There's been a bit more variety in the ships which have passed us during the last few weeks, not least in the cornucopia of naval vessels which have been parading through the Sound of Mull during the recent military exercises. Most of them have been British, but what is noticeable is the difference between the RN ships and those of other countries, the latter being so much more modern. Perhaps it is that countries like Germany - the above picture is of their frigate F221
FGS Hessen - send their best when it comes to exercising in our waters, and we float out what isn't busy chasing pirates off Somalia or patrolling the Falklands, but the RN ships did look a bit passé.
We've had the usual selection of small cargo ships, including this one,
Nordic Erika, which is only of interest for the containers she's carrying on deck. The white ones are stencilled with the words 'Yang Ming', a testament to the worldwide nature of modern trade. The
Erika was involved in a minor disagreement with an embankment of the Kiel Canal back in December, from which she emerged unscathed - story, and a better picture,
here.
Of more note have been a number of so-called 'research' vessels which have passed our shores. This is the Swedish ship
Stockholm - better picture of her
here - which is billed on the AIS system as a research ship but is, in fact, a cruise ship. She certainly isn't your normal sort of cruise ship as she only carries twelve passengers, and seems to specialise in trips to the Arctic or the remote island of Svalbard. If you want to join an expedition, the Polar Bear Safaris' site is
here. 'Polar Bear Safaris'? The Diary was under the misapprehension that safaris took place on foot, and in Africa.
The
Sir John Murray might be a research ship, but the AIS probably lists her more accurately as a 'Law Enforcement'. She belongs to the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, and this picture was taken of her steaming very purposefully in the direction of Loch Sunart. Looks as if someone might be in trouble.
There have been moments when the Sound has seemed almost crowded, particularly as, during the last couple of weeks, with the wind so strong in the north, we've had a number of trawlers of various types steaming up and down in front of us. The ship on the right is the Dutch boat
Wilde Swan (more about this elegant ship
here, on a website which offers the tempting invitation 'Click Here for Bottled News'), while the trawler on the left is the Melrose-registered ME47
Sharona. Many of the boats that fish these waters, as befits working boats, are painted in drab colours - if they're painted at all - so....
....it was refreshing to see one painted a glowing yellow. This is Ullapool-registered UL62,
Atlantia, and she well deserves the spotlight shone on her by one of this month's glorious rainbows.
There's been a bit more variety in the ships which have passed us during the last few weeks, not least in the cornucopia of naval vessels which have been parading through the Sound of Mull during the recent military exercises. Most of them have been British, but what is noticeable is the difference between the RN ships and those of other countries, the latter being so much more modern. Perhaps it is that countries like Germany - the above picture is of their frigate F221 FGS Hessen - send their best when it comes to exercising in our waters, and we float out what isn't busy chasing pirates off Somalia or patrolling the Falklands, but the RN ships did look a bit passé.
We've had the usual selection of small cargo ships, including this one, Nordic Erika, which is only of interest for the containers she's carrying on deck. The white ones are stencilled with the words 'Yang Ming', a testament to the worldwide nature of modern trade. The Erika was involved in a minor disagreement with an embankment of the Kiel Canal back in December, from which she emerged unscathed - story, and a better picture, here. 
Of more note have been a number of so-called 'research' vessels which have passed our shores. This is the Swedish ship Stockholm - better picture of her here - which is billed on the AIS system as a research ship but is, in fact, a cruise ship. She certainly isn't your normal sort of cruise ship as she only carries twelve passengers, and seems to specialise in trips to the Arctic or the remote island of Svalbard. If you want to join an expedition, the Polar Bear Safaris' site is here. 'Polar Bear Safaris'? The Diary was under the misapprehension that safaris took place on foot, and in Africa.
The Sir John Murray might be a research ship, but the AIS probably lists her more accurately as a 'Law Enforcement'. She belongs to the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, and this picture was taken of her steaming very purposefully in the direction of Loch Sunart. Looks as if someone might be in trouble.
There have been moments when the Sound has seemed almost crowded, particularly as, during the last couple of weeks, with the wind so strong in the north, we've had a number of trawlers of various types steaming up and down in front of us. The ship on the right is the Dutch boat Wilde Swan (more about this elegant ship here, on a website which offers the tempting invitation 'Click Here for Bottled News'), while the trawler on the left is the Melrose-registered ME47 Sharona. Many of the boats that fish these waters, as befits working boats, are painted in drab colours - if they're painted at all - so....
....it was refreshing to see one painted a glowing yellow. This is Ullapool-registered UL62, Atlantia, and she well deserves the spotlight shone on her by one of this month's glorious rainbows.
No comments:
Post a Comment