Thursday 7th July 2011

I woke up to find out that my relatively new camera had decided to malfunction. It kept telling me that the battery would not work in this camera which is stupid as it is the battery which came with the camera and has worked well with it up until now. Using both the original and replacement battery, both fully charged, I could not get it to work which means, temporarily, at least, the photos I have there are 'frozen'. Much frustration.
After breakfast we were picked up to be taken to the Jiangsu yard location of the JinLing company. This yard, situated on the banks of the Yangtze River about an hour's steaming from the sea is huge, 900K M2 with two very large dry docks. We made brief tour of the facility thankfully mostly in the minibus which had some air-conditioning as the temperature and humidity were rising rapidly and the 'wet shirt syndrome' was soon in evidence. The yard is quite impressive and certainly of an order of magnitude better quality-wise than what we have seen. After the yard tour we were invited to lunch. As it was 11 a.m. and most of us had had breakfast at 7.30 a.m., no one was really in the mood for a large lunch and large lunch it was. It was another of those large round table 'lazy susan' affairs with multiple dishes coming in what was an almost endless procession, fish, chicken feet, Nanjing duck (of which they are very proud "better than Beijing duck"), vegetables, shrimp, meatballs, pork and what was something which seemed to be pastrami. Some was spicy and some not. Fortunately, as it was lunch time they forgo the wine and alcohol and just have beer and green tea instead.

Saying our goodbyes, we left the yard in the minibus for the station to take the train back to Shanghai. We arrived in good time and were about to relax when we were told it as the wrong station. We had to quickly recall the minibus and get them to drive us the considerable distance to the right station. We arrived with seconds to spare and settled into the very comfortable seats on the train for the relaxing ride back to Shanghai. That was enough excitement for today, especially given the climate.

Henrik and I, after check in went out to do some shopping, Henrik for some toiletries and me for a new camera. The shopping malls around the hotel seem mainly to be designer clothes shops so we took a cab to another mall where we had been told there would be cameras. There, on the 7^th floor we did find a shop and the helpful staff soon had me outfitted with a new Canon camera. Prices are not any cheaper than in USA or Europe. This day was the hottest of the year so far with the temperature reaching 41 deg C or 104 deg F. So when we returned to the hotel, a large cold beer was welcome and we obliged.

We changed and then to the bar again for cocktails with our Italian and Norwegian colleagues to meet the Shanghai representative of American Bureau of Shipping. We discussed the various yards that we have selected and he was able to add useful information to our survey. Dinner was in the French restaurant Jade in the hotel and the meal was excellent.

That concluded the day, tomorrow is for the nearby yard of Hudong.