This group is to provide gen or information on shipping on the Manchester ship canal & Mersey. I hope this can run side by side with the invaluable Shipais website & forum to provide extra gen from people who are perhaps 'on the spot' and may have blackberry's, internet phones or scanners - information that may not be widely available anywhere else.
The intention is to 'share' any information that may come in handy to ship enthusiasts and photographers alike.

There are lots of happenings on the Mersey & ship canal that go unreported or are not covered by shipais. There is also very weak ais coverage on the upper reaches of the ship canal above Warrington which has been a problem for a while so any info of shipping movements can sometimes be scarce so this group is a must for people who are interested in the canal or live in the area.
For example departure times or heads up on ships in the upper reaches of the canal are often posted because they are a rarity these days.
Another example is items such as 'dead tow's in and out of Laird's can be useful becuase they often don't show up on AIS.

There are no 'definative' rules for posting but these are acceptable-

*Departure times of vessels or advanced warning of movements definitely worth posting as shipais does not cover this

*Posting of vessels not on AIS eg smaller craft

*Posting vessel passing times eg if shipais coverage is weak in the canal

*Additional information that may be useful or not obvious when looking at Shipais / Marinetraffic websites eg vessels showing the wrong destination or incorrect details etc

*'heads up' on rare / new / interesting ships plucked from AIS that are visiting the area can be posted

*Any news that may be strongly related to shipping in the area is OK

*Don't be scared of asking any questions because there are plenty of members on here that i'm sure will come up with an answer.

*I also include the river Weaver & Dee in the boundaries of the group