Western Shipping was set up in Singapore in 1987 with the primary focus to conduct agency business and crew management. In 1992 after a change of ownership the business became a technical management company.

In 2000 Western Shipping was offered a MR size tanker for technical management and by 2006 it was managing ten ships and it was considered that a change of name to Western Shipping Pte Ltd, would portray a better profile for the company.

The company today manages a modern fleet of tankers consisting of MR (oil/chemical), Panamax (LR 1), Aframax (LR 2). The vessels are offered and engaged in worldwide trade.

Ship photographed is Mercini Lady (IMO 9241073, GT 27505, 2004) photographed in the Solent near Fawley on 4 April 2015.

St.George's church, Simister photographed on 10 July 2016 near the end of an enjoyable 5K walk out in the countryside.
 
The  building was designed by R. Basnett Preston in a combination of romanesque and vernacular revival styles. It was built during the First World War and opened on 14 October 1915 as a mission church serving the people of the village.
 
It is constructed of random rubblestone with ashlar dressings and has a slate roof.

I took this photo on 6 July 2016. Having seen the memorial a few times and after reading the brass plaque I decided to do a bit more research.

In May 1865 the tea clipper Mimosa was in Liverpool's Clarence Graving Dock being fitted out for a voyage to carry Welsh emigrants to Patagonia in South America. Mimosa was at the time 12 years old and not apparently the first vessel of choice. The vessel Halton Castle which was better equipped to carry passengers was to have taken the voyage in April 1865 but for some reason was still at sea and a such unavailable.

Within the hold partitions were constructed to separate the men's sleeping quarters from the women's and the areas were fitted out with tables, benches and other items for the passengers. The cost of fitting, provisioning and chartering Mimosa was £2,500. The fare for adults was £12 and £6 for children, although. The duration of the voyage was uncertain and provisions sufficient for a six month voyage were stored.

Mimosa's Captain was George Peperell and he assembled a crew of 18 which was a larger one than than needed for carrying only cargo. Most of the crew were from Liverpool with two sailors from a Swedish ship and another from a Portuguese vessel. Upon discovering that his passengers were almost all solely Welsh speaking the Captain  signed on a young Welshman called Richard Berwyn as purser (Richard later became the first school teacher of the colony). Because, by law, a doctor was required for any ship carrying more than fifty passengers, a young doctor from Ireland called Thomas Greene, who had just completed his medical studies and who was looking for a medical position overseas was signed on as ship's surgeon. 

The passengers numbered 153 and came from all parts of North and South Wales. There were 56 married adults, 33 single or widowed men and 12 single women who were either sisters of married passengers or servants, the remainder were children or babies.

Mimosa left Clarence Graving Dock on 25 May 1865 and was towed into Victoria Dock, a few days later on 28 May1865 she left the River Mersey and headed out into the Irish Sea.

The journey took 65 days and despite the daily issue of lime or lemon juice as a precaution against scurvy, many of the passengers began to suffer from boils and bleeding gums. The conditionas below decks particularly in the tropics was appalling

Five children died on the voyage and two babies were born.

A widow and widower were married sortly after leaving Liverpool.

At a Brazilian port where they stopped to replenish provisions the Captain tried unsuccessfully to persuade the passengers to disembark to join a colony already established in Brazil.

As Mimosa sailed further south they encountered the cold of the South Atlantic.
On clear days columns of vapour could be seen far out to sea. The thought of steamships sailing so far south was a comfort to the passengers that their destination was not as isolated as they had been led to believe. It was the mate who realized that the "smoke" was not from steamships, but from whales.

Finally, just before dawn on 27 July 1865 Mimosa reached her destination and dropped anchor in a natural harbour comprising a semi-circle of rocks, some 8 miles wide and 22 miles in length. Most of the passengers dressed in their best clothes were on deck before dawn. At about one o'clock in the afternoon there was a  gunshot from shore and by late afternoon Lewis Jones and Edwyn Roberts rowed out to where Mimosa was anchored and came on board.

Disembarcation took more than a day as the passengers had to be rowed to shore along with their possessions which included farm implements and pieces of furniture. The ship's cook elected to remain with the colony and left the ship. 

On the next day everyone gathered on the beach. A short sermon of thanks was held and the place where they stood was named Port Madryn after Madryn Castle on the windswept Llyn Peninsular in North Wales.

Little is known of Mimosa after her voyage to Patagonia except that in the following year the entire crew mutinied over short rations and Pepperell was incarcerated on board. 

What became of her is not known. 

Elizbeth Knutsen (IMO 9131357)  heads up the River Mersey to Stanlow on 6 July 2016 assisted by tugs Svitzer Bidston, Ashgarth & Svitzer Stanlow.

I was in Liverpool for most of the day and although I have seen all these vessels before I did manage throughout the course of the day to add nine new ships to my list.

Juergen K (General Cargo Ship, IMO 9195717, GT 2545, 2001)
Blumenau (Bulk Carrier, IMO 9605633, GT 43951, 2012)
HTC Alfa (Bulk Carrier, IMO 9635614, GT 32987, 2013)
Cemvale (Cement Carrier, IMO 9048287, GT 2827, 1992)
Patea (Tanker) IMO 9373632, GT 11935, 2008)
MSM Dolores (General Cargo Ship, IMO 9519030, GT 4358, 2012)
Salt Island (Tug, IMO 9505015, GT 213, 2008)
Besiktas Iceland (Tanker, IMO 9395367, GT 5098, 2007)
WEC Mondriaan (Container Ship, 9354363, GT 9981, 2006)

Viking photographed on the River Mersey on 6 July 2016. 
 
She was built by Kooiman gebroeders Scheepwerf in Zwijndrecht, The Netherlands as Yard Number 177 in 2008.
 
Overall she is 30.8m long with a 10.79m beam and 3.75m summer draught.
 
Her main engines comprise twin Mitsubishi Type SU12UMPTK - 4 Stroke 12 Cylinder 240 x 260cm internal combustion engines each of 3040bhp totaling 4476 kW / 6080bhp at 1100rpm. This gives a service speed of 10 knots and a top speed of 13.5 knots via twin propellers. She also has a 240kW bow thruster.
 
Bollard pull is 75-80t
 
She is also equipped with a Heila 200t deck crane.
 
MMSI - 245039000
REG - NL, Delfzijl
IMO - 9431903
Call Sign - PIHD
Tug
Built -  Kooiman, Zwiijndrecht, NL
Yard No.177
L 30.8m x W 10.79m
GT - 332
Year - 2008
Liverpool, 6 July  2016

Rivington Church photographed on 3 July 2016.

We parked nearby and stopped off at the nearby church hall for tea and a cake before completing a 6 mile walk out into the countryside which took us through woods, across fields and dams, around reservoirs and along quiet country lanes.
 
Built in 1540 by Richard Pilkington, Lord of the Manor, Rivington Church was consecrated on the 11th October 1541 by the Bishop of Chester, Dr Bird. The church is thought to be built on the site of a former place of worship from the 13th century.

In 1566 the church was granted a charter by Elizabeth I. The charter decreed that the building should be used for sacrements and gave the people the right to choose their own minister. The original chest that held the document is still in the church but the charter is now kept at Rivington and Blackrod High School.

The church had a major rebuild in 1666 and the roof was restored in the 1800's.
In 1832 the church was badly damaged by an arsonist and in 1923 electric lighting was installed in the church.

The earliest reference to a church on this site is in a deed of 1280 mentioning three acres of "terra ecclesiastical" in Rivington. A Saxon font, found locally is housed in the church. When repairs were carried out to the flooring, the foundations of an earlier building were discovered which were possibly Saxon in origin.
 
The church is built of irregularly coursed sandstone. It is quite a  small building with windows on each side. The nave is 55 feet 6 inches in length by 27 feet 6 inches in width and the chancel, 13 feet 6 inches by 15 feet 6 inches. There is a 19th century gabled porch between the centre and western windows on the south side and a modern vestry on north side. The west gable wall has an elliptical-headed doorway and there is an octagonal bell turret with square base and a conical roof. The roof is covered with green slates and finished with overhanging eaves.
 
The earliest visible gravestone in the churchyard is dated 1616.

​Caroline A photographed at Fawley on 11 April 2015.
 
GT = 3,595, NT = 1,466 and DWT = 4,800.
 
Built in China she is 102.5m long with a 15.2m beam and 5.80m draught.

​She is equipped with a MAN B&W 6L21/31 diesel engine (2,580kW) and can make 12 knots.

MMSI -247353200
REG - IT, Catania
IMO - 9570565
Call Sign - IBGF
Chemical / Oil Products Tanker
Built - Yizheng Yangzi, CN
Yard Number -
L - 102.5m W 15.2m
GT - 3595
Year - 2011
Fawley, 11 April 2015

UKD Sealion photographed at Fawley on 4 April 2015.

She is a 25m Multicat built by Damen Shipyards for UK Dredging and was designed to provide dredging support with bed levelling, buoy handling and survey capability. Her principal duties are bed levelling and her 10m plough is capable of working at a depth of 20m.

The Multicat form provides the stability to assist in dredging support, to handle floating pipelines and to act as a marine working platform. She is fully equipped with DGPS and digital mapping and can work with other dredgers or on a stand alone basis.  

Winch arrangements permit three point anchoring allowing accurate positioning for holding the vessel on station in difficult tidal or weather conditions.

Accommodation is provided for 5 people.

Overall she is 25.97m long with a 10.06m beam and 2.55m maximum draught.

Speed is 9.6 knots via twin Cummins KTA 19M3 (2 x 477kW).

Bollardpull is 17.6t

MMSI - 235004829
REG -  UK, Southampton
IMO - 9267314
Call Sign - VSUX2
Dredger
Built - Damen SY, NL
Yard No.- 999
L 25.97m W 10.06m
GT 224
Year - 2003
Fawley, 4 April 2015