13th August 2007: After extensive testing The Shipping Database is now operational. Due to the size of the database and the amount of server space it requires we have had to add a small charge for access to the database. We hope you enjoy our new venture.

6th April 2006: Following a devastating computer system crash which wiped all our photographs from the web we, along with our website developers Johnsee and OG, are developing an entirely new website for our shipping photography and database.  To be known as The Shipping Database it will house photographs and data on nearly 200000 merchant ships.  The Shipping Database will complement our Warships website www.worldwarships.com and our training website www.qldmarinetraining.com. 

10th September 2006: It's time for a complete new look, we are revamping our pages, adding more information on ships and larger higher resolution images to our database, it would take some time to detail and upload all our photographs previously displayed so we are starting from scratch with miscellaneous ships, bulk carriers and container ships (limited listings at present) being the first in the new look.

8th July 2006: As we get closer to spinning off our warships pages to a new website we have decided to present a weekly quality photograph from our collection, check it out the first one dates from 1967 and is the China Navigation Co. Ltd.'s SHANSI.

6th July 2006: The Australian Government today announced the names (Glenelg & Maryborough) of the two additional Armidale class patrol boats on order for the Royal Australian Navy.

5th July 2006: Added a photo of Nuship Canterbury (New Zealand) courtesy of Frits Janse and updated a number of naval pages.

17th April 2006: We have begun to re-arrange the warships pages (again) putting the class information on one page rather than linking it to separate pages.  Let us know if you prefer the new or old layout best.

1st April 2006: After a few months of virtual inactivity we have moved servers and look forward to much easier access to the website for additions and modifications.  We are also in the process of creating two new sister websites for Marine Training and Warships.

8th January 2006: Welcome to the new year.  Updated some of the naval fleet lists over the past few days, including the addition of three of the most numerous classes of warships; Bathurst Class Minesweepers (Australia), Ton Class Minesweepers (Britain) and Fletcher Class Destroyers (United States).

28th December 2005: Another year nearly over; many thanks to all those who have contributed naval information over the course of this year - far to many to mention you all but two in particular I should mention - Jorge Krag from Chile for his informative and up to date information and Nick Newns for his photo updates. Thank you all and we look forward to seeing you again in 2006.

8th December 2005: New photos for this month from Zac Radchenko of Melbourne.  In addition a number of new countries naval fleets have been added and many pages updated.

14th November 2005: After many months of neglect it's time to get the website back on track, there is a new update from our files for November and as summer approaches here there will be new photographs shortly.

5th September 2005: It has been a quiet few months, I have been busy at work and haven't taken any photos for a long time (camera problems) I have updated some of the warship pages and hope to get some more photos up soon.

28th June 2005: I haven't added any new photographs for a while - the weather and a new job conspiring against my efforts to obtain any decent shots.   Have spent my downtime productively though, updating the majority of the naval pages and adding a few more countries.

22nd April 2005: Continued the process of updating the naval pages, have most of USN and about half of Royal Navy completed.  Have some class fact sheets for other nations uploaded, expect to have the project completed by the end of May.  Weather has been a little photograph unfriendly this week so no new photographs to add.

19th April 2005: Started to upload the new United States Navy and Royal Navy (Britain) pages.  I am gradually replacing the original Navy pages with the new format which has photographs on the front page and hyperlink access to fact sheets for each class.  Let me know what you think of the new format.

15th April 2005: Added photos of Uru Bhum on its maiden voyage doing a photo run into Sydney Harbour and Sydney Ferry Mary Mackillop in its new british racing green livery.

10th April 2005: Completed uploading of photographs taken over the past seven weeks.

1st April 2005: Added five photographs taken yesterday off Gladstone.

24th March 2005: Completed the March update. Hope to have another update in the first week of April.

22nd March 2005: Continued to add more photos to this months page.  Have also done a slight redesign of the front page to make navigation easier.  More redesign work to come over the next few months.

20th March 2005: Started another update from sea using photographs from our collection, added bulk carriers in March, will add other types of ships over the next few days. I have over a dozen rolls of film to develop when I return home so April updates will showcase some interesting newer shots.

26th February 2005: Completed an update from sea using photographs from our files. Have managed to get some good photographs of late too - so will update those when I get the film developed.

19th February 2005: First update from sea just to try it out.  If it works it will mean more regular updates.

14th February 2005: Back to sea later today, so have only had a very short turnaround this time.  Added a January and February update, hope to be able to trial updates from sea this time around.  Will have photo offer #1 ready to go by the time I get back early April.

3rd December 2004: Continued updating the fleet lists and added to the December update with more photographs from our archives.  We are in the process of transferring all our old negatives to CD-Rom for safe storage and will progressively add more of these photographs to the website.

25th November 2004: Added the first of our new fleet lists which provide details of ships within our photograph collections along with links to photographs.  Australian National Line and Associated Container Transportation were the first lists uploaded. 

15th November 2004: Back from sea and the November update is available.

28th September 2004: Off to Singapore tomorrow to join a research ship for five weeks - so no updates until early November but hopefully a swag of photos then.

23rd September 2004: Having spent most of the month at sea I have been a little short of computer time. Added 20 new photo's today.  

30th August 2004: Continued to add new warships pages today.

29th August 2004: Have added a number of the new warships national pages, thanks to Jim Gallacher and Nick Newns for help with photographs.  It would be nice to get some more European photo's and also some of ships of the South American navies.

22nd August 2004: We have made some significant changes to the warships sections, giving each nation a separate page and adding some new photos.

5th August 2004: Another five recent photo's added today.

3rd August 2004: Added some of the slides we have been converting to CD for safe keeping.  See August 2004 page for the full list.

27th July 2004: Added a photo of HMAS Voyager courtesy of Clive Fisher. Unfortunately my camera has been un-operational for a few weeks so no photos of my own. 

16th July 2004: Added course dates for Safety & Sea Survival and Marine Radio courses on the QMTS page.  

1st July 2004: Into the second half of the year already!  Added three photos from Jim Cullen of Australian Navy patrol boats in Papua New Guinea in the early 1970's. Thanks Jim.

16th June 2004: Added another 11 photographs. All on June 2004 page.

14th June 2004: Added seven photographs in June 2004, not a lot of photograph activity lately but I hope to change that over the next few weeks. 

30th May 2004: Fixed a number of links and added three more Port Line ships, photos supplied by Joe Collins - many thanks for sharing them with us.

18th May 2004: Today we added photographs from Andrew MacKinnon of Melbourne to our Guest Photographers pages.  Andrew brings the number of guest photographers on the site to nine. 

17th May 2004: A small selection of recent photographs taken in Tasmania and Sydney over the past few weeks.  Unfortunately I have had to start adding copyright watermarks to all my photographs because there are some people out there who do not respect the individual use only principle of this website.

4th April 2004: Added a selection from our files in April 2004 - expect to have a few new photographs towards the end of this month. 

24th March 2004: Corrected a few broken links.  Next update early April.

22nd March 2004: Added a few more photographs to the March 2004 page. 

20th March 2004: A few minor additions today. Added the link to March 2004!

19th March 2004: Just a small selection this month, including a couple of older B&W prints.  Expect to have the Port Line feature finished in a few days.

3rd January 2004: Added a number of photos across all archives - see January 2004.  Tomorrow I am back to AMC for the next block of subjects, so expect the first half of 2004 to be fairly lean on the photography and update sides.   I have commenced work on a number of special features, each on ships of a particular shipping company - I hope to have the first (Port Line) online by the end of April.   If there is anyone interested in assisting by submitting photographs please let me know.  

1st January 2004: First update for the New Year!  Corrected some data on the Sydney Ferries page, many thanks to all those that contributed information.

31st December 2003: Last update for the year!  Added a number of new links today and did some general tidying up.  We wish all our visitors a happy and prosperous 2004.

24th December 2003: Merry Christmas from the Land DownUnder, it looks like it's going to be another hot Christmas here in Brisbane, Santa is more likely to be riding a surfboard than a sleigh!  Today we added a number of colour photographs from our archives along with the few photographs that were taken during December. 

20th December 2003: Home for Christmas, not many new photos to add as it has been exam month and I didn't spend much time chasing ships for some strange reason.  I do have a few ship photos and some miscellaneous photos of a training cruise on the AMC's Wyuna which I will add in the next few days.   I am still looking for a shipping company that would like to pay for the second half of my course and get a fully qualified 2nd mate ready to work at the end of May, email me if anyone has any ideas.

23rd November 2003: Managed to scan a few photo's taken in the past couple of months, all are in the November 2003 section.  Next update around the 21st of December.

21st November 2003: Home for the weekend and Allison's birthday, then back to AMC for more study and exams leading up to Christmas!  Fixed a few broken links, and did a little bit of general tidying of the website.   Have a few photos to scan over the weekend and I will add them hopefully before I fly out again on Sunday.

1st September 2003: Added the long awaited next instalment of B&W photos to the archives this morning - nearly 200 photos covering all types of ship.  The new additions can be seen on the September 2003 page.   

24th August 2003: Have been slowed in my progress with additional photo's for the B&W archives, now expect the pages up early next month.  New pictures added to colour archives today:
Container Ships: Maersk Singapore, Santa Isabella
General Cargo: Mystic
Motor Vehicle Carriers: Singa Ace
Tankers: Haustrum, Sanko Paragon

22nd August 2003: Just back from another business trip, carried the camera for no reason again, but as we all know that's life in shipping circles.  Added the Tanker Alliance Spirit, Container Ship Aramac and Bulker Anthos from our files.  Have spent some time working on the B&W archives lately, hope to have new pages uploaded over this weekend.

18th August 2003: Three photo's from the weekend added today; the Tanker Bro Alexandre, Vehicle Carrier Curitiba and the Australian submarine HMAS Rankin in the warships section.

15th August 2003: Managed to get a couple of shots of one of the Collins class submarines today (they will be on the website within a few days).  In addition to updating the Guest Photographers pages I also found a few spare moments to add the following:
Container Ships: Bai Yun He, Byron Bay, Kota Jaya, Maersk Trieste & PONL San Francisco;
General Cargo: Parkgracht, Pietersgracht & Samoan Reefer;
Passenger: Albatros;
Tankers: British Spirit, Pacific Mercury, Pacific Venture, Palmstar Rose
Vehicle Carriers: Asian Century, Asian Prosperity & Pacific Breeze.

14th August 2003: Having just got back from a business trip I realise how much email has changed our lives.  Over 400 emails to read after a week away!  I never used to get this much snail mail in a year (bills included).  Just added four more Container Ships (Colour) today, Act 3, Act 8, Act 10 & PONL La Spezia.  Have a number of photos ready to go so hopefully tomorrow will get onto them.  Good photographic opportunities in the next few days in Brisbane so hopefully a few new shots early next week too.  Will update the Guest Photographers galleries tomorrow.

5th August 2003: Ten new additions today.
Bulkers: (B&W) The infamous ANL ship Lake Illawarra which collided with the Tasman Bridge in Hobart on 5th January 1975 bringing down the main span with the resulting loss of 12 lives.  The remains of the ship lie where she sank.
Container Ships: (Col) ANL's original Darwin Trader of 1970.
General Cargo Ships: (Col) Three old Blue Star ships Auckland Star, Dunedin Star and Rhodesia Star.
Miscellaneous: (Col) The lighthouse tender Cape Don, one of three sisters that were used to service Australian lighthouses.
Ro-Ro's: (Col) Allunga
Tugs: (Col) Farm Cove, Keira & Kiama

3rd August 2003: From Napier the Salty Snapper sent in Jacaranda, Prinsendam & Santa Francesca.

2nd August 2003: Another Saturday spent organising archives with a number of new vessels added today.  Check out August 2003 for all the latest in our archives:
Bulkers: Bogasari Empat, Harfleur, Hexham Bank, Howard Smith, Iron Arnhem, Iron Capricorn, Iron Carpentaria, Strinda & Thorsdrake;
General Cargo Ships: Bankura, Boonaroo, City of Adelaide, City of Ottawa, Clan MacIlwraith, Fremantle Star, Iron Wyndham, Island Chief, Jozef Chelmonski, Karetu, Ocean Cobalt, Osaka Reefer, Port Jackson, Straat Lombok, Strathmay, Strathmuir, Vishva Nandini, Waitaki, Xiang Yang;
Miscellaneous: WH Resolution;
Passenger Ships: Leonid Sobonov;
Ro-Ro's: Austral Rainbow, Hyogo Maru (Note I've moved barge carriers into the Ro-Ro section);
Tankers: Botany Trinity, Cellana, Euplecta, Felipes, Flammulina, Gunda Brovig, Gunvor Maersk, Hoegh Gannet, Pacific Gas, Shanghai, William E Mussman, World Promise, Caltex Kurnell, Caltex Manila, Caltex Port Kembla, Caltex Sydney, Clyde Chancellor, Hamilton Sleigh, Hanetia, Harold Sleigh, Hemiplecta;
Tugs: Awanui
Warships: USS Ranger, USS Independence, USS Mobile Bay, USS Racine, USNS Andrew J Higgins;
And finally from the Salty Snapper the livestock carrier Mawashi Tabuk.

1st August 2003: The Salty Snapper sent over five more shots from Napier: Australian Trader, Crown Emerald, Han Tao He, Oriana and Straitsman.  

31st July 2003: Added another three Guest Photographers this morning.  Nick Newns from Plymouth, England with Naval photos, Ian Shiffman of Tablebay Underway Photography in Cape Town, South Africa and Michael Meredith also from England. This brings the number of guest photographers on the site to eight.  Added the following to our archives -
Container Ships: Contship Barcelona, Contship Le Havre, Contship London
Motor Vehicle Carriers: Clover Ace, Zuijin
Passenger Ships & Ferries: Condor Express
Tankers: Botany Trader, Norgas Challenger
Warships: HMS Edinburgh, RFA Fort Grange
Colin Sellars: Added the bulker Ikuna which I'm pretty sure is ex Wallarah from the Australian coast.

28th July 2003: Welcome to our latest Guest Photographer Guillermo Raymondi from Chile.  We now have five Guest Photographers and the prospect of three or four more joining us in the next few weeks, consequently access to the guest photographers is now via the Guest Photographers homepage rather than individual links.

26th July 2003: Some more photos arrived from The Salty Snapper in Napier last night, clearly he had turned the Rugby League test off at half-time (Australia leading New Zealand 30-Nil) and decided to do something different!!!  However tonight's Rugby Union test match may be a different story!  There are now 12 photos in The Salty Snappers collection.  We have space for another two guest photographers at present so if anybody is interested let me know.

24th July 2003: Today we added our fourth guest photographer who goes under the nom-de-plume of The Salty Snapper!!  What we can tell you is he is from Napier in New Zealand and has some excellent photos to add to our site.  The first three are there now and more will follow shortly.  

20th July 2003: Another large batch of photographs added today, mostly in the colour archives but some older B&W too.  Added another photo from Abel Perez in Spain. 

16th July 2003: Collected another CR-Rom with 200 more older images from the photo shop today.  Unfortunately I have only had time to update the Passenger Vessel and Tug pages today. Hopefully this weekend I can add to the other pages.
Passenger Vessels: Arcadia (1954), Felix Dzerjinsky, Minghua, Sagafjord, Mariposa, Royal Viking Sea, Royal Viking Star (last 3 are B&W).
Tug: Fullerton Cove.

14th July 2003: Added another 9 photographs from Colin Sellars today.

13th July 2003: Added the first batch of twelve photographs from our third Guest Photographer, Colin Sellars from Nelson in New Zealand.  Also added two new photos from Abel Perez in Spain, the Cem Atlantico and Cembalo.  

11th July 2003:  A couple of older photographs from the collection were added today, firstly the tugs Lady Diana and Maersk Bonavista.  Then the bulk carrier Lake Barrine in Australian National Line colours, Spliethoff's general cargo ship Kaapgracht, the United States Navy's Knox class frigate Brewton, the Royal Fleet Auxiliaries Olwen and Orangeleaf and finally the Teekay tanker Koyagi Spirit.

10th July 2003: A few new additions today: HMAS Leeuwin and the bulker New Herald both photographed this morning and the bulker Ocean Phoenix and MVE Grande Portogallo photographed last week.  In addition a number of MSC container ships have also been added.

8th July 2003: It is amazing the difference one letter makes.  Somehow we dropped the 's' off the photos email address link - no wonder people have been having so much trouble emailing us.  All is fixed - so if you had emailed using the photos link I do apologise, please try again now.

6th July 2003: Added a large number (80) of photographs today.  All can be found in the July 2003 new photographs section as well as their respective archives.

3rd July 2003: Engaged in running stores to the newly built tanker British Swift today. Two shots taken on the digital camera are in the photography section.  Also added a digital photo of the 1997 built bulker United Santosh alongside the coal berth.

1st July 2003: Another busy day working the Brisbane Trader, did manage to sort out and scan  15 MSC container ships for adding in the next few weeks. New additions today (in July 2003):-
Bulkers: Amfrititi, Surenes
Container Ships: Ever Develop, Ever Diamond
General Cargo Ships: Bob L
Miscellaneous: The Sydney pilot launches Governor Bligh and Governor Macquarie.
Motor Vehicle Carriers: Coral Ray & Maersk Sky.
Passenger Ships & Ferries: Fair Princess & Devil Cat.
Ro-Ro's: City of Burnie
Tankers: Ampol Tva, Angel River, Australia Star, Luzon Spirit, Palmstar Poppy, Senang Spirit, Sudong Spirit.

28th June 2003: The following were added:
Container Ships: Contship(s) Action, Ambition, Nobility & Optimism, Sydney Star.
General Cargo Ship: Rangitikei.
Passenger Ships: Asuka, Costa Allegra & Maxim Gorkiy.
Tankers: Ammon, Angela d'Amato, BP Achiever, Emerald Queen, Era, Nordasia & Ulsan Spirit.
Tugs: Iron Cove, Warringa & Wyambi.

26th June 2003: Added the following:
Container Ships: Columbus Australia, Columbus California, MSC Brianna
Tankers: Aurora Sky, Australia Sky, Botany Triad, Palm Monarch, Palmerston, Rathboyne, Samar Spirit & Tarquin Navigator
Warships: GPV Banks, USS Constellation, USS Ford.

25th June 2003: Added the following:
Container Ships: America Star, Botany Bay, Bunga Kenari, California Star, Contship Germany, La Paloma, Mairangi Bay, Melanesian Chief, OOCL Amity, OOCL Challenge
General Cargo Ships: Amstelgracht, Achtergracht, Baltimar Neptune, Dock Express 12, Niugini Chief, Noumea Express.

24th June 2003: Added the General Cargo Ships: Capitaine Wallis, Dock Express 11 and Egelantiersgracht.

23rd June 2003: Found a few more photo's to add into the archives. Again they can be found in the June 2003 section as well as the archives:
Bulkers: Gulf Current, Ocean Atlas & Ormiston
Miscellaneous: Governor King
Motor Vehicle Carriers: Astro Jyojin, Blue Ridge Highway and Nada II
Tugs: Bega & Bronzewing

22nd June 2003 - 4.30pm: Finalised the last two B&W archives and added them to the web.  Added a number of colour photographs, some from our files and some more recent ones.  See "June 2003" for all the new additions.

22nd June 2003 - 12.30pm: All the B&W archives (except Tugs and Miscellaneous) are now online.  Have added a new section "June 2003" which holds the latest photographs added to the site - all photographs from now on will be added through this monthly update page and then into the archives.  I expect to be able to confirm our second guest photographer by the end of this month.  

22nd June 2003 - 9AM:  First two B&W archives are now online - General Cargo Ships & Tankers.  Bulkers, Container Ships and Passenger Ships are nearing completion.   Added a number of warships including HMAS Melbourne, HMS Devonshire, HMS Glamorgan, USS America, USS Bainbridge, USS Peoria, USS Anchorage & USS Juneau.

21st June 2003 - Appear to have solved the technical issues.   We have added our first guest photographer - Mr John Burne from Sydney, Australia -  check out his photographs in our Guest Photographers section.   Hope to add a B&W archive tomorrow.

20th June 2003 - We have been having a few web editor problems, hence a lack of recent updates.  The first B&W archive is nearly ready and will be available as soon as we can resolve the technical difficulties.  

25th May 2003 - Added the following:

Bulkers: Eco Challenge, Emerald Bulker, New Mariner & VOC Frontier.

Container Ships: Aotearoa Chief, Aramac, Argentina Star, Arthur Maersk, Australian Advance, Australian Endeavour, Australian Endurance, Axel Maersk, Brisbane Star, Bunga Teratai Satu, Bunga Teratai 3, Direct Condor, Direct Currawong, Direct Eagle, Direct Falcon, Direct Jabiru, Direct Kea, Direct Kiwi, Direct Kookaburra, Encounter Bay, Ever Ally, Nedlloyd Zeelandia, New Zealand Pacific, New Zealand Star, Niugini Chief, NOL Crystal, Ville de Capella, Wellington Express & Yang Jiang He.

Passenger Vessels: Arcadia, Arkona, Danae, Delphin, Deutschland, Doulos, Europa (1981), Europa (1999), Nieuw Amsterdam, Norwegian Star & Vistafjord.

Ro-Ro's: Union Rotoma & Union Sydney.

Miscellaneous: David Allan, Vercors & Wyuna.

Uploaded a number of Motor Vehicle Carriers, Tankers and General Cargo Ships and will add these to the site during the next week.

24th May 2003 - Added the following:

Bulkers: Global Escort, Glory Challenger, Green Sylvan & Thalassini Axia

Container Ships: Island Chief, PONL Auckland, PONL Brisbane, PONL Fremantle, PONL Lyttleton, PONL Taranaki, PONL Tauranga, PONL Sydney & Rui Yun He

General Cargo: Ranginui, Rangitata & Tasman Venture

Motor Vehicle Carriers: Ganta, Palma, Planet Ace, Princes Highway, Rockies Highway, Takasago & Tocho Maru

Passenger Vessels: Maasdam, Rotterdam & Royal Viking Sun

Reefers: Tunisian Reefer

Ro-Ro's: Ro-Ro Sarawak, Tampa, Tana &Texas

Tankers: Gas Rising Sun, Gaz Supplier, Hatasia, Pacific Aquarius, Pacific Wave, Tasman, Timor Sea, Toanui & Tomis Wave

23rd May 2003 - Tankers St. Jacobi & Stolt Surf photographed recently in Brisbane have been added, along with HMAS Yarra (Huon class minehunter) and Yu Long Shan (Bulker).  Fixed the World Ship Society link (thanks Glenn for spotting the problem).

21st May 2003 - Three bulk carriers photographed recently in Gladstone have been included on the site: River Embley, Sabrina Venture and KS Mercury.

20th May 2003 - Added the Gladstone tugs Kuttabul and Tom Tough and the small navy harbour tug Mollymook to the tug page.  The bulkers Zirje (1993 photo), Flinders Range, Iron Cumberland, Iron Spencer, Lake Eildon and Lake Hume were also added today.

19th May 2003 - Spent today working on Brisbane Trader but did manage to add HMNZS Wellington to the warships page.  Have a negative of HMAS Melbourne (Aircraft Carrier) being printed at the moment and hope to get that up by the end of this week.  Selected the next 200 B&W photographs for developing (to CD) and these will form the nucleus of the B&W archives.  Expect to see B&W archives online by the middle of June.  Finalised the Guest Photographers page and took some photographs as well!

18th May 2003 - Apologies to anyone who has being trying to look at the site, we have had some server problems, please be patient while we sort them out. Added the following:

Container Ships: ACT 5, Austral Moon and MSC Chiwan.

Ro-Ro's: Lysaght Endeavour, Melbourne Trader and Seaway Prince.

Warships: HMCS Qu'appelle.

16th May 2003 - Added Poolta and Ngapara to General Cargo Ships plus Australian Emblem and Australian Explorer to Container Ships. 

15th May 2003 - Completed the Brisbane River CityCats Gallery with the additon of the four remaining vessels.  Our next Brisbane project will be to photograph the numerous other river craft that traverse the Brisbane River.   Added a couple of new links. 

Added Yasa H. Mehmet to the Bulkers page and added some details for other vessels on that page.  Added HMAS Vendetta, Vampire & Teal, HMNZS Otago & Taranaki to the warships page and Bellubera and colour shot of Lady Denman to Sydney Ferries.

14th May 2003 - Added part two of our Singapore trip - another 45 photo's.  There will be a few big batches of photographs going up over the next couple of months as we start to fill the B&W archives. 

13th May 2003 - A few corrections have been made to spelling mistakes etc that we found, and I have learnt how to edit the website.

8th May 2003 - After years of thinking about putting some of our photographs on the web we have finally completed the first stage of the project.  Our website is designed, thanks to Annie at Imaginattic for her patience and guidance, and the first batch of photographs have been scanned and are presented in the photograph pages.