Tidal Thames2.qxd 12/3/07 2:14 PM Page 1 THE PORT OF LONDON AUTHORITY MAGAZINE b ISSUE 2 b WINTER 2007 Tidal Thames2.qxd 12/3/07 2:14 PM Page 2 Some people have a take off. Yet, within 10 years, shipping had perception that the Port’s taken an enormous stride: container carriers, C big dockside cranes and straddle carriers dead because they don’t A p became the norm. see many ships in the a r The merchant maritime world changed Comment centre of London. But flo incredibly quickly and this, more than the Port’s still thriving - it’s anything, spelt the end of the central London just moved east. docks - because they just couldn’t be su adapted to cope with the new generation of inf ships, and they couldn’t offer the freight Bu infrastructure to move the goods these vessels carried. ap served at sea for 11 years after leaving But the commercial Port of London didn’t on school, and I worked for the Port of disappear; it just moved down river. That’s bro London Authority for 32. During that why it’s so frustrating when people say the his time I’ve had jobs as varied as duty dock Thames is dead to shipping. master, port control officer and harbour People need to be honest with themselves of master at both ends of the tidal river, so when they think back to the ‘good old days’. his I’ve seen shipping and the Thames Days when, if you fell in the enclosed docks, change dramatically. they didn’t ask if you’d swallowed any water, Th Each vessel that comes here today they pumped your stomach as a precaution ha loads and unloads faster, and carries because ships had probably (and quite Th illegally) just flushed their waste water over more goods than the ships I sailed an 40-odd years ago. the side. sp One of my ships took part in an unusual Today’s river has commerce; it has the th he trial during the 1960s - transporting vinyl potential to improve the nation’s records to Australia. It doesn’t sound that environmental performance; navigational ca unusual, but the way we were doing it was safety is better than ever; and there’s a th pretty revolutionary at the time. greater diversity in the type of craft on it. to m They’d been loaded into a 20ft metal In central and west London companies like container, similar to those you see stacked Sainsbury’s are looking at ways to utilise it bo in their thousands aboard modern vessels. and take vehicles off the road; the Olympics pr are offering new business opportunities for of We had the container lifted aboard by £4 a floating crane in London’s Royal Docks, Port operators; and, on the Essex coast, fo plans for the London Gateway development tr Editor: we lashed it down on the open deck, and Doug Kempster will make the Port the UK’s sailed for Australia. ap Design: leader once again. Eureka Marketing Solutions But when we reached w 020 7801 1480 Melbourne, the Australians The Thames isn’t just ex Photographers: didn’t have anything big alive and kicking, it’s Samuel Ashfield evolving. It’s a river with a Ferrari Press Agency enough to lift it off. fantastic future. John Neligan So dockers opened the Gavin Parsons C container on deck and Port of London Authority Th London River House carried all the boxes of Royal Pier Road records off the ship by Th Gravesend £5 Kent hand. They landed the Today’s river has commerce; DA12 2BG, UK container empty and it has the potential to tid Enquiries: [email protected] then repacked it on improve the nation’s Telephone: the dockside. environmental performance; Gordon Dickins wi 01474 562 305 There must have been a navigational safety is better Course Director, ne For more information few people involved in that than ever; and there’s a Lloyds Port Management, on the Port of London Authority, go to: trial who later thought greater diversity in the National Sea Training gr www.portoflondon.co.uk container use would never type of craft on it. Centre ca 2 Tidal Thames2.qxd 12/3/07 2:14 PM Page 3 River News rs, Crewmen ’Unstuck’ A poorly fitted boat seat may have caused to cut the engine in the event of an a river accident that left three people accident - didn’t work. floundering in the Thames. Harbour masters have been told the RIB went off without its driver, tipping two on Initial harbour master enquiries suggest that trouble started when a rigid other crewmen into the river, before hitting a passing yacht and stopping. f inflatable boat (RIB) hit waves on Bugsby’s Reach. The Port of London Authority is now warning all RIB owners and users to check Witnesses say the vessel’s seat - which their fittings, and make sure their appears to have been held in place with “killcords” are attached to their boats Oil refinery manager Jon Barden has t one-inch screws and bathroom sealant - and working properly (Notice to praised fire fighters broke loose, throwing a crewman against Mariners No20 of 2007). who beat a blaze at his colleague at the helm. The Authority’s findings have been his plant and kept staff safe. It’s alleged the helmsman lost control passed to the Government’s Marine Coryton Refinery’s es of the boat as he fell over the side, and Accident Investigation Branch. own specialist crews, ’. his “killcord” - a piece of kit designed There were no injuries. backed by Essex Fire s, and Rescue Service, quickly brought the er, The world’s first ‘skimmer’ boats incident under control n have gone into service on the on October 31. Thames. A full investigation r The £4million craft, Clearwater I into the cause of the and Clearwater II, have been fire has now been specially built to collect sewer litter launched by oil that’s washed into the river during company Petroplus, heavy downpours. who bought the Thames Water says the problem’s Thames refinery from caused by London’s sewerage system BP earlier this year. that was designed by the Victorians Jon said: “The to overflow into the river during emergency response major cloud bursts. team performed ke The company invested in the magnificently and boats as part of a £500 million showed that our s programme to improve the quality emergency procedures work well. r of the tidal Thames, including a £400 million upgrade programme “We’re sorry this for London’s major sewage has happened and t treatment works. we’re now carrying The Government has also out a full investigation approved plans for a tideway tunnel in conjunction with which will catch sewage from the the appropriate existing Victorian overflow points. authorities. “The safety of our workforce, our neighbours and the refinery itself has Cash Boost for Boat Skills been, and will continue to be, our The Port of London Authority will boost The authority will also pick up the tab top priority." Thames boat skills by investing up to for all BML ‘Thames Local Knowledge £50,000 in marine training on the Endorsement’ courses, giving future tidal river. skippers the skills they need to navigate Over the next five years, the authority through London. will target people working towards the PLA chief executive Richard Everitt new Boatmasters Licence (BML). said: “This funding is good for It’s pledged to give a £500 training navigational safety, and it’s an investment grant to every new work-based BML in the future of the Thames as the busiest candidate in the Port. inland waterway in Britain.” Tidal Thames2.qxd 12/3/07 2:14 PM Page 4 River News Thames Clippers has Susan Kramer MP, PLA Chairman Simon added four new luxury Sherrard and 220-seat vessels to its Launch Master Terry Wollen aboard Richmond Justine Greening MP fleet, increasing commuter capacity on the river. The 35-metre long Three Vessels, One Purpose Australian-built boats run every 15 minutes Three vessels, each built to of two special ceremonies and Susan Kramer at during peak periods boost navigational safety, in October. Richmond Lock. between Greenwich and central London. have been named on the The PLA catamarans, The Galatea, a state-of- They also provide tidal Thames. designed to use less the-art ship built for buoy services as far east as Woolwich. The Port of London power and cause less handling, wreck marking Authority patrol boats water disturbance than and hydrographic O Chelsea and Richmond and conventional river patrol surveying, was named Bri the Trinity House Vessel boats, were named by by the Queen near dip Galatea were at the centre MPs Justine Greening Tower Bridge. T Eng Reg as W Joh pho Por L Wo The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh Galatea at Tower Bridge mil with Trinity House Officers Gre Key Events Winter/Spring 07/08 T Por 15 - 17 December Bankside Frost Fair Outside Tate Modern, Southwark Council of- Bankside River Walk, Tourism Unit London SE1 020 7525 2296 exi I 22 January Thames Estuary Partnership The Pier House, 020 8742 2713 Winter Talks – Blue Light Chiswick, W4 mil Services on the Thames T 19 February Thames Estuary Partnership The Pier House, 020 8742 2713 Gre Winter Talks – Riverside Chiswick, W4 the Chiswick Then and Now riv 28 February Schools Head of the River Race Putney - Mortlake www.wsbc.org.uk/shorr site D 1 March Women’s Head of the River Race Putney - Mortlake www.wehorr.org des 15 March Eights Head of the River Race Putney - Mortlake www.horr.co.uk the 4 Tidal Thames2.qxd 12/3/07 2:15 PM Page 5 -of- uoy ng Our Army of Readers British forces in Afghanistan have been Cruises in a previous life, and is a keen dipping into the Tidal Thames.