Krispen, thanks, I did blow up the picture, reduced the shadows on the bow as well, but failed to see the number, possibly because I was looking for something much smaller in black. The 0 is right in your face once you know it and where you have to look for it.

Regarding hong qi 160.the flags look in better condition than the ship.

Hi Gents, after a close look at this enlarged interesting pic i suppose she is the 1968 Galati built HONG QI 150 IMO No.: 7017636.
Cheers

Hi Bjørn Knudsen ! very well spotted well done

http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=2245897
????

Bingo, Krispen! Super eyes! If there are no objections this evening, I will change the mysterious vessel into HONG QI 150.

I am not sure if anyone has noticed, but when this is blown to full size, there are Chinese characters in red on the bow, followed by 150. It is very hard to see, as it merges with the rust, but the number is in line with the forward most hatch cover and the covering on the left most barge. Krispen

LSI did not normally list vessels in coastal trades

Just in case anyone was thinking how useful it would be to have a Lloyds' Shipping Index for the relevant date (1/9/1995), I have the Index for 4/9/1995. The only HONG QI listed is no. 206, which is unrelated. Further, CHANG AN, HUAI AN and HUI TONG are also not listed.

Thanks to all for their criminalistic work. For me, the number seems to be 150 (and not 154 nor 151), although the '0' appears a bit too large. Then HONG QI 150, IMO 7017636, is resonable. In the same year (1968), the Russian ILIA was built, becoming later HONG QI 160 (see http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=2245897). She also has the deck above the bridge wings, the additional superstructures aft and the same cargo gear, as far as I can see. Also the windows of the forward superstucture are the same (they are different on port and starboard side).
I also checked the original scan (the color slide is lost), but this does not give any further idication.

Nevertheless, enlarging shows 154 as a more likely figure or perhaps 151. Problem is 154 exists, (twice) but both are totally different ships.

Ocean Craft. The spoils are for you. I would also love t see a complete list of the 17 that Ged Frith mentioned. I cannot find more than 10, later ships for Chinese account form Galatz were of all-aft design.

Pieter Meilssen suggests "The name on the bridge seems to end with ISA". We think this is a number, possibly 150, meaning that this is HONG QI 150, IMO 7017636, but we have no other photo to confirm.

Your last, Pieter - apart from the heavy derrick, the side windows on the bridge structure don't match; poop accommodation different.

17 built for china.note man working winches from control panel on platform between bridge and aft accomadation

Unfortunately there are not many photographs available of these ships in the Far East. I am afraid we might never get this one with 100% certainty.
Another try then.

http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=3078491

The bridge is not easy to imagine correctly, Pieter, but the cargo gear inbetween the superstructures looks different. I expected that this might be difficult ...

I found three more ships built for the Chinese during 1967, this being one of them. Does that give a better match with the bridge?

http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=3078720

Thanks for the proposals, Pieter and Mike. What puzzles me is the extended deck above the bridge wing (not seen on the photos proposed).

Could be too, there were also three of them build for chinese account, NAN HAI 151,152 and 153, where the NAN HAI was later replace with HONG QI. Whether these carried other names I do not know. The funnel markings on the mystery ship look somehow familiar, but the coin refuses to drop.

FAYSAL ?? ex BAIA MARE imo 6519613

Perhaps this one
http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/search.php

she was SUNRISE K. from 1991 to 2003, when she was scrapped. The two photos of her were obviously taken after a much needed paint job, but at least it survived long enough to be the mystery ship.

It is a ship from the Galati class built at the Galatz shipyard during the sixties. The name on the bridge seems to end with ISA, but I cannot find a match.