Any guess as to which ship

Its not the Esso Northumbria or one of the bay class ships

HOEGH DUKE ?

Doesn't look right to me, Dave. No sign of the pronounced knuckle?
http://www.tynebuiltships.co.uk/H-Ships ... e1984.html

Are you sure it's Tyne built I can't recognise the berth or the cranes.

Could be Kvearner yard Goven

Your right George, but I wasn't happy with any other choice. But I think Terry has the answer, I was trying to convince myself that the berth was Wallsend but again not happy. I should have listened to the little questioning voice in the back of my head a bit more.

I should have listened to the little questioning voice in the back of my head a bit more. When have i ever been wrong?

Maybe one of the Chinese container ships? Just a wild guess.

The photo was put on the Sea the Ships site a few days ago by Paul with question

"Just wondering if anyone could identify this ship building on the Tyne which featured during a BBC antiques programme yesterday afternoon from Newcastle.
She wasn't for auction...."

so if not the Tyne then a boo-boo by the Beeb!

OK, can't match the ship yet, so what about the berth, the cranes and the background?

The concrete supports for the raised berth are not as how I remember Swans. The berth was extended for the big tankers and I can remember walking underneath, but I am sure that was done with removable steel structures, not permanent concrete.

The cranes are very similar, but not quite the same. Below are two photos of the Wallsend cranes that I have to hand taken 10/2002. You can see that they are similar but I would say not the same.



I don't know the technical terms for the crane parts, but for example, where the "legs" join the circular bearing just below the housing, the Wallsend cranes have an extra jointing piece that is not there on the original photo. Also the top piece above the housing seems to have a straight back and a sloped front on the Wallsend cranes, whereas the original's cranes are vertical front and sloping back.

As for the background, there is very little to see, nothing on the left in the original whereas I would expect to see something of Hebburn. Also on the extreme right between the gantry legs I can see a high building, this would be either low buildings or green fields from Wallsend. That's what I think anyway.