Hoegh Africa photographed on 31 October 2015 in our way back into Southampton after a week away on the Isle of Wight.

She was built in 2004 and up to 2009 was called Hual Africa.

She is known as a PCTC - Pure Car and Truck Carrier.

GT = 57,692, DWT = 21,214 & NT = 21,116.

Built by Stocznia Gdynia S.A. in Gdynia, Poland as Yard Number 8168/5 she is 
199.98 m long overall and 188.00 m between perpendiculars. Breadth is 32.26 m
and Summer draught is 10.00m. Overall depth is 19.98m. Her keel was laid on 30 April 2003, she was launched on 9 December 2003 and completed on 10 February 2004.

Her main engine is a single Wärtsilä 7RTA62U manufactured by Wärtsilä NSD Switzerland Ltd and she has one propeller.

Generators on board comprise 3x MAN 7L28/32H main diesel generator sets and a MAN D2866LXE30 emergency generator.

In total she can carry 6,600 cars over 8 decks.

Crew complement is 27.

She is owned by Africa Maritime Limited who are based in the Isle of Man and is on long term time charter to Hoegh Autoliners Shipping A/S.

Hoegh Autoliners, Hoegh's ship owning history dates back to 1927 when Leif Hoegh founded Leif Hoegh & Co. Initially the owning and operating of tankers formed the mainstay of the companies work however this soon diversified and after operating combined oil/bulk/ore carriers they started transporting cars and other vehicles.  

MMSI - 311594000
REG - BS, Nassau
IMO - 9277814
Call Sign - C6TD3
Vehicles Carrier
Built -  Stozcnia, Gydnia, PO
Yard No.8168/05
L 199.98m x W 32.26m
GT - 57692
Year - 2004
Southampton, 31 October 2015 

LS Eva photographed at Fawley on 24 October 2015.

She is managed by Lauranne Shipping BV. The company was established as a vessel management company in 1996 and has managed over 30 oil and chemical vessels since. At present the business manages 8 tankers, all commissioned  in Romania and Turkey, with an average fleet age of 4 years.

Overall she is 99.9m long with a 15m breadth and 6.068m summer draft.

Cargo tank capacity in her 12 main tanks 5,170.90m3 @ 100% with 122.71m3 of slop tank capacity.

DWT = 4,726, GT = 3,264 & NT = 1,452.

Main engine is a AVM-DPS, Duplicated Propulsion System.

Auxiliary engines are 3 x Diesel Generator Caterpillar, 370 kW each and a single emergency diesel generator,(150 kW)  She also has a 300 kW bow thruster.

Top speed is 12.5 knots. 

MMSI - 236364000
REG - GI, Gibraltar
IMO - 9379478
Call Sign - ZDHU4
Chemical / Oil Products Tanker
Built - Tersan, Tulza, TR
Yard No. - 16
L 99.9m W 15m
GT - 3264
Year - 2007
Fawley, 24 October 2015

We visited Ribchester on the 24 October 2016 and visited the Church and Roman Museum before getting lunch in a local pub.

The church dates from the 13th Century and was built within the walls of the Roman Fort that once stood here.

A chapel and porch were added to the church in the 14th century and the tower was added to the west in the late 15th century. In the 16th century, the roofs were removed in order to increase the height of the chancel walls and new windows were added to the aisle wall. Major repairs to the building took place in 1685–6 and in 1711. A west gallery was added in 1736. The church underwent restoration in 1881 that included the rebuilding of the north wall of the chancel.

The church is constructed of sandstone with slate roofs.

Torrens photographed in Southampton on 24 October 2015.

She is a PCTC (Pure Car and Truck Carrier) and the first vessel in a series of ten built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Nagasaki, Japan. The vessel is specially suited for cars and trucks but she has also flexibility to carry project cargo and containers.  

Torrens has a total capacity of 6350 cars and has a complement of 27.

Her sister ships are Toledo, Toronto, Topeka, Tombarra and Tortugas.

The vessel is fitted with two loading and discharging ramps with entrance on deck 5. 

The propulsion machinery is a Mitsubishi-UE 7UEC60LSII engine with an output of 13240kW at 105  rpm. The main engine is attached to a fixed 5-blade propeller and fitted with remote control from the bridge and control room. For increased manouvering abilities there is one Hitachi thruster installed with an output of 1200 kW. The vessel is equipped with a highly effective double plated spade rudder.
​
For electrical power supply there are three B&W Holeby generators with a total output of 3300 kW. To ensure sufficient power in emergency situations one Detroit Diesel 6MC emergency generator is installed.

All cabins are located on upper deck and the vessel is equipped with gym, and separate TV-room for officers and crew to provide for the possibility of relaxing activities. Pilot cabin, canal transit cabin and spare cabin is placed on the upper deck for easy access to the bridge. Bridge wings are enclosed.

​For fire extinguishing, the ship is fitted with both a permanent installed CO2 fire extinguishing system and a number of portable CO2 and foam fire extinguishers.

The vessel has 1Schat Harding enclosed free fall life boat with a capacity of 31 persons. In addition there are two life rafts with carrying capacity of 20 persons, two with 11person capacity each and one carrying 6 persons. 

NT = 22650, GT =  61321 &  DWT = 19628

MMSI - 232248000
REG - UK, Southampton
IMO - 9293612
Call Sign - MHBK6
Vehicles Carrier
Built -  Mitsubishi, Nagasaki, JP
Yard No.2196
L 200m x W 32m
GT - 61,321
Year - 2004
Southampton, 24 October 2015 

Lizrix photographed from East Cowes inbound to Fawley on 26 October 2015.

She has a Yanmar 4 Cylinder 6 Stroke Diesel Engine 956kw / 1299 hp marine diesel engine giving a top speed of 20.8 knots.

She has 10 tanks with a total capacity of 2203.56 m3 + 108.43 slop tanks.

She is operated by Rix Shipping who are based in Hull. 

Rix dates back to 1873 when a sea Captain and Merchant Adventurer called Robert Rix traded out of Hull. Robert Rix started in business as a shipbuilder, building small coastal craft on the south bank of the River Tees in Stockton.

MMSI - 235067266
REG - UK, Douglas
IMO - 9428188
Call Sign - 2ATQ8
Chemical / Oil Products Tanker
Built Tecli, TR
Yard Number - 102
L =77m x 11m
GT - 1343
Year - 2008
East Cowes, 26 October 2015

Armsgrove Viaduct photographed on 2 October 2016.

The viaduct is located just North of Bolton near the village of Entwhistle.

It was completed in 1848 by the Blackburn, Darwen & Bolton Railway Company to bridge the valley containing Bradshaw Brook. The valley was later dammed in 1876 to form a reservoir.

The viaduct and its nine arches posed the greatest challenge on the entire line for the contractors. Having found suitable stone to complete the job, the main problem was transporting the blocks of dressed stone from Stanworth Delph near Withnell, along 7 miles of mainly impassable roads to the work site. In an effort to speed up progress the stonemasons were offered a previously unheard of rate of six shillings and six pence (32½ p) per day.

The viaduct is still in use today.

Stena Performance's funnels (IMO 9299159, GT 36168, 2006) photographed at Fawley on 30 October 2015.

Stena Bulk was founded in 1982 and is one of the world’s leading tanker shipping companies providing the transport of crude oil and refined petroleum at sea. Their fleet consists of approximately 100 vessels and they have offices in six countries and employ around 20,000 people.

HMS Duncan photographed during her open day in Liverpool on 25 June 2016. We arrived mid morning and was surprised to see that there was no queue to see her. She is the sixth and last Type 45 Destroyer and is names after Viscount Adam Duncan who defeated a Dutch fleet at the battle of Camperdown on 11 October 1797.

She was launched on 11 October 2010 and commissioned into the fleet on 26 September 2013[

Her overall length is 152.4m with a 21.2m beam and 7.4m draught and she is powered by two Rolls-Royce WR-21 Gas Turbine (28,800 shp each ) giving a maximum speed of 29 Knots and a range of 7,000 nm at 18 Knots.

Armament consists of the Sea Viper Missile System and Aster 15 and 30 missiles, 4.5 inch naval gun together with CIWS, miniguns and GPMG's. 

The vessels phased array Sampson radar which has a range of 400 km enables the ship to react to and engage multiple targets. The Aster 15 missiles have a range of 30km and speed of Mach 3 whilst the Aster 30 variant has a range of 100km and with a speed of Mach 4.5 is the ships area Air Defence Missile.  can be seen between the main 
gun and bridge. 

In her hanger she has Lynx or Merlin helicopters which can be armed with Sea Skua anti-ship missiles or anti-submarine torpedoes.

Duncan' badge - A silver hunting horn on a red field.

Duncan's timber name plate

Royal navy RIB. 

Typical corridor

Ward room

Medical room.

In the operations room.

Looking towards the bow.

View inside the gun showing the automatic loading mechanism.

​The 48 cell SYLVER A50 vertical missile launcher.

Long range photograph of HTMS Chik (842) taken as I walked along the beach in Hua Hin on 21 July 2016. She was one of a number of naval ships moored just off the coast.

The ships are on guard/ protection duty to the nearby royal residences which also includes an exclusion zone along the seafront to all maritime vessels including jet skies and small boats.

From reading articles on the internet the naval presence is semi-permanent and ships in the Thai Navy operate on three month rotational basis. Around 300 naval personnel are involved and up to six warships. They are provisioned by local suppliers and may also be visited by refueling vessels returning to base at Sattahip (Chonburi Province) for any maintenance.

REG - TH
Chuang Class Water Ship
Built - Mahidol Adulyadej Naval Yard
L 33m W 6m
GT - 180
Year - 1966
Hua Hin, 21 July 2016

Funnel of STI Bronx (IMO 9706841, 29735, 2015), photographed at Fawley on 24 October 2015.

She is part of the Scorpio Tankers fleet.

They operate within the petroleum products supply chain distributing products like gasoline, heating oil, and fuel oil from refineries to end users. 

Scorpio Tankers Inc. is incorporated in the Republic of The Marshall Islands and has principal executive offices in Monaco and New York.