, Majuro
IMO - 9645798
Call Sign - V7BD4
Chemical  Oil Products Tanker
Built - Hyundai Mipo, Ulsan, KR
Yard No. - 2350
L 183.31m W 32m
GT 29715
Year - 2013
Liverpool,  20 January 2014

Eships Bainunah photographed in Liverpool Docks on 20 January 2014.

I have seen her before, the first time also being in Liverpool on 15 December 2011.

She was built in 2005 by Anadolu in Tuzla Turkey as Yard Number 187 and is 122.66m long with a 17.2m beam and 6.85m Summer Draught.

GT = 5039 and NT 2398

In total she has 13 tanks with a capacity totalling 8,434m3 (98%).

Powered by a MAK 8M32C (3480kW) diesel engine she has a top speed of 13.5 Knots. She is also equipped with a FRAMO 495KW/1450RPM bow thruster and has a MAN D2842LE 301-3X620KW auxiliary engine.

Eships Bainunah is operated by by Herning Shipping who are based in Herning, Denmark. They commenced operations in 1963 to ensure a reliable supply for the family-owned oil company. A change of ownership took place in August 2011 and Herning Shipping is today owned by Triton, a private equity investment firm. 
 
MMSI - 236475000
REG - GI, Gibraltar
IMO - 9293325
Call Sign - ZDIQ7
Chemical / Oil Products Tanker
Built - Anadolu, Tuzla, TR
Yard No. - 187
L 122m W 17m
GT 5039
Year - 2005
Liverpool, 20 January 2014

Bulk Carrier Marvelette photographed in Liverpool Docks being loaded with scrap metal on 22 May 2014, she left port shortly I took the picture bound for Gibraltar.

She was built in 1998 by Tsuneishi in Numakuma Japan as Yard Number 1116 and is 186m long with a 30m beam and 9.5m draught.

GT = 26028 & DWT = 45621 

Her hold capacity is 57,208.4 m3.

Until 2006 she was called Vindonissa when her name changed to Sovi R, she acquired her current name at the end of 2010.

She is operated by PL Shipping who are based in Athens, they bought their first vessel in 2007 and Marveletta is one of six bulk carriers in their fleet. 

MMSI - 256376000
REG - MT, Valetta
IMO - 9163491
Call Sign - 9HS8
Bulk Carrier
Built - Tsuneishi, Numakuma, JP
Yard No. - 1116
L 186m W 30m
GT 26028
Year - 1998
Liverpool, 25 May 2014

Chemical / Oil Products Tanker Atlantis Andaman photographed in
Liverpool docks on 27 May 2014. 

She was built by Istanbul DY, Tuzla, Turkey as Yard Number 21 in 2009 and is 109m long with a 16.8m beam and 6.m draught.

GT = 4623, DWT 5870, NT 1992

Powered by a Caterpillar MaK 8M25 diesel engine (2,665 kW) driving a single 3950m diameter propeller she can make 14 knots and has a cruising range of 9100nm.`

She has 10 tanks+2 cargo tanks with a total capacity of 7167m3.

Accommodation is provided on board in the form of twelve single berth cabins, two suites with separate bedrooms and a pilot cabin. 

She departed Liverpool for Grangemouth a few days after I saw her.

She is operated by Atlantis Tankers who are a chemical and oil transportation company with a fleet of eight vessels. They  transport  a wide variety of cargoes such as organic and non-organic chemicals, clean and  dirty petroleum products, vegetable oils and lube oils,  the group was formed in 2002. 

MMSI- 249701000
REG - MT, Valetta
IMO - 9508079
Call Sign - 9HYK9
Chemical / Oil Products Tanker
Built - Istanbul DY, Tuzla, TR
Yard No. - 21
L 109m W 16.8m
GT 4263
Year - 2009
Liverpool, 27 May 2014

Highland Eagle photographed in Liverpool Docks on 27 May 2014.

She is a geotechnical investigation vessel and is equipped with a AMR600 drill rig which is capable of drilling up to 800m below sea level.

The Highland Eagle has been taken on a long term charter by GEMS who are a multidisciplinary  international geotechnical engineering and marine survey group working primarily offshore. They specilaise in offshore geotechnical site investigations, marine  geophysics, hydrography, environmental and other studies.

Highland Eagle is primarily used for oil and gas site investigations and windfarm turbine investigations. She is capable of Geotechnical investigations, onboard  testing and 200kN Seabed piezocone penetration testing (PCPT).

She was built in 2003 by Brattvaag Skipsverft, Norway as yard number 95 and is 72m long with a 16m beam and 5.9m draught.

GRT = 2244, NRT =936 and DWT 3,200

She has two main engines both rated at 2,725 BHP with a single 800 BHP bow thruster, twin 800 BHP stern thrusters and a 1000 BHP Azimuth thruster.

Accommodation on board comprises 14 single and 12 twin rooms.

Projects conducted offshore by GEMS include geotechnical investigations for piled and gravity base foundation design, jack up stability, subsea templates, oil and gas pipelines, cable routes and windfarms.

Highland Eagle is one of three vessels in their fleet  undertaking dedicated 
geotechnical and site investigation work. 

MMSI - 235639000
REG - UK, London
IMO -  9249465
Call Sign -  VQIE5
Research Ship
Built - Brattvaag Skipsvert, Brattvaag, NO
Yard No. - 95
L 72m W 16m
GT 2244
Year - 2003
Liverpool, 27 May 2014

Again I managed to spend the best part of two days in Liverpool last week (Monday and Tuesday), the weather was great with a temperature of 20+
degrees each day.

Only two new ships to add to the list, Balticdiep (IMO 9342140, GT 4125, 2007) which was heading to Eastham and BBC Celina (IMO 9468102, GT 9611, 2010). 

There were quite a few other ships I had not seen but sadly for one reason or another I missed these and by the time I realised they were passing by they were out of sight.

Balticdiep has since left Eastham for Corcubion in Spain, BBC Celina has also departed bound for Rostock.

On Monday I am again in Liverpool but will not be arriving until after lunch. I read that HMS Westminster is in port and due to depart on Monday so I may or may not get to see her.

We went past Jamestone Quarry on 26 May 2014 whilst on a walk in Rossendale.

Quarrying for stone first began here in 1798 when men were digging for stone in a field called Stone Pitts pasture which belonged to Dicken Height Farm.  

Stone was initially extracted for local use but with the coming of the industrial revolution production increased dramatically to satisfy the growing demands of textile mills, housing and agricultural stone walling. With the arrival of the railways into the area in 1846 quarrying here and in the area expanded significantly and for the next 60 years stone was extracted with whole hillsides dissappearing in order to provide stone for towns and cities across the country as well as for export abroad.

From the ports of Liverpool and London stone was sent by ship to India, the Far East and America. At the peak of production between 1860 and 1890 some 3000 people worked in the quarries.

By 1919 the demand for stone together with rising extraction prices resulted in the closure of many quarries in the area and the removal and scrapping of the mineral tramways which ran across the moors and linked the quarries with the main railway sidings.

A closer view of the quarry wall, the stone in the area is hard sandstone with alternate layers of shale. The quarry itself has filled up with water.

Moorland around the quarry, this would have been a very harsh place to work in the winter months.

A dry stone wall heads up the hill and across the moors.

Another view of the quarry looking roughly south.

Remains of a building above the quarry.

The remains of a wall running along the side of the path. The path rapidly  petered away just after we passed the ruined building and the ground became very wet and muddy, we turned back at this point.

Russian flagged general cargo ship Shuya heading South through the Straits of Messina on 2 June 2012.

The Straits of Messina form the narrow passage between the Eastern tip of Sicily and the Western tip of Calabria in Southern Italy. It connects the Tyrrehenian Sea to the North with the Ionian sea to the South and  at its narrowest point it measures 1.9 miles wide although near the town of Messina the width increases to approximately 3.2 miles, maximum depth is
830 ft.

Behind the ship can be seen the city of Messina and some of the ferries that regularly cross the straits to either Villa San Giovanni or Reggio Calabrie on the mainland.
 
I took the photograph from the Serenade of the Seas as we headed to Kusadasi.

Powered by a MAK 8M332C (1600kW) Diesel Engine she can make 11
Knots.

GT = 2889 and NT 1471.

She was built by Cassens , Emden, Germany in 1994 and is 96m long with a 13.4m beam and 5.13m draught.

Her single hold has a capacity of 3886m3.

She is owned by Baltasar Shipping who are based in Pertozavodsk in Russia.

MMSI  -273417060
REG - RU, St.Petersburg
IMO - 9105841
Call Sign - UIWD
General Cargo Ship
Built - Cassens, Emden, DE
Yard No - 200
L 96m W 13.4m
GT - 2899
Year - 1994
Straits Of Messina, 2 June 2012

General Cargo Ship Bente photographed on 3 February 2013 heading towards Cammell Lairds at Birkenhead carrying wind turbine shafts.

She was built by Qingdao Heshun SY Co in Qingdao China in 2010 as Yard No  hs-5001 and is 89.79m long with a 15.4m beam and 5.8m draught.

GT = 3556, Summer DWT= 4782 and NT = 1580

Powered by a MAN-B&W 8L28/32A - 8 cylinder diesel engine she can make 11.5 knots.

She has a single hold measuring 43.4m x 12.6m x 8.4m with two movable bulkheads and a single hatch cover.

Hold capacity is 5778m3.

She is one of 21 vessels operated by Hamburg based Company Pool Carriers which was founded in 2004, they operate a fleet of modern coasters mainly in European waters.

MMSI - 248254000
REG - MT, Valetta
IMO - 9506552
Call Sign - 9HA2287
General Cargo Ship
Built - Qingdao Heshun SY Co, Qingdao, CN
Yard No - hs-5001
L 89.79m W 15.4m
GT - 3556
Year - 2010
Liverpool, 3 February 2013

I spent Monday 9 June 2014 and Tuesday 10 June 2014 in Liverpool last week and saw a total of eight new ships to add to the list.

Monday was a bright sunny day and an early morning drive past the docks on my way into work resulted in me seeing Bulk Carriers Leo Advance (IMO
9442225, GT 31250, 2007) and Thor Infinity ( IMO 9238466, GT 30303, 2002)
opposite the main container terminal at Seaforth. I am not sure where Leo
Advance went after leaving port but I believe Thor Infinity headed for Iskenderun in Turkey soon after I saw her.

Closer to work I saw the General Cargo Ship Nomadic Hjellestad (IMO 9452220, GT 9530, 2010) , she has also since left Liverpool bound for Gdansk.

At the Tranmere Oil Terminal was Minerva Antonia (IMO 9380398, GT 29295, 2008), she is one of a number of Minerva ships I have seen  in Liverpool and in other locations around the UK. Having left Liverpool she is at the time of writing heading roughly East through the English Channel on her way to the North Hinder Anchorage at a sedate 4.3knots.

On my way home on Monday I drove past Seaforth and whilst I was in work the Container ship Francop (IMO 9277412, GT 7519, 2003) had arrived in port, she left shortly after I saw her for Dublin.

Tuesday was a day of thunderstorms and very heavy rain showers that flooded the roads and paths. 
 
I spent the whole day in Liverpool and two General Cargo Ships Thea II( IMO 9107394, GT 2889, 1995) and Theseus (IMO 9390159, GT 2450, 2009)
passed me whilst I was in an office close to the river. Theuseus has since
sailed to Dagenham but Thea II is still in Liverpool although she is now in the
Container terminal. 

Setting off for home during a gap in the weather I saw the newly arrived Portland Bay (IMO 9276200, GT 16960, 2004)  in Liverpool Docks, she has since left port and is currently on her way to Ghent in Belgium. 

After battling through the storms to get home before heading inside I stood under the canopy over my front door and listened to the continuous growl of thunder whilst watching  bands of the very dark menacing clouds laced with horizontal lightning pass overhead followed by rain and hail.