A ship design of the past is the flatiron or “flattie” as they were affectionately known, built so that they could navigate under the Thames bridges. A classic example is the 1,759grt Fulham IX, built in 1948 by Burntisland Shipbuilding for the British Electricity Authority to serve Fulham Power Station at Battersea Reach. She is seen here loading coal at Seaham Harbour on 4th September 1968. In 1970 she was sold to Dimitrios Varverakis & Georgios Hatzigeorgiou of Piraeus and renamed Eleistria II. On 4th July 1978 she was involved in a collision with the Cypriot coaster Lokma in the Gulf of Suez. She arrived at Suez on 7th July and was subsequently broken up there.