THE PORT OF LONDON AUTHORITY MAGAZINE b ISSUE 12 b SPRING 2012 2-3.qxd:Tidal Thames9.qxd 08/05/2012 16:50 Page 1

Tragic Year Chiefton Comment

How can I sum up the Some of my colleagues tragedy and loss suffered in the Port of London by the Thames As we face a year of Authority knew those community during 2011? unprecedented activity who died. Ben came from a long line of Within the space of a few on the river, I’d ask you Thames watermen, well weeks, three people died all to reflect on how known and respected on in tragic boat accidents precious the Thames the river. Darren had on the tidal Thames. and its users are to each many friends in the PLA, These incidents are not and every one of us. who are still coming to connected; neither do terms with his loss. they share a common It’s not that any regular cause. They happened in Thames user doesn’t different parts of the river to people with realise the river’s potential for taking life; very different skills. it’s just human nature to think, to hope, Death on the tideway isn’t new, of that bad things won’t happen to people course. In an average year the police and we know. Editor: rescue services pull around 20 bodies However, 2011 has proved that tragedy Doug Kempster from the Thames. Each represents a life Design: can strike at the heart of our community. 360create 0208 166 1597 lost, families devastated. But virtually So, as we face a year of unprecedented Photographers: none are linked to boating activities. Andy Wallace activity on the river, I’d ask you all to Wayne McCabe Deaths among the Thames leisure reflect on how precious the Thames and Gavin Parsons boating and commercial vessel Sam Ashfield its users are to each and every one of us. communities are incredibly rare, despite Port of London Authority Achieving high standards of river safety is London River House the fact this sector makes more than our ongoing and collective responsibility. Royal Pier Road 300,000 journeys on the river annually. Gravesend We need to work with, and look out for, Kent DA12 2BG, UK So when keen kayaker Will Carus died each other. We owe that much to Will, Enquiries: near Twickenham; waterman Ben Ben and Darren. [email protected] Woollacott was fatally injured following an Telephone: accident on the Woolwich Ferry; and tug 01474 562 305 engineer Darren Lacey was lost when the For more information on the Port of London Chiefton sank off Greenwich; we all felt – Richard Everitt Authority, go to: and continue to feel – a very deep and Chief Executive www.pla.co.uk personal loss. Port of London Authority

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Forth Expands its Third Chiefton Thames operator Forth Ports has per cent ownership of TCS we sea and short sea customers.” taken control of Tilbury Container plan to combine our existing TCS, which has traded primarily Services (TCS). short sea container terminal with destinations in South America with TCS to create a new The company, which already owns and South Africa, handled around container business called the Port of Tilbury, originally had a 314,000 containers last year – up ‘London Container Terminal’. third share in TCS. 2.4 per cent on 2010. “The combined terminal will But, in January, it bought out its The Port of Tilbury’s short sea handle close to half a million partners DP World and Associated routes with continental Europe and containers and it makes us the British Ports. the UK carried 126,000 containers third largest single container in 2011 – up 7.6 per cent the Charles Hammond, the company’s operation in the UK and one of the previous year. chief executive, said: “With 100 few UK ports servicing both deep

City Cruises is launching one of the river’s largest scheduled passenger boats. The 37 metre, 434 tonne Third Generation RiverLiner, or 3GR, will be able to accommodate up to 600 people. It will be powered by two Cummins QSM-11 high performance diesel engines with electronic fuel management for improved economy. Solar panels will recharge its batteries continuously. Designed and built in Croatia, the catamaran is part of a £4million fleet upgrade at City Cruises. The company, which already carries around 2 million passengers on its central London routes each year, expects the new vessel to enter service in time for the Olympics. Gun Fort Fisherman Found

A fisherman was stranded in an Kent, and search for its crew. “However, at first light a passing abandoned sea fort after Rescuers recovered the body of vessel spotted a man waving from becoming separated from one fisherman but, following high up inside one of the Red his boat. exhaustive coastguard enquiries Sands Towers. Rescuers The man, who hasn’t been named at the Lisa K’s home port of recovered him and he was by coastguards, spent a night Ramsgate, they knew another transferred to hospital by the RAF high up inside one of the Red person – the skipper – was still to be assessed for hypothermia. Sands Towers – a complex of missing. “The Lisa K is a potting boat World War II gunnery platforms in Julia Gosling from the Maritime which has been working out the Thames Estuary. and Coastguard Agency said: of Ramsgate for shell and He’d been at the centre of a major “A search began for the skipper crab fishing. search and rescue operation after because two people were “The rescued skipper reported his drifting boat, Lisa K, was believed to be on board the vessel that they had been on one of tracked on radar by Port of when it left Ramsgate. the Red Sands Towers – nearly London Authority Vessel Traffic “Whitstable, Sheerness and six miles from where the vessel Services Officers in February. Margate RNLI lifeboats and the was found drifting. His crewman Coastguards ordered three rescue helicopter from RAF had gone into the water after lifeboats and a Royal Air Force Wattisham searched the sea. But the boat began drifting away helicopter to intercept the vessel the skipper was not found during from the platform.” seven miles north of Herne Bay, the night. Buoy

The PortBrand of London Authority says the ship will be a brand of “It’s undoubtedly time for a has unveiled its marine ‘Swiss its own. change; if the local fire brigade Army Knife’. drove around in 43-year-old fire “The MMV’s jobs and the areas it engines, people would soon start The giant multi-tasker – pictured will operate in are so diverse, there asking why!” above – has been dubbed the wasn’t an ‘off-the-peg’ ship to suit Mooring Maintenance Vessel, or us, so we’ve had to design and The MMV will carry more deck MMV for short. build our own,” says Peter Steen, gear than the existing salvage It’s been designed to lay buoys, PLA director of marine operations. ships, including spud legs for positioning, two very large cranes, haul wreckage from the bottom of “The vessels it replaces – and more winches the river, support dive operations, Hookness and Crossness, the and even dredge. ‘Ness Boats’ – were launched in With a price-tag of around It will be squat and shallow the 1960s as successors to our £6.9million, the PLA says the ship enough to negotiate bridges steam-driven salvage ships. is a crucial investment not only for and mudbanks as far upriver “Although they’re still robust, many servicing the river today, but also as Richmond, and robust enough of the Ness Boats’ replacement the Thames of tomorrow. to face the estuary’s windswept parts are no longer available, so “We carried out a study into the waters. we’ve been custom-building our cost of stripping-out and updating The PLA, which signed-off the own – making ongoing servicing our existing salvage ships,” says contract to begin building this and maintenance time-consuming Alan Cartwright, the authority’s unique Thames grafter in March, and expensive. head of marine engineering.

4 “But we found this wouldn’t be on the particular job it is sent Manor Marine of Portland, Dorset. cost effective and, most to do. Alan says: “We put the building importantly, it would give us no And, because only one Ness Boat contract out to tender and Manor capacity or flexibility to meet is usually operational at a time – Marine came top. future demands. with the second on stand-by – the “We’re now looking forward to “The MMV has been designed not port authority says replacing them seeing this unique vessel in service only to suit our needs today, but with a single MMV will not impact towards the end of next year.” also for what could be required of on the PLA’s salvage capabilities. us in years to come. The vessel was designed by UK-based “The new ship will give us decades naval architects of service so, set against this, the MacDuff Ship Design in outlay is good value for money.” close collaboration with The MMV will weigh-in at around PLA marine engineers, 650 tonnes. It will be more than 36 masters and crews. metres long and 13.5 metres wide, And, in a boost to with a maximum draft of 2.2 British shipbuilding, the metres and an air draft of just over port authority has six metres. awarded the Its crew size will vary depending construction contract to Regal AID Commentators have claimed marching soldiers stop, they stop. vessels ranging from large, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee The ground beneath them doesn’t passenger-carrying catamarans to Pageant will be the greatest keep moving. kayaks. In the 17th century all Thames procession since the However, this year, another Royal boats were either rowed or sailed. reign of Charles II. spectacle will parade – but not on For a safety authority like ours, But chief harbour master David the Mall, on the Thames. And, this causes considerable Phillips disagrees; he says the crucially, the stage upon which challenges. We have to make scope of this summer’s event this event is being played-out sure that rowing boats are kept is unprecedented.. changes constantly. safe from power vessels, that London’s emergency services, It can travel through London at smaller power boats aren’t run the Port of London Authority almost five miles an hour. And it down by bigger ones, so those and many others involved in rises and falls on each tide by as participating are kept safe. organising and marshalling the much as 25ft (7.6 metres). Secondly, no large ceremonial pageant are facing an Even with the Thames Barrier Thames pageant has ever had to incredible challenge. closed and blocking the tide, the contend with so many bridges Here, David explains why.. river continues to move eastwards along its route – 14 in fact. “It’s been said that as many as through the capital – pushed, on Each of these bridges is two billion people across the average, by around 70 tonnes of supported by structures in the world tuned in to watch last year’s fresh water coming down from the water, and we have to be sure that Royal Wedding. upper Thames….every second! the masters of pageant vessels This pageant has been described can get through these obstacles I was one of them. It was a without mishap. wonderful day in all respects by some as the biggest event of and an amazing spectacle – its kind since the reign of Charles Finally, development in London well rehearsed. II. But this is wrong. The river has led to the Thames being has never seen anything on the narrowed. As a result, the river But I remember thinking “at least scale of this summer’s parade – current is faster, sometimes by the Mall stands still.” When the and I’ll explain why… two to three times what it was in carriages and the horses and the Firstly, this river pageant has the 17th century.

6 David Phillips The Port of because of the proximity of considerable input from the London obstacles like bridges, moorings, emergency services, sailors, Authority piers and shoals or shallows. rowers, kayakers, historic vessel isn’t So, how do we at the safety specialists and dragon boaters. organising authority take account of this? We’ve also set up a series of the event working groups with these experts itself, but it is For starters, we’ve conducted a number of rehearsals – the so the needs and limitations of the safety the various vessels taking part adviser. biggest has involved up to 130 vessels. We want to ensure that can be understood properly by Faced with a every fifth boat taking part on the the event organisers. moving ‘road’, day has a crew that’s familiar with There are, of course, some basic, vehicles with the route. These can then act as commonsense rules that will apply no ‘brakes’, few guides for neighbouring boats to all boats – regardless of type. ‘parking which may be making the journey spaces’, around We’ll insist that everyone afloat for the first time. We’re on track to wears a lifejacket. I know this can 1,000 vessels on meet that target. the river, and be frustrating but a man obstacles on both the ‘hard We also have to look at what overboard without a lifejacket shoulder’ and in the ‘road’ – happens if something goes wrong could ultimately lead to the whole marshalling this spectacular will with a boat – if it breaks down for event being abandoned. A boater be an operation on an unrivalled instance – because nothing will in the water wearing a lifejacket scale. stop the current, absolutely can be recovered quickly and nothing, and that means the easily, but one without could be The PLA alone has cancelled all crippled vessel will carry on dragged under. There’s no way leave as it brings in more than 100 moving downstream. that, in this scenario, a procession extra staff on the day …(and that We need to have a means of of hundreds of boats can continue doesn’t include colleagues over what would be the scene downriver who have the vital task ensuring casualty vessels can be made safe. We’ll achieve this of a major search and rescue of keeping the UK’s second operation. biggest port running as normal – by splitting the pageant into trade in the estuary must go on). distinct groups of similar sized We’ll also be keeping a very close In addition, the RNLI, Maritime boats, with spaces of up to 300 watch on all boats to ensure and Coastguard Agency, metres between each of the they’re not overloaded with Company of Watermen and groups. passengers. Lightermen and many, many This will allow time for a casualty And, although we recognise the boating clubs and associations vessel to be made safe and, if Jubilee weekend will be one of are providing considerable necessary, taken out of the celebration, boat skippers and at support. Also police, navy, and pageant by a rescue boat. least one other crew member fire brigade resources will be Our safety management is must not be over the legal alcohol crucial to the safety effort. founded on three basic principles: limit. Drunk drivers will be The pageant organisers have been each crew has to keep a proper breathalysed and their boats keen to be inclusive – to involve lookout (as all mariners are removed from the pageant. as many people and as many required to do); each vessel must The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee will different types of vessel as they maintain a safe distance from its be history in the making. It rests safely can. neighbours; and boats of a similar on all of us taking part – either as As a result, the river will not only size must stay together. event organisers, safety and have many different types of This last point is particularly emergency crew, or skippers of boats, but they will be crewed by important. If a barge hits another individual boats – to ensure the people with very different levels of similarly-sized barge, while it’s not day is remembered for all the right competence. And many will have good, it is unlikely to be life reasons; to ensure that, three and no Thames experience at all. threatening; whereas a large a half centuries from now, people will still be talking about this It’s easy to look on the tidal vessel hitting a smaller one will have much more serious pageant the way we talk about Thames as just a river on which to Charles II’s.” ‘… feed the ducks …’ but, in consequences. truth, it needs to be treated with The event safety plan has been considerable respect, not only co-ordinated by the Port of because of the currents, but also London Authority with Royal Navy Ha

8 HMS Dauntless ndy in a fight It can smash enemy aircraft with In 2010 Dauntless was the first supersonic missiles and protect itself Royal Navy warship to fire a Sea with an impenetrable shield of Viper missile and was subsequently explosive shells. HMS Dauntless may awarded the Grytviken Trophy for anti-air share its name with a 17th century sailing warfare excellence. ship from Pirates of the Caribbean, but The ship also carries a 4.5in (114mm) the Type 45 destroyer which steamed into main gun that can hurl 40kg (88lbs) high the Thames last September is the future explosive shells at targets more than 12 of British sea power. miles away – the equivalent fire-power of With its distinctive main mast – home a six-gun shore battery. to guidance systems for the ship’s And, for defence, the Type 45s are kitted- awesome Sea Viper weaponry – Dauntless is the first of its class to arrive in the Port of London. Type 45 in figures: The 152 metre (492ft) ship – the length of Displacement: 16 double decker buses – was in town for 8,000 tonnes Length: 152 metres a defence and security exhibition at Beam: 21.2 metres the Royal Docks. Draught: 5.3 metres Commanding officer, Captain Will Top Speed: Warrender, said: “It’s an enormous honour More than 30 knots and privilege to be the first Type 45 Range: destroyer to visit London. 7,000 nautical miles “HMS Dauntless represents the future for the Royal Navy, and is bristling with the out with Phallanx radar-controlled Gatling newest military technology. guns. These spew out 20mm (0.78in) “The ship represents the finest shells at 3,000 rounds a minute, shipbuilding skills the UK has to offer and smashing enemy aircraft or missiles that is a great example of the high standards come within a mile of the ships. and capabilities of the British defence Lynx helicopters – carrying Sea Skua manufacturing base.” missiles for taking on ships, and Sting The Type 45s were custom-built to house Ray torpedos for submarines – operate Sea Viper – a weapons system capable of from a flight deck which is big enough to protecting every ship in the destroyer’s accommodate a Chinook. naval task group. Dauntless can carry 60 troops in addition This weaponry can take out enemy to its own 190 personnel. And, if aircraft within 70 miles of the ship. Its evacuating civilians from war zones or missiles reach speeds of more than Mach natural disasters, it can take up to 700 Four (over 3,000mph) and use a series of extra people. tiny jets to manoeuvre, carrying out sharp The ship will be one of six Type 45s in turns at G-forces no human could endure. operation by the middle of the decade. The system includes a Sampson radar It’s pictured here by the QEII Bridge at (the ball on top of the main mast), Sylver Dartford. launching equipment on the forecastle, and Aster 15 and Aster 30 missiles. Pilots, vessel traffic services officers and marine engineers are going back to the classroom… to teach. Some of the Port of London Authority’s most highly trained personnel are setting aside time from running southern England’s busiest port, to provide a raft of Royal Yachting Association accredited qualifications. Class “We cover everything from A “Firstly, we have the kit. the Thames. shorebased courses to practical Candidates taking RYA powerboat boat handling,” said Class 1 pilot “And Dave Fallows, who’s part of courses, for instance, have a the PLA team which maintains our Ed Hadnett who founded the whole range of vessels to train on Denton-based school. fleet of more than 40 vessels, will – from small skiffs with outboards, be teaching the diesel engine “We can equip students to to single screw Dorys, a water-jet course.” operate up to 150 miles propelled RIB to a 32-tonne offshore, provide them with pilot cutter. The port authority acknowledges commercial endorsements, and that setting up a school is a major “Secondly, we have the staff. PLA undertaking, but it believes the give them training on a vast fleet sea school instructors don’t just of different boats.” move will boost navigational teach – we do. Each one of us is a safety not only in the Thames, but Ed is a former Royal Navy serving professional in our field. also in other waters. seaman officer who’s been “So, those doing a VHF course Ed said: “Our courses aren’t just teaching and assessing RYA will be taught by Frank Aubin- courses in his spare time for about reading from a textbook or Hart, a vessel traffic services indulging in recreational sailing. 15 years. officer in port control. “Our instructors can give students “The PLA has two major “When I’m not sailing yachts in my advantages over other sea a much wider perspective and spare time, I’m boarding container greater insight into the needs and schools,” he said. ships and guiding them through

10 Pilot Launch Patrol ct limitations of those boats and ships Ed with the PLA’s Ian Costello and Graham Burr that may be around them. “It’s one thing to tell future boat skippers to keep clear of ships which are constrained by their size or can’t stop on a sixpence but, to get an insight into handling these huge commercial vessels from a mariner who actually drives them, is priceless.” The port authority has even acquired an eight metre Contessa 26 yacht in support of its school, although for those looking to sail further offshore in a more substantial vessel, it has negotiated a deal for training with Southern Sailing on the Solent. OLYMPICS 2 0 1 2

had still been unnerving. Port of London Authority harbour master They were tooled-up, armour-clad, Chris McQueen, who was among and hurtling down the river in a them, said: “Seeing these cloud of spray. marksmen piling through the door Gun-toting police packed in black was pretty daunting, even when rigid inflatable boats (RIBs), Royal you know you haven’t done Marines in D Day-style landing anything wrong!” craft, and the Royal Navy’s P2000 The Woolwich exercise had been patrol boat HMS Blazer. just one in a series staged in Ordinarily, the passenger vessel January and spearheaded by the Meteor Clipper, motoring through Met’s Wapping-based Marine Cop Woolwich Reach, wouldn’t know Policing Unit. what hit it. Assault boats rocked- More than 40 boat, air support, up alongside, and cops and and firearms cops had joined commandos spilled over the forces with 94 personnel from guard rail onto its aft deck. the Royal Marines 539 Assault Overhead, a naval Lynx helicopter Squadron to fine-tune their Most tactics were practised away circled, its guns trained on the anti-terror skills ahead of the from public view. But, as these scene below. London Olympics. dramatic pictures show, the squads used the Woolwich A SKY News chopper captured Their week-long manoeuvres were exercise to showcase their work footage of one armed officer not a response to a specific to Londoners. scrambling across the Clipper’s threat, Scotland Yard stessed, but roof and thrusting his gun through to assess how the military can Six RIBs, one command and the wheelhouse window. boost the capital’s law control launch, police Targa Nina enforcement capabilities. MacKay II, four offshore raiding Simultaneously, a knot of crack craft, HMS Blazer, and two Royal police officers and marines – all “This will be a summer like no Marine landing vessels were body armour and weaponry – other in London,” said among the hardware put through edged into the passenger lounge, Metropolitan Police assistant its paces on the day. their semi-automatics sweeping commissioner Chris Allison. the scene. UK defence secretary, Philip “The Thames runs through Hammond, said: “As we get Those travelling on the Clipper the very heart of our capital and closer to the Games, the public weren’t civilians or terrorists but will be a popular place for people can expect to see more exercises mainly police and military who want to be part of the like this which, I hope, will provide observers, onboard to monitor this Olympic spirit. reassurance that everything unprecedented peacetime show “These exercises are all part of possible is being done to ensure of force on the Thames. our planning to ensure this the event is safe, secure and Yet, although these passengers summer's events take place safely enjoyable for all those attending knew what was coming, the raid and securely.” and participating.”

12 s and Commandos OLYMPICS 2 0 1 2

Recreational boaters will be stopped from using the tidal Thames as an Olympics base if they fail to arrange a mooring in advance. The Port of London Authority “London is already a very busy (PLA) has issued crucial guidance port and cannot accommodate ahead of the Games so that numbers of boaters milling people don’t make wasted around, looking for a place to journeys by water. stay once they get here. The move has been prompted by Navigational safety is our priority any visiting boats. fears that large numbers of ‘out- and this would be an accident Last year navigation, law of-town’ boaters may see sailing waiting to happen. to London as a way to avoid enforcement and safety “So, if visiting boats don’t have a congestion or running up hotel authorities on the Thames pre-booked mooring in London, bills during the event. produced posters urging boaters they’ll be asked to leave the area to book moorings early. But, with anchoring banned above for their own safety, that of other Versions in Dutch, French and Gravesend and marina facilities in recreational users, and the safety German were circulated by limited supply, boats won’t be of commercial shipping.” allowed to loiter in Britain’s Metropolitan, Kent and Essex The PLA, British Waterways and busiest inland waterway while police and the Maritime and the Environment Agency will their crews look for somewhere Coastguard Agency through their register the names of incoming to stay. opposite numbers on the boats that have confirmed continent. And posters in English The Port of London Authority will moorings, and issue them with were also distributed around the station ‘Gate Keeper’ patrol special waterproof identification. UK by coastguards. launches at either end of the tidal The ‘Gate Keepers’ will then river, and boaters trying to head The Port of London Authority will check arriving craft against the for London without a pre-booked be laying emergency mooring boat list they hold. mooring will be turned away. buoys near its ‘Gate Keeper’ Vessels planning to travel through patrol areas. Arriving boaters, Harbour master Julian Parkes, the the tideway without stopping will with nowhere to go, will be put PLA’s port security officer, said: also be identified and monitored on these buoys until the tide “Visiting recreational boaters are on their passage through the port. is suitable for them to leave very welcome on the Thames the Thames. during the summer, but they have Police, immigration and customs to understand that mooring and officers – tasked with security and More details can be found at boating facilities are very limited in border control – have said they’ll www.boatingonthethames.co.uk the region. also be taking a close interest in

14

OLYMPICS 2 0 1 2

Alien species hitching rides on boats could be heading up the Thames, environment chiefs have warned. Government experts are urging invasive non-natives. marina, pier, dock and moorings Rivers, estuaries and marine operators to be on their guard for environments are particularly at armies of invaders that are already risk. These species can cause choking other waterways. significant issues, like fouling of Many alien species, like the quagga submerged structures, hulls and mussel, are notorious for fouling even propellers, which increases floats, pilings, ropes and chains; they maintenance costs for boat and reached British owners. even smother otherhasn’t sea life. marina The mussel And there are many threats es but, say environmentalists, it’s shor out there. on its way, clinging to the fouled hulls This is why good biosecurity across of boats. And the cost of clearing it, if the estuary is crucial; it not only it gets a ‘foothold’ in a dock, lock or prevents the arrival of new species, marina, would be crippling. but also stops established invasive Government agencies and the Port of non-natives from being spread London Authority are now concerned elsewhere. that, with an anticipated influx of ean can be a And failure to keep vessels leisure vessels for the Queen’species to n s and equipment cl Diamond Jubilee and Olympics, the offence. criminal potential for more alie in (or be spread around) the arrive Marina managers and boaters need Thames is even greater. to be vigilant and on the look-out at all times. Without tough biosecurity from boaters, they argue, even more Boat hulls must be kept clean, with invasive non-natives could join a owners hauling out, scrubbing and Thames rogue’s gallery that already antifouling their vessels regularly. includes the Chinese mitten crab, And marina and dock operators zebra mussel and carpet sea squirt. should insist that boats have a Joanna Heisse, Environment Agency regular antifouling regime as a biodiversity officer, says: condition of mooring. “Invasive non-natives pose a serious River users are our biggest ally in threat to theand environment, the way we live. the combating these invasions, economy and I’d urge anyone planning to visit new waters this summer In 2010, the Government to take a look at the British estimated that these cost Marine Federation and Royal the British economy £1.7 billion every Yachting Association website year. www.thegreenblue.org.uk. or the nment’s Check, Clean, Consequently, we all – regulators, Gover dock operators and boaters - have a Dry campaign at role to play in preventing new and www.nonnativespecies.org.” emerging species from taking a hold whilst we also tackle existing Antifouling, Andy Wallace

16 Zebra Mussels, Paul Beckwith

Carpet Sea Squirt, Harry Goudge

Chinese Mitten Crab, Stephan Gollash Rowing a Tipper Truck

18 There’s nothing like a leisurely early His boat was the PLA’s 18-tonne barge morning row on the Thames. Blackwall – the weight of a typical And Louis Pettipher’s first outing with tipper truck. an oar for the Port of London Authority The course he was following covered 22 was nothing like a leisurely early miles of tidal river between Teddington morning row. and Charlton. For a start, his oar (or sweep) was 30ft And, most daring of all, he’d chosen to (9m) long and so heavy, it had to be join the six-times PLA barge driving carried by two men. champs – Mick Russell, Darren Knight, Mark Towens and Tony Handley – for his maiden trip. Barge team (left to right) Mick, Darren, Tony, Louis and Mar “There’s little chance to prepare It’s as much about river screaming but their eyes for a row like this,” he said. “So knowledge as about brute barely register the benefit of all the first time I set foot on the strength, with the helmsman the hard work. barge was at four in the morning riding the tide and steering for the This was doubly the case for as we got it ready for the trip near best currents. the PLA crewmen as they started Teddington Lock. But the rowing element is still their epic row at four fifteen in “I’d shown an interest in having a punishing – not just on the arms the morning along the upper go at barge driving when I joined and shoulders but also the back Thames reaches. the PLA last year so, when a and legs. With few shore-side reference place came up on this trip, I got “We row in twos, standing up,” points in the dark and their barge first refusal. I must admit, I didn’t said Mick Russell. “We use a foot lumbering through the oil-black have a journey on this scale in board to push off from at the start river, the crew only had the long mind when I volunteered!!! of the stroke, then walk journey ahead to focus on. “I didn’t even have a proper set of backwards, dragging the oar “You can’t really warm-up for a rowing gloves – I protected my through the water. barge row,” said Darren Knight. hands by wrapping them in “Each pair will do 10 of “So the first part is really tough. insulating tape and putting a pair these strokes before changing Your muscles start aching and of electrician’s rubber gloves over over. That way, we each get as your pulse rate quickens, the top.” a bit of a breather.” you start thinking “I can’t Barge rowing celebrates Because the barge is travelling keep this going for the next the traditional skills of lightermen with the tide and the watermen six or so hours.” – boat handlers who once used are higher above the river “But once you get into the swing the vessels to move cargo on than conventional rowers, they of it, it gets easier.” the river. don’t get the same sensation The crew decided to launch the Today it’s still keenly practiced by of movement. long-distance row after taking the modern watermen and lightermen So keeping a positive attitude is Transport on Water Barge Driving on the Thames. crucial as their muscles start Match Trophy for the sixth year

20 You can’t really running last summer. “warm-up for a barge while it’s underway. So we have to That course covers seven row,” said Darren line Blackwall up, row hard miles between Greenwich and Knight. “So the first and then take the oars in to Westminster Bridge and attracts part is really tough. pass the bridge.” around 10 competing barges Mark’s long experience at the each year. Your muscles start barge’s helm paid off, with Tony Handley said: “We wanted to aching and as your Blackwall negotiating the see how far we could row the pulse rate quickens, bridge effortlessly. barge on a single ebb or falling you start thinking “ I Once clear, the crewmen rolled tide, starting at the landward limit can’t keep this going the oars back out and continued of the Port of London. for the next six or so the relentless rhythm that was to “We need the water to be either hours take them past hazy Kew Bridge slack – where it stops moving as at 0600, scullers training at the tide changes – or heading in Chiswick at 0620, and through the the direction we want to go. ” choppy central London waters Rowing against the current in a below Blackfriars Bridge at 0845. conventional boat is hard; in an Throughout the journey, the 18-tonne barge it’s impossible!” rowers had averaged between three and four knots but, as they The Blackwall marathon was backed by Capital Pleasure Boat thudded into waves off HMS Services who supplied support Belfast at 0855, Mick shouted to the support boat that things were tug Top Dog. And the PLA’s Chris Healy, along with the Woolwich getting harder. rk Ferry’s Danny Rolles, and The beneficial effects of the ebb Gravesend Rowing Club’s tide were dying away, but the John Nightingale, volunteered crew still had the long lazy loop of to crew it. river around the Isle of Dogs to contend with. Top Dog was crucial in the early stages of the row as its AIS However, to onlookers’ (vessel tracking system) and amazement, nearly six hours search lights guided Blackwall after they’d set out, the Blackwall through the dark upper reaches team was still rowing hard off of the tidal river and the Greenwich – averaging 17 strokes occasional fog bank which a minute. spilled off the land. “We were desperate to cover as As the two boat flotilla much ground as possible before approached Petersham Meadows the tide turned against us,” said at 0505, visibility became Mick, “so we gave it everything much better with the orange we had.” glow of Richmond catching In the end, the tide stalled then the shoreside mist. turned around 1030, bringing But for helmsman Mark Towens, Blackwall to a halt the biggest challenge of the at………Blackwall. whole trip lay just ahead of The crew had fallen just half a him – Richmond Bridge. mile short of a 20-year-old record “As you can imagine,” said for the longest distance rowed in Mark, “when two 30ft oars are a barge on the Thames. sticking out from either side of “We were so close,” said Mark in the barge, Blackwall takes up a fair bit of room. disbelief. “We’ve got no choice but to try it all again!” “It is, in fact, too wide to clear Richmond Bridge’s centre arch Louis was strangely silent… As a result, supplying the plant has become a major marine operation Electricity chiefs on the Thames have thrown the because, unlike coal, the special switch on the world’s first fully wood-fuelled wood pellet fuel is vulnerable to power station. the elements and can’t be stockpiled RWE npower’s revamped Tilbury B went outside. operational in December and began pumping This means Tilbury can only store biomass energy directly into the national grid enough to keep it runninge boiler for sixunits during January. hours, making its thre eliant on ships to feed them The 42-year-old station, originally fired by r coal, now has a 750 mega watt capacity – constantly. enough to power 1.5 million households over And so, the company says the next four years. it will be using more, though Station manager Nigel Staves said: “This is a smaller, vessels than it did when first. There have been part-conversions of shipping coal. power stations before but never a full biomass conversion.”

22

conveyor system at a rate of 500 tonnes an hour. Npower spokesman Kelly Brown said: “The Around 80 per cent of supplies will come from station was perfect for the conversion to green sustainable trans-Atlantic sources in 25,000 to energy because it’s got excellent jetty facilities 45,000 tonne ships. The rest will come from on the Thames estuary, so there didn’t need to Europe in a 19,000 tonne vessel which shuttles be massive changes on site.” between the Thames and the near continent.

The plant will nownd runof 2015. on biomass until its “In one year we expect to burn 2.5 million closure at the e tonnes of wood pellets and 50,000 tonnes of the course of its life, Tilbury B will slash Tall oil – a by-product of wood pulp During its carbon dioxide emissions by more than two manufacture,” said Nigel. ture was already million tonnes, and produce less than 10 per Although the jetty infrastruc cent of the ash it did when it used coal. in place to supply the power station, RWE npower had to rethink the way it offloads the This year alone, the power station is expected to new pellet cargoes. account for 10 per cent of the UK’s renewable energy output. Traditionally, Tilbury used two Kone bucket-wheel ship unloaders to scoop Shortly before going to press, Tilbury Power coal up from the holds. b Station was hit by a large fire. The station is But trials showed these could expose the wood already returning to normal operations, to damaging rain and even crush the pellets into although it’s not expected to reach full a useless and sometimes dangerous dust. capacity until the summer. The cause of the To counter this, the power giant has installed two blaze is under investigation. Vigan vacuum unloaders which suck the pellets from the ship directly into an enclosed Tim Ross

Alan Cartwright’s office is crammed with vessel blueprints, technical readouts, bits of engine and project files. He’s fielding phone calls: designers, boat builders, suppliers, vessel operators and harbour masters…all after a piece of his time. Outside, his team of 17 engineering craftsmen and technicians is scattered across the Port of London. Dave Kelly, for instance, has been searching for faults in a nest of wiring beneath the console of 32 tonne pilot launch, Patrol. Marc MacLeod is servicing the 1,150 bhp twin Caterpillar engines of survey boat, Verifier. Tom Parham is doing a spot of welding A Fitter Fleet Andy Nailor

Tom Parham

24 on the deck of 39 metre-long salvage ship Crossness. And Brian Parker is planning repairs to the shafts and rudders of the 62 tonne river clearance vessel Driftwood II. From safety patrols to putting pilots on ships, salvage missions to mapping the sea bed; the Port of Dave Kelly London Authority’s fleet of more than 40 vessels is central to operations across 400 square miles of the Thames and its estuary. In a typical year, its boats and ships will clock up a staggering 15,800 hours of engine time. So the team tasked with keeping this armada on the move is crucial to the port authority. And as the PLA’s head of marine engineering, Alan’s at the forefront of that team. A former Royal Navy officer, Alan specialised in engineering, serving as senior engineer in the Royal yacht Britannia. But his expertise isn’t just about keeping vessels up to speed, he’s adept at buying, “The PLA, in turn, has to be sure on the crews’ needs, and robust designing and building new ones. that its patrol launches, pilot enough to meet whatever He says: “Dock and wharf cutters and marine services craft demands are placed on them.” operators, ships’ masters and are fit to keep the organisation PLA marine engineers and boat Thames watermen rely on the Port at the top of its game. crews have been central to the of London Authority to provide “But this job is not just about design, build and introduction of services which are vital to the safe maintaining the PLA’s existing the ‘bridge class’ catamaran running of their businesses and the fleet; it’s about using pioneering patrol and pilotage boats now in wider river. technology and innovation to service on the Thames. ensure new boats are focussed

Brian Parker offices, ops rooms and workshops. “We’re also responsible for maintaining Richmond Lock and Weir,” says Alan. “The structure is made up of three vertical steel sluice gates suspended from a footbridge, each weighing 32.6 tonnes. These are raised for two hours either side of high water – the rest of the time they’re in place to keep the river upstream deep enough for boats to operate. “The machinery needed to move these gates and operate the lock, which allows boats to pass the weir when it’s closed, was designed and built in 1892 but, with our continued maintenance programme, is still in good working condition. Alan Cartwright “Dave heads the upkeep of the weir systems and we use specialist consultants Houlder Ltd for day-to- day supervision. We also have regular Their design provides safe, of emergency generators which contractors ET Marine & Industrial stable working platforms for the ensures its safety operations – Engineering to maintain and repair vessels’ wide range of duties, port control, vessel traffic this important equipment.” while using less fuel and services, radar provision – can producing fewer emissions carry on, even if the lights go The marine engineering team is than the more traditional boats out in the rest of south east divided into two groups – craftsmen they replaced. England. and technicians – collectively known as ‘fitters’ within the PLA. Both are The PLA’s new mooring Servicing and upgrading these qualified electrical, mechanical, and maintenance vessel (page 4) is back-up energy sources falls to electronics specialists. the team’s current major project. electrical systems engineer Dave Craftsmen specialise in the skilled But the marine engineering Fallows, who designs and repair and maintenance of vessels, department’s skills go far maintains the power, air typically carrying out work on the hull beyond the water. conditioning and alarm networks across all the PLA’s shoreside and boat fittings as well as routine The port authority has a network engine servicing. Technicians are experienced trouble- shooters who know their way around a workshop. They not only lead PLA repair teams but are also qualified as

26 ship engineer officers for port authority salvage vessels Hookness and Crossness. Alan says: “We want to provide a one-stop-shop for the PLA boat crews; when problems arise, the diagnosis and repair need to be quick and effective – whether they’re related to the structure of the vessel or its engines. “Modern systems can be very complex which makes our task much more difficult – but the team works hard to get it right. Andy Bridges “Between us, we have an incredible wealth of experience in the design and engineering world. Marc MacLeod “That’s why we’re asked to give advice on subjects as diverse as maritime legislation, marine biofuels and standards of vessel construction to the UK ports, shipping and small vessel industries, as well as the Department for Transport. “We don’t operate in isolation. By sharing our expertise and experience, we help ensure that British shipping and small vessel design stays among the best in the world. “Marine engineers contribute to the maritime industry’s ‘swan effect’ – we work hard beneath the surface to keep everything running smoothly on top.”

Keith Cliffe

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Packed with crucial guidance for ships navigating the tidal River Thames and its Estuary, this quick reference Port of London Authority passage planning chart features: b Pilot Boarding Areas and Pilot Services

b Vessel Traffic Management in the Thames and Medway Approaches b Passage Planning Requirements for Special Classes of Vessels b VHF Channels and Reporting Areas b Transit requirements for the Thames Barrier and Tower Bridge

Produced for use in conjunction with nautical charts and publications, The Mariners’ Passage Planning and Routeing Guide is an essential new piece of bridge kit for any ship planning to visit the Thames.

For more information see www.pla.co.uk or to order please contact [email protected]