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| Meeting Report | |||||||||||
| Meeting held on 3rd April 2006 | |||||||||||
| Last October/November, branch member Ray Smith visited Shanhai, Bangkok, and Singapore with the TSS �Jewels of the East Tour�. Shanghai is the largest port in China. It is also the centre of China's coastwise traffic; its central coastal position gives access to all Chinese ports north and south. The Changjiang (Yangtse) River is also a link to the inland provinces. Rays firs slides showed that Shanghai was a modern city with a skyline of high rise blocks similar to many worldwide. During his five-day visit Ray took the afternoon public cruise down the Huang Po to the Yangtse. The TSS had also organised two private cruises both up and down river. The river was a hive of activity and the banks were lined with craft of all types. Shipbuilding and ship repairing activities were abundant along the banks of the river. Bulkers delivering coal to the power stations on the riverside formed a large proportion of bulk traffic and it was noted that most bulkers had had their �gear� removed presumably to improve access to onshore grabs and unloaders. Ray�s interest is tugs, so slides of these craft were plentiful, depicting the wide variety and types on the river. Photography did not seem to be a problem anywhere even when passing naval facilities and naval ships, although the up river private tour was halted briefly until the correct paper work was verified. Upriver they passed the many shipyards where �Maersk Nairn� & �Maersk Naantali� together with �Stena Nordic� & �Stena Moster� were seen at an advanced state of build. Everard�s �Speciality� was also seen approaching completion. Shanghai certainly lived up to it�s �world�s third largest� status being a very busy port.
Bangkok featured in the later part of the evening. Ray spent three days in Bangkok and we hope to view more of Bangkok and Singapore next month at the �Members Meeting� |
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| Photos taken from Simon & Janet Buxton�s Web Photo Gallery. To view further photos from their trip on the Huang Po river see their website http://au.cactii.net/~sb/gallery/0503-huang-po |
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