Merchant Ships: Various
Clyde
2020
Introduction
**Page Under Construction**
My first `ship shot` of 2020 was the Bulk Carrier Sebat, heading downriver on her way out to sea on 15 April after calling at Shieldhall, Glasgow.
As of this year any non-military nautical traffic photographed on the Clyde, including Fisheries Protection and Border Agency vessels, will be listed on a single Merchant Shipping page. A combination of less ships coming upriver to Clydebank or the Glasgow city docks, further reduced as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, and less opportunity for me to get out and snap any vessels that do appear, means that it`s no longer worthwhile creating individual pages for bulk carriers, tankers, container ships, general cargo vessels etc. The most recent entry for this year will appear at the top of the page.
I`ve taken hundreds of bulk carrier shots over the years and many of the following years are still incomplete. Links to previous entries appear below...
Likewise, general cargo ships appearing on the Clyde have previously been given their own pages each year. I`ll put the links here when I get the chance, but like the bulkers, not all have been completed to the volume of entries...
Name - *most recent at top*
On 19 May, BBC News reported that three cruise ships are to be moored in Glasgow amid a dispute between the harbour operator and a neighbouring council. Peel Ports plans to receive the vessels with skeleton crews for short-term berths at King George V docks in Shieldhall. It has also received requests to lay-up ships at Greenock, but Inverclyde Council continue to oppose the move after councillors met to discuss the matter. However there was no change in position and officers were asked to meet with Peel Ports to convey the council's "strong opposition".
Officers are also to look into the positions of the local MP and MSP on the issue and assess whether to bring the matter to the Scottish and UK governments. Peel Ports told the council last month that it had received a number of requests from cruise companies who wanted to berth their ships on the Clyde. Operators are laying up their vessels, with just crew members on board, until travel restrictions are lifted. Earlier this month Inverclyde Council voiced its opposition because of the pressures on the health service - as the council remains the worst-hit area for deaths involving coronavirus. However Peel Ports said there was a "strict, well-established protocol" in place - and there was no reason to treat cruise ships with minimal crews any differently to cargo ships.
Cllr Jim Clocherty told BBC Scotland that while Inverclyde had a "good relationship" with Peel Ports, the health of the population during the Covid-19 pandemic was of concern. He also said the council was "frustrated" because of the council's "lack of power and accountability". He said: "We've got the hard reality of being at the top of the Covid death table in Scotland so we have got as local authority to ensure that our population is safe. "Our frustration is when you have the commercial operator also being in control of the port authority - it seems to us there's a conflict there. "It's not for the council to resolve, but I think there are questions for the Scottish parliament to say - should a commercial operator also be a port authority?" David Huck, Peel Ports' group managing director confirmed while the harbour authority had no plans to moor ships at Greenock, it would receive three vessels at Shieldhall next month.
He said: "These are vessels which have skeleton crews of around 40 crew members each and have not had passengers on board for many weeks. The vessels involved have been deep-cleaned, are free from Covid and will be on the high seas for at least two weeks prior to arriving on the Clyde. "There are literally hundreds of vessels arriving and departing from British ports daily, carrying vital goods and supplies, all subject to strict controls, statutory checks and regulations and these vessels are no different." (to edit)*
Officers are also to look into the positions of the local MP and MSP on the issue and assess whether to bring the matter to the Scottish and UK governments. Peel Ports told the council last month that it had received a number of requests from cruise companies who wanted to berth their ships on the Clyde. Operators are laying up their vessels, with just crew members on board, until travel restrictions are lifted. Earlier this month Inverclyde Council voiced its opposition because of the pressures on the health service - as the council remains the worst-hit area for deaths involving coronavirus. However Peel Ports said there was a "strict, well-established protocol" in place - and there was no reason to treat cruise ships with minimal crews any differently to cargo ships.
Cllr Jim Clocherty told BBC Scotland that while Inverclyde had a "good relationship" with Peel Ports, the health of the population during the Covid-19 pandemic was of concern. He also said the council was "frustrated" because of the council's "lack of power and accountability". He said: "We've got the hard reality of being at the top of the Covid death table in Scotland so we have got as local authority to ensure that our population is safe. "Our frustration is when you have the commercial operator also being in control of the port authority - it seems to us there's a conflict there. "It's not for the council to resolve, but I think there are questions for the Scottish parliament to say - should a commercial operator also be a port authority?" David Huck, Peel Ports' group managing director confirmed while the harbour authority had no plans to moor ships at Greenock, it would receive three vessels at Shieldhall next month.
He said: "These are vessels which have skeleton crews of around 40 crew members each and have not had passengers on board for many weeks. The vessels involved have been deep-cleaned, are free from Covid and will be on the high seas for at least two weeks prior to arriving on the Clyde. "There are literally hundreds of vessels arriving and departing from British ports daily, carrying vital goods and supplies, all subject to strict controls, statutory checks and regulations and these vessels are no different." (to edit)*
Mila
Wednesday 20 May: Visiting from ? stacked with wind turbine blades, the first such cargo I`ve seen upriver for a few years. They used to be fairly common. etc* Ceuta, Spain, the general cargo ship Mila (to edit)*
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FPV Hirta
Monday 19 May 2019: I nipped over to Newshot Island yet again to catch FPV Hirta en route to the King George V Dock at Glasgow. This was the vessel`s second visit to the city in ?? * // (See below). This time I walked right out to the island`s tip rather than the east end of the fields opposite the Titan Crane where Id snapped her last time. //
Hirta appeared late morning and just before I left the house, I saw the Police helicopter circling in the area of the Erskine Bridge, obviously responding to a call out. A call from Bowling Coastguard heard over the scanner confirmed that there was a report of a body in the water and crew members of the Fisheries Protection vessel were asked to keep a lookout.
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The water level was fairly high and a few cormorants were roosting on or beside the dilapidated wooden gantry which may have once held a navigation light. A pair of Red-breasted Merganser, or perhaps Goosander, were drifting close-in to shore but disappeared as Hirta approached. etc
This unidentified helicopter using a `Pipeline` call-sign crossed the Clyde at the Erskine Bridge and continued over the airport, routing for Inverkip. // Minna left the KGV mid-afternoon and headed back out to sea. (to edit)*
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"Ah knew ah should`ve insisted oan a Macaw, but the guy in the pet shoap said this wan wiz a stoatin` talker!"
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Eeborg
Superb weather greeted Netherlands-flagged cargo ship Eeborg (IMO Number: 9568328) when she sailed upriver on Wednesday 6 May. Built in 2012 by Dutch firm Niestern Sander Delfzijl, she is currently owned and managed by Wagenborg Shipping. On this occasion Eeborg was delivering agricultural products which were discharged at Shieldhall.
The Fire & Rescue Service`s boat St Mungo 2 motored past rippling the water just before the lead tug Ayton Cross sailed into view round the Dalmuir bend.
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Eeborg is 145 metres in length with a Gross tonnage of 7680 tons. (DWT 12000 tons).
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Skylark, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting and Sedge Warbler were all active in or around the reed bed but proved a challenge to photograph.
These were my best Sedge Warbler shots.
Numerous Orange-tip butterflies were flitting around an isolated clump of flowers in the breeze, landing only briefly.
FPV Minna & FPV Hirta
Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency's Patrol Vessel Minna etc //// is seen here passing Newshot island en route to Glasgow`s KGV Dock on the morning of Sunday 26 April 2020. MPV Minna was built at Ferguson's Shipyard, Port Glasgow and was launched in 2003. She is 42 metres in length and has a gross tonnage of 781. She has a crew of 15, a top speed of 14 knots and is used mainly for inshore enforcement tasks. (to edit)*
Riverbank erosion is an ongoing problem on the Upper Clyde, particularly between Erskine and Renfrew. Even sizeable lengths of the stone embankment and concrete supports beside the Riverside Walkway west of Park Quay near Erskine`s Riverside Shopping Centre, have crumbled or been swept into the river over the years. Given the current financial situation, repairs will be a very low priority.
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Britain's sea fisheries have been protected and controlled by the authority of Parliament for nearly 200 years, but in 1882 responsibility for protecting Scottish waters was given to the Fishery Board for Scotland. The Fishery Protection Squadron is the oldest front-line squadron in the Royal Navy. With a small headquarters staff based at Portsmouth Naval Base, the FPS is made up of four River-class offshore patrol vessels and one helicopter. // The squadron is the oldest front-line squadron in the Royal Navy, and boasts Admiral Lord Nelson amongst those who have served in it. Originally, the squadron was based on the coast of North America, Iceland and the UK, patrolling much of the North Atlantic against French and American incursions. Over the past hundred years it has been slimmed down to follow a more policing-oriented approach, dealing mainly with infringements by civilian fishermen. Despite this, it still has a strong military role, as evidenced in its role in the Cod Wars of the 1960s-70s. (to edit)*
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The FPS has a secondary role carrying out inspections of all fishing boats in UK waters and acting as an arbitrator between rival vessels when disputes arise. According to politico.eu, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has lined up two extra vessels to bolster the FPS patrols and and keep out unlicensed fishing boats. It has also earmarked a further 22 boats that can be deployed at short notice and recruited an extra 35 enforcement officers with the power to issue search warrants. The FPS said: “It’s the job of the Royal Navy’s Fishery Protection Squadron to patrol the UK’s Exclusive Economic Zone, preventing overfishing and plundering by foreign vessels and enforcing fishing quotas.
“Fishing rights have always been an emotive and politically sensitive issue – and in the wake of Brexit, fishery protection will be more important than ever.” Regaining control of Britain’s rich fishing waters was a totemic issue for many Brexit campaigners before the country formally left the bloc last Friday. But the EU has some leverage with many British fishing communities rely heavily on selling to EU markets, particularly for shellfish. Mr Johnson has told the EU the Government is ready to consider an agreement with Brussels but stressed: “It must reflect the fact that the UK will be an independent coastal state from the end of this year, controlling our own waters.
“Under such an agreement there would be annual negotiations with the EU, using the latest scientific data, ensuring British fishing grounds are first and foremost for British boats.” The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation are putting pressure on Westminster to ensure the UK is free from the stranglehold of the hated EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) – something Nicola Sturgeon has campaigned to remain in - following the UK’s departure from the bloc. Scotland’s fishing industry overwhelmingly voted for Brexit in June 2016 so the UK could take back control of its waters from EU boats. (to edit)*
“Fishing rights have always been an emotive and politically sensitive issue – and in the wake of Brexit, fishery protection will be more important than ever.” Regaining control of Britain’s rich fishing waters was a totemic issue for many Brexit campaigners before the country formally left the bloc last Friday. But the EU has some leverage with many British fishing communities rely heavily on selling to EU markets, particularly for shellfish. Mr Johnson has told the EU the Government is ready to consider an agreement with Brussels but stressed: “It must reflect the fact that the UK will be an independent coastal state from the end of this year, controlling our own waters.
“Under such an agreement there would be annual negotiations with the EU, using the latest scientific data, ensuring British fishing grounds are first and foremost for British boats.” The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation are putting pressure on Westminster to ensure the UK is free from the stranglehold of the hated EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) – something Nicola Sturgeon has campaigned to remain in - following the UK’s departure from the bloc. Scotland’s fishing industry overwhelmingly voted for Brexit in June 2016 so the UK could take back control of its waters from EU boats. (to edit)*
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The first vessel that the Board took over was a former Royal Navy sailing cutter "Vigilant", which had worked for some years on protection tasks. Over the years, new ships were added to the fishery protection fleet and responsibility for managing the task of fishery protection was transferred at different times to various Government bodies, including the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency and now Marine Scotland Compliance. Currently, Marine Scotland Compliance has three ships in its fleet of Marine Protection Vessels (MPVs). (to edit)*
The water was fairly low exposing a small stretch of beach just west of the old John Brown`s Shipyard, responsible for many of the world`s most famous ships. I noticed small sections of thick chain, most of which were still anchored to algae-covered rocks, amongst the pebbles and debris. No doubt this side of the river here was once a busy place, especially in the days leading up to a launch, when support craft and smaller vessels such as safety boats would be standing by. The chains may have been among those used to help slow ships being launched, or secure them after they came to rest in the river, once the huge slipway drag chains on the opposite bank had done their work.
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I didn`t wait to catch Brufjell which was following on about 20 minutes behind. The St. Vincent-flagged coaster was delivering soda ash from Liepaja, Latvia, which was off loaded at Shieldhall. She made a quick turnaround and left the following morning. Her next port of call was Ballangen in Norway.
Around lunchtime on Tuesday 28 April, Hirta, (below) sailed upriver to berth alongside Minna at the KGV etc*
Murray Star
On Tuesday 21 April , after spending just over a week anchored in Brodick Bay, Maltese-flagged tanker Murray Star (IMO 9527635) finally made her way to the Clydebank Oil Terminal at Rothesay Dock. The day before, for the first time ever, US oil prices turned negative after oil producers ran out of space to store the oversupply of crude left by the Coronavirus crisis, triggering an historic market collapse which left oil traders reeling. The price of US crude crashed from $18 a barrel to -$38 in a matter of hours, as rising stockpiles forced oil producers to pay buyers to take the barrels they could not store.
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Gross tonnage 8581 tons // DWT 13019 tons // Year of build 2011 // Builder 21ST CENTURY SHIPBUILDING - TONGYOUNG, SOUTH KOREA //Class society AMERICAN BUREAU OF SHIPPING. Manager & owner RIGEL SCHIFFAHRT - BREMEN, GERMANY (to edit)*
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Greenock-based tug Battler led the way with Ayton Cross bringing up the rear.*
Kalundborg is at latitude 55°41′N, longitude 11°6′E, about 110 km (68 mi) west of Copenhagen on the island of Zealand. // The port plays a central role in the town's economy. It is a municipal self-governing port with independent finances. Kalundborg Container Terminal is served by Unifeeder on a weekly basis Schultz Shipping is a local shipping company. As of 2015, the port is being expanded with a new west harbour on the south side of the Asnæs peninsula. // Statoil Refining Denmark operates the country`s largest oil refinery on the harbour with a capacity of 6.6 million ton oil products per year. (to edit)*
Newshot Island hasn`t been an actual island for many, many decades. In years gone by, when shipping on the Clyde was at its peak, there was a constant battle to keep the riverbed free of silt and sand and the area around Newshot Island was particularly troublesome. During dredging operations, numerous wooden mud punts were filled and towed further downriver to dump the spoil. Many were abandoned and can still be found, scattered along the muddy stretch of riverbank at Newshot alongside several wrecks which were towed here and dumped after they were damaged in a serious fire at Kingston Dock in Glasgow in 1914.
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The punts, along with the larger vessels, are fully exposed at low tide. In addition to wooden schooners, there`s this steel-hulled craft which experts believe could possibly be the world`s first purpose-built diving-bell boat. The pillar at the stern supported a crane which lowered and raised the necessary equipment.
I took a walk out to the wrecks several years ago, on a day when the tide was exceptionally low. The whole area can be extremely hazardous underfoot with hidden channels and very soft sand and mud, even in fine weather. Warning signs discourage exploration and although I have wandered over the adjacent fields on many occasions, Newshot Island should be avoided during storms or flood conditions, especially during spring tides. (to edit)* |
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The above drone image © SCHARP (Scotland`s Heritage at Risk).
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Sebat
I snapped the Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier Sebat (IMO: 9151383) from Newshot Island at Erskine on the afternoon of Wednesday 15 April 2020 as she made her way out to sea after a visit to Shieldhall. The bulker had left the town of Dernice, Turkey, on March 21 and sailed via Istanbul to Liverpool then north to the Clyde with soda ash after part discharging her cargo on the Mersey. Derince`s port is one of the few ports in Turkey under government control, in this case operated by Turkish State Railways.
I very rarely see anyone on the fields at Newshot Island and as it`s only a few minutes walk from home, it`s an ideal location for a bit of daily exercise during the pandemic lockdown. Although Glasgow Airport`s Runway 23 was operational, there was absolutely no traffic whatsoever, the scanner was dead, and the sky above was devoid of contrails from high-flying jets - very unusual on such a clear day.
Sebat was built in Japan in 1997. Her carrying capacity is 18,315 tonnes DWT and her current draught is reported to be 5.2 meters. Her length overall (LOA) is just under 150 metres. Previous names are Sir Henry and Rubin Lark and she is currently owned and managed by Hellas Marine Services, Athens.
As can be seen it looks as though only some of the vessel`s crew are wearing face masks. There is still some debate as to whether these types of masks offer protection from the Coronavirus, although they may prevent an infected person from passing it on. A couple of Roe Deer (below left) bounded off as Sebat sailed past.
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After heading down the Firth, the vessel dropped anchor off the southern end of Arran to await further orders.
