It is a SA15 standard design, icebreaking general cargo ship built in Finland in the 1980s for the USSR.They were also known as the NORILSK class (after the lead ship) and 19 of them were built. This one's name is KANDALAKSHA and it was bult by Oy Wärtsilä Ab, Turku in 1984.It went to Chinese breakers in 2010

There are already more than enough categories and I don't think we need any more. Interesting cargo handling ops could possibly be included in the 'Ships Deck' category but in my opinion we don't need any more 'bits of ships' categories.

Hasn't been working for months

Don't knock the containership too much. If we were still using old, inefficient (by today's standards) general cargo ships, we'd be paying a helluva lot more for so many of the things we buy in the shops. Okay, so they are not so pretty but their technology and operations are (to me, anyway) just as interesting as any other type of ship.

I’d rather be known as a ship ENTHUSIAST than ship SPOTTER but my wife insists in calling me the latter (among other things)
Anyway:
A: I don’t have to leave home to see ships. The Thames runs past the bottom of my back garden (1.2 km
   away).
B. I don’t get too much time to read a book. I’m too busy doing household chores (under orders from
   she who must be obeyed).
C. My camera is usually at the ready so that I can jump in the car for a 7-minute drive (if I stick to
   legal speeds) to a photo vantage point
D. If a stranger asks me about a ship, they'll regret it because I am such a know-all that I will bore 
   backside off with detail. (They did ask for it!)
E. Although I take lots of ship photos, I am not very interested in photography and when looking at
   other people’s photos (as on this site), it’s ship details I’m interested in, not the light or the
   composition (or seeing four shots in a row of the same ship). I also hate drone photos. That’s
   probably because I haven’t got one but also because they are illegal over the Thames shipping
   channels. (Take note if you intend coming here with one. Perhaps the RAF will be scrambled to shoot
   it down. I’d like to see that!)
F. On a cruise, I take as many photos of ships as I do of the places we visit. My wife moans about
   that.
G: “Prettier” and “cooler” are not words I’d associate with ships. I’m interested in them all and I
   always have it in mind that they are just machines. So I don't get all soppy and sentimental when
   one goes to the scrapyard.

I wasn't suggesting that anyone looks up IACS standards. I was just trying to explain the difference between a bulk carrier and an open-hatcher (also known as open-hatch bulkers). Hopefully someone learned something new about ships by it. The hobby is much more interesting when you learn a little about how ships work.

I can’t really see much of a problem with the categories on this site. The required information as to what category a ship should be in is easily available on the net from http://www.equasis.org.

On the matter of differentiating bulk carriers from general cargo ships - especially those of the open-hatch type: The International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) defines a bulk carrier as a single-deck ship with a double bottom, hopper tanks, single-skin, transverse-framed side shell, topside tanks and deck hatchways. Therefore, IACS classifies multi-purpose open-hatchers, which have double-skinned sides, no topside tanks and hatches which open the full width of the holds, as general cargo ships and this differentiation is followed in the site standards.
Multi-purpose general cargo/container ships do not have fixed cell guides; like container ships do.

Pieter, I know you have a less than enthusiastic view of Lloyd's Register but, in the absence of anything else that is better and widely accessible, LR will have to be the nearest thing to "the Bible" for our situation

The seventh or “check” digit in an LR/IMO number is computed by an algorithm from the sequential first six digits such as were used in the original LR unique numbering system.
The formula is as follows, using LR no. 537333 as an example
Multiply the first digit (5) x 7 = 35; the second digit (3) x 6 =18; the third (7) x 5 = 35; the fourth (3) x 4 = 12; the fifth (3) x 3 = 9; and the sixth (3) x 2 = 6.
Then add together the units in each result (5 + 8 + 5 + 2 + 9 + 6) = 35. The unit from that result (5) is the check digit, making the final, seven digit number 5373335.
Any LR/IMO number can be checked in this way or the algorithm can be used to add the would-have-been seventh digit to old LR numbers.

Even if she takes no interest in your hobby, your woman can take reassurance from the fact that, while you are out chasing ships, you are not chasing other women.

As I type this, I can see STAD AMSTERDAM passsing Gravesend heading upriver, presumably for this event.

Many Japanese domestic vessels have their names only in Japanese characters but also have numbers showing, usually on bridge and superstructure boards. Does anyone know of any source for identifying such vessels through these numbers?

For English language version see: https://www.mandieselturbo.com/press-media/news-overview/details/2018/04/17/man-diesel-turbo-scoops-major-container-vessel-order

@Jürgen: Exactly!

I am not planning to quit - yet - but I am somewhat concerned about the apparent "laissez faire/anything goes" approach of the current admin team. This site was supposed to be about members' own photographs -not those trawled from miscellaneous sources and flea markets.
If the site standards are not to be adhered to, change them! Otherwise there is no point in having rules.