Tony took the Dover - Dunkirk route to the continent courtesy of Norfolk Line, and started taking photos as soon as he arrived. He then moved onto Terneuzen near the entrance to the Ghent canal. This is one of Tony�s favourite spots where ships come in close to the shore and the light is right for photography. The quality of the photography was up to it�s usual standard even though the weather remained overcast for most of his visit. The ships were a mix of container ships, coasters, tankers and bulk carriers. Visits were also made to Antwerp with ships taken at both the old and new docks. One slide showed 3 Grimaldi ships bow to stern alongside the new docks. A visit was also made to the docks at Ghent. Our thanks to Tony for a fine collection of slides, which was accompanied by a comprehensive commentary which was no mean feat considering the photos had been taken less than three weeks before.
Ian�s collection of slides covered the year of 1983 at Tilbury. Those that remembered the docks at that time were reminded of many old favourites such as ships of the Palm Line, the Russian Balt�Orient Line, Blue Star Line, and CP ships. This was the year of the Dock strike and the year that �King Alfred� left long time lay up in the Royal Docks and was refitted in the now defunct Tilbury dry dock to become the Chinese �Luo Fu Shan�. The bulk carrier �Bruni� was the first ship to load scrap in Tilbury, an activity transferred from the Royals. The ex �Stockholm� then renamed �Volkefreundschaft� by the East Germans was also a visitor to the dry dock. This was a time when conventional cargo ships were still common, particularly Chinese, a time when specifically built container ships were becoming common, but there were still a large number of container vessels converted from other hulls. Thanks to Ian for his meticulous research into each ship, which came up with the surprising fact that about 50% of the ships were still trading.