| Meeting Report September 2006 |
| The visit to Newcastle proved very rewarding in terms of shipping. Newcastle is a large coal port with a large grain terminal. There were about three-dozen ships anchored off and six movements were witnessed during their brief stay. Ships portrayed included �Bluebell� on the coal berth and �Seto� at the grain terminal. Jakarta old docks were like stepping through a time warp. The majority of craft found here were large (about 500 tons) sailing ships of wooden construction, which acknowledged modernity by having an engine fitted. The cargoes were either bagged cement or timber and were unloaded manually down a narrow gangplank � not much evidence of �health and safety� here. There was also a fish dock on similar lines. Stepping back to today there is also a modern container terminal. Moving on to Freemantle there were a variety of container ships, geared bulkers, and car carriers to be seen. At the nearby Stirling Naval base a Collins class submarine, the �RAN Anzak� and the �Westralia� were shown. Towards Darwin Pearling trawlers, oil tankers and bulk carriers were shown. We thank Peter and Christine for coming to Mid- Essex once more and sharing their far-flung visits. Plans for their next trip are well underway and we look forward to seeing them both next September. |
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| We were pleased to welcome back Peter and Christine Ives to our September meeting on Monday 4th. The September meeting is now pencilled in every year for Peter and Christine�s visit where they share their worldwide �shipping� visits. At the September meeting they showed us slides taken over the Christmas periods of 2004/5 in Singapore, Bangkok, Sydney, Newcastle (NSW) and in 2005/6 in Jakarta, Freemantle and Darwin. In Bangkok they took the boat trip along the Huang Po River and showed us a good selection of container ships, bulk carriers, gas tankers, fishing vessels and refers. In Singapore at the anchorages we saw a large number of bulk carriers and tankers such as �Nordstrength�. However, only one out of the three days spent there had weather suitable for photographing ships! The period spent in Sydney was taken at Darling Harbour where there were not a large number of ships seen but the New Year firework display was quite spectacular. The nearby Navy base was busy preparing ships to sail for the Indian Ocean to aid in the tsunami disaster. |