For what it is worth, in my opinion the hammerhead in the background is the crane at Wallsend Slipway & Engineering. I have looked at a couple of my photo's and can see the slight differences in the steelwork of the Slipway and the NEM cranes.

A bit extra from Mike -
"On 1 January 1937 Robert Stephenson & Co Ltd purchased the locomotive department of R & W Hawthorn Leslie Ltd to form Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns Ltd. All the locos were moved out by road. Those bound for Rio Tinto were of 3ft 6in gauge."

CHLOE was with LONDON LOYALTY and LAURELWOOD (both tankers) from 03/11/1953 to 17/12/1953 and by 24/12/1953 LAURELWOOD had left and by 31/12/1953 LONDON LOYALTY had also gone. After that CHLOE was with SOMERSBY and GRENEHURST both cargo ships. So does this date the photo to Nov-Dec 1953?

The one inside CHLOE does seem to be a match for LONDON LOYALTY, from what we can see of her bridge structure, and suppose it might have maken sense to berth the 2 Furness vessels together.
The foreground is quite a puzzle, think we must be looking at the stern/poop structure of a tanker, with one lifeboat fitted, engine/funnel maybe to follow? What is the odd panel with the 'portholes' laid across the deck ... could it be an engine-room skylight waiting to be fitted, did tankers such as LAURELWOOD have skylights? I can't find a photo of her just now.

Engines might have gone to Rotterdam, Thames or Hull, for example, for transhipment.
Gardners did project cargoes but not until around 1959/50
Regards
Graham

The coaster seems to me to be substantial enough to have made the voyage to Huelva. Could be one of Fisher's?

I was wondering whether the inscription on the crane spreader-bar might assist, but I'm not sure?
I can't make a lot of it out other than Limited in second right sector, and Darlington and Newcastle in the right-hand sector.
The second word in the third-right sector is England. Can anyone make more of this? (and does it help?)

Ron

I thought maybe Stephenson in the second panel and so it would be a spreader sent from the works whenever they had equipment to ship.

I've tried to check for coasters as well but only one came up as moored at NEM and that was ARDGANTOCK. However I have checked the photo on Scottish Built and she doesn't have that break between the two hatches. I suspect that when the coasters arrived they were designated in the shipping reports to have gone to another berth or more likely one of the buoys and only came alongside NEM for the lift. One other mystery ship was WILLIAM G WACKLEY ??? Couldn't find her.

WILLIAM G. WALKLEY - tanker completed at Blyth 3-1954. Seems to fit time-frame.

Ron