Category Archives: Luxury Yacht

#dlr_blog review of 2023

On reviewing Thames river traffic in London during 2023 it was good to note a number of vessels visiting for the first time and also to see some additions to the fleets of local operators (and, unfortunately, a few departures) with the overall number and variety of visitors being good. A full list can be seen here.

The cargo operations at the Tate and Lyle plant continued with regular supplies of raw materials being delivered by ship with 18 deliveries during the year and notable with the restart of trade with Australia after a gap of nearly 50 years. A full list of the visiting ships can be seen here.

There were 20 Cruise Ship visitors in 2023 that used both the Upper Pool and Greenwich moorings with three “first-timers” as well as returning stalwarts of the London cruise scene. As ever with such things there were a few cancellations for various reasons during the season but most of the planned vessels made a visit.

The THE WORLD floating residence ship also paid a visit to London during 2023.

The year saw 10 different Luxury Yachts visit with several first time visitors and some of those were newly launched vessels although overall numbers were slightly down on previous years.

Only 10 sailing ships visited the Thames during the year and mostly by the smaller class vessels but there was one sail-powered cargo delivery during the year by DE TUKKER.

Overview of Thames military vessel visitors in 2023

Another bumper year for military vessel visits that saw a total of 33 vessels call at London including the first visit of a Finnish naval vessel under the NATO flag and three new vessels for the UK Armed Forces with the trials vessel XV PATRICK BLACKETT, RNMB APOLLO and RFA PROTEUS visiting, the latter for it’s naming ceremony.

The following military vessels visited during the year:

The biennial defence show took place in September but with a reduced presence from visiting ships and no on-water displays this time. A full report can be seen here.

The Met Police Marine Division completed the re-equipment of their patrol boat fleet with at least one of their former vessels having been transferred to the UK Border Force (NINA MACKAY II) and the original Targa 37 PATRICK COLQUHOUN II remained in service at the end of the year. A full report can be seen here.

The year also saw the introduction of several more alternative fuel vessels (to add to the hybrid Woolwich Ferries and HVO powered vessels).

Thames Clippers received the first of their hybrid diesel / battery vessels in the shape of EARTH CLIPPER and the battery powered OCEANDIVA arrived at it’s new home (see below for more details) and towards the end of the year the fully electric workboat ALB-e was unveiled.

The middle Thames also hosted the naming of three vessels during 2023 with the offshore supply vessel HST FRANCES being named in St Katharine Docks and the LNG dual-fuel tanker vessel SIR JOHN FISHER and RFA PROTEUS both mooring alongside HMS BELFAST for their naming events.

New additions to the CPBS Marine fleet during the year included GUARDDOG, HOUND DOG and MAD DOG.

GPS Marine added GPS ARCADIA (ex CHRISTIAN), GPS MUSCA (name not carried) & STEVEN B to their fleet.

A number of other vessels visited during the year on temporary assignments in support of various projects along the river.

The Thames and the Docks need maintenance work to prevent the buildup of silt and at the beginning of 2023 the newly delivered water-injection dredger AQUADELTA paid a visit to the entrance to the KGV Lock.

Not so many rowing challenges in 2023 – just Team Ithaca who successfully completed the 2023 GB Row Challenge with an unaided circumnavigation of Great Britain and there were a few outings by the AHOY charity.

Royal Docks

The number of visitors to the Royal Docks was again high with at least 319 visits but many repeats from some vessels such as HEIKO visiting 42 times to load fuel and THAMES VIXEN & SCHELDEMOND I visiting their moorings in KGV 28 times between them.

It remains disappointing though in terms of how under utilized the water space is with no published water use strategy and no major boating events, few ship visitors and almost no use of the water for transportation – the business mainly comes from it being one of the few non-tidal moorings in London that can accommodate the various working vessels. Speaking of which……

The project to build the new RNLI Tower Lifeboat station completed with the delivery of the station on 30th March 2023 – a full report of the build and delivery can be seen here.

The new battery-powered events vessel Oceandiva London arrived to make it’s home in the KGV Dock in May and undertook various fitting out and test activities. During one of the test cruises along the Thames there was a propulsion failure that led to the craft making contact with a moored transport barge and this required repairs but also introduced further delays in the project.

The Oceandiva London undertook it’s first, limited, public event in November but is still not cleared for full service – this post tracks the evolution of the project but it is still some way from potential service on the Thames.

A few filming / PR projects used the Docks as a base during the year and one cargo vessel visited to collect equipment that had been used as part of the Silvertown Tunnel project.

In early December the SS ROBIN moved from the Royal Docks to Trinity Buoy Wharf having been displaced due to regeneration works (and the same fate will befall LV 93). Some pictures of the departure voyage can be seen here.

A few vessel statistics for 2023 (some vessels visited more than once):

Bulk cargo ships visiting Thames Refinery – 18 deliveries
Other Cargo ships – 7 (3 @ Charlton / 3 @ Silvertown / 1 @ KGV Lock)
Naval vessels – 33
Cruise ships – 20
Sailing ships – 10
Luxury Yachts – 10
Visitors to the “Royal Docks” – 319 (many repeat visitors plus those I missed!)

To see more of my pictures (not just of boats!) click here or follow me on Twitter or Instagram.

…… and that, is that!

#dlr_blog review of 2022

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Reviewing the Year 2022 in terms of river traffic in London it was certainly noticeable that there were more visiting vessels than had been the case during the Covid affected years but the conclusion of major works on the Tideway Tunnel project also led to a reduction in local tug movements on the river and a number of changes within the fleets of several Thames operators.

The operations at the Tate and Lyle plant continued with regular supplies of raw materials being delivered by ship with one fewer visitor than last year. A full list of the ships can be seen here.

There were a total of 18 Cruise Ship visitors in 2022 that used both the Upper Pool and Greenwich moorings. There were quite a number of “first-timers” as well as returning stalwarts of the London cruise scene but the Hanseatic vessels were a personal favorite.

A “star” visitor during the early part of the year was the Fure Vinga, a Hybrid Tanker vessel supporting an IMO event in London – rare to see that type of vessel this far up the Thames.

A returning visitor after a few year’s absence was the Paddle Steamer Waverley that once again did a number of trips along the Thames and around the estuary.

A total of 13 different Luxury Yachts visited London during 2022 (a few visited more than once bringing the visits total up to 19) with quite a few first time visits from newly launched vessels, some of which were shorter visits to undertake photo shoots.

The year saw a great improvement in the number of sailing ship visitors to the Thames with 13 different vessels visiting including several naval sail training ships and other first-time visitors which was a welcome sight. Sadly no sail-powered cargo deliveries this year.

It was a bumper year for military vessel visits that saw a total to 31 vessels call at London (this includes the 4 sail training ships noted above and 1 vessel that visited twice during the autumn months). The total was boosted by an 8-ship NATO flotilla towards the end of the year (SNMCMG1 being regular visitors to London) and a 5-ship Dutch contingent.

**HMCS KINGSTON – part of SNMCMG fleet**

**Four of the Dutch naval visitors to the Thames in December**

There was a notable absence of visits from the Royal Navy’s Archer Class in-shore patrol vessels which was due to them being involved in other taskings although there was a rare visit from HMS Tracker, one of the up-gunned Faslane force protection vessels, during the year.

The largest British naval vessel to visit during the year was RFA Mounts Bay L3008 which was an imposing sight on the river.

Both the Met Police Marine Division and the London Fire Brigade have been updating their river fleets with both the new LFB Boats delivered and half of the Police’s new fast patrol boats now on the river.

Royal Docks

The number of visitors to the Royal Docks was again high (at least 265 visits in total but many repeat visits from a few vessels) as it is one of the few quiet water locations in London for undertaking equipment loading/unloading and for doing maintenance work.

It also might have been the busiest year for cargo operations (unloading of bulk commodities) since the Royal Docks ceased commercial operations in the 1980s.

No less than 6 general cargo vessels visited the KGV Lock, one of these being to deliver elements of the Silvertown Tunnel project’s Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) and the other 5 delivering bulk cargos of bagged cement powder.

There were notable water based events during the year with a celebration event for the Commonwealth Games Baton Relay / Queen’s Platinum Jubilee that saw a flotilla of people-powered vessels and other support boats transit through the Royal Victoria and Royal Albert Docks – all credit to those that took part but somewhat underwhelming and it failed to deliver the promised 25 boats.

**Commonwealth Games Baton Relay flotilla in Royal Albert Dock**

The other event was the Covid delayed conclusion of the 2019-20 Clipper round-the-world yacht race.

The bi-annual Oceanology International event took place at ExCel and once again saw a number of visiting boats, although the number attending was reduced in comparison to previous events and the vessels were also more inshore / river survey vessels. The number of uncrewed vessels was much higher.

Towards the end of 2022 the project to build the new Lifeboat Station for Tower RNLI commenced with the tug Goliath bringing in the base pontoon.

The Royal Docks was also the logistics base and filming location for a Netflix production during December – a report about the boats being used can be seen here.

A few vessel statistics for 2022 (some vessels visited more than once):

Bulk cargo ships visiting Thames Refinery – 16 deliveries
Other Cargo ships (mainly doing pick-ups from Charlton + a few aggregate deliveries to Silvertown and the extra 6 to the Royal Docks) – 34
Naval vessels – 31
Cruise ships – 18
Sailing ships – 16
Luxury Yachts – 19
Visitors to KGV Lock – 265 (many of these were multiple visitors and I might have missed a few!!)

Hopefully there will be more new and interesting visitors to the Thames in 2023.

To see more of my pictures (not just of boats!) click here or follow me on Twitter or Instagram.

#dlr_blog review of 2021

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Looking back on 2021 the ongoing impact of Covid-19 continued to affect the number of vessels visiting the Thames and London although things did pick up during the second part of the year. Locally based vessels still made up the majority of movements on the river but cargo and inland freight operations did bring in some visitors.

The operations at the Tate and Lyle plant continued and regular supplies of raw materials continued albeit with slightly fewer ships visiting than in previous years. A full list of visitors can be seen here.

There was just one Cruise Ship visitor during 2021 but it was a maiden call for Crystal Endeavour so definitely welcome.

Another “star” visitor paying it’s first visit to London and the Thames was the research vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough which spent a few days at Greenwich before making it’s inaugural journey South to Antarctica.

The situation with regards to Luxury Yachts was a little better in 2021. The early part of the year saw a number of smaller “expedition” yachts visit London but as restrictions eased a number of large Superyachts made an appearance culminating in the rare situation of having four of these vessels on the Thames at the same time at the beginning of December.

Whilst there were only a few sailing ship visitors to the Thames during 2021 there were a few sail-powered cargo deliveries including a visit in to the Royal Docks by wind-powered Thames Sailing Barge BLUE MERMAID.

In respect of visiting military vessels things started slowly with four Royal Navy Archer-Class patrol vessels visiting over a period of days in late March – these are regular visitors on training voyages as described in this article.

As the year progressed a number of other vessels came to the Thames and this included further visits from RN Patrol Vessels, including HMS SEVERN in a new “Western Approaches” style disruptive pattern camouflage on it’s way to it’s recommissioning ceremony.

There were also visits from foreign warships for the DSEI event at London ExCel and a port call by NATO’s SNMCMG1 that spent a few days in the KGV Lock.

The conclusion of phase 1 of the CADP project for London City Airport in 2020 and the ongoing Covid restrictions did have an impact on the number of visitors to the Royal Docks although the biennial DSEi defence show did bring a small number of visiting warships to the Docks as did a visit from NATO’s SNMCG1.

December also brought some interesting visitors to the KGV Lock & Dock with the rare visit of a cargo ship with MV RUNNER brining in parts of a Tunnel Boring Machine followed by a joint Border Force / Met Police water rescue training exercise.

A few vessel statistics for 2021 (some vessels visited more than once):

Bulk cargo ships visiting Thames Refinery – 17 deliveries
Other Cargo ships (mainly doing pick-ups from Charlton + a few Tideway project related) – 31
Naval vessels – 23 (5 connected with DSEi)
Cruise ships – 1
Sailing ships – 4 (2 sail cargo trips).
Luxury Yachts – 12
Visitors to KGV Lock – 175 (many of these were multiple visitors and i might have missed a few!!)

A couple of other events of note that took place in the Docks area were the first Docklands Formula-E race and MUDSKIPPER, a walking-boat sculpture.

Hopefully 2022 will bring a range of new and interesting visitors to the Thames.

To see more of my pictures (not just of boats!) click here or follow me on Twitter or Instagram.

#dlr_blog review of 2020

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When 2020 started things were looking quite promising with quite a few new and interesting vessels planning to pay a visit to the Thames in London – then Covid-19 struck the world and things changed dramatically for so many people in so many ways.

The River Thames was very quiet with only limited numbers of movements from mainly locally based operators such as key workers of the Port of London Authority and vessels belonging to the Police, Fire Service and the RNLI.

Some of the local tug operations continued such as the refuse collections by Cory and some construction projects that used river transport continued, either with some down-time or at reduced levels. More pictures of these tugs can be seen here.

Thames Clippers also introduced new branding in connection with their partnership with Uber in the form of Uber Boat and another venture they launched was a fast parcel river delivery service in conjunction with DHL.

The Thames Tideway Tunnel project continued to transport spoil, tunnel segments and construction materials using the river and also delivered a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) by river with MTS Vanquish bringing in TBM Selina on top of jack-up transporter barge Skylift 3000.

The main impact was on the number of visitors from outside London. As the table below shows, only a handful of military vessels visited and very few luxury yachts, Only two tall ships called in London and no cruise liners at all this year.

Traditional Thames Sailing Barge WILL did operate a commercial cargo run up the Thames during September using sail power for as much of the trip up the Thames as was safe and practicable to do so.

Work on the London City Airport CADP phase one was completed and all the vessels and equipment had left by early September. The Livett’s Group continued to operate from their logistics base in the KGV Dock and a few PR events staged from the KGV Lock. A review of the CADP project can be seen here.

The Wood Wharf floating restaurant project being the source of a number of movements during the year and a report can be seen here.

Towards the end of the year a couple of celebrities went floating past – the first was Borat helping to promote a film and then in November Liam Gallagher filmed the Down by the River Thames concert on a barge.

**Liam Gallagher’s Down by the River Thames concert**

A few vessel statistics for 2020 (some vessels visited more than once):

Bulk cargo ships visiting Thames Refinery – 21 deliveries
Other Cargo ships (mainly doing pick-ups from Charlton + a few Tideway project related) – 37
Naval vessels – 5 (4 RN + 1 HNLMS)
Cruise ships – 0
Sailing ships – 2 (1 sail cargo trip and 1 in connection with the Darwin 200 events).
Luxury Yachts – 3 (of which 2 were smaller expedition size vessels)
Visitors to KGV Lock – 135 (many of these were multiple visitors and i might have missed a few!!)

A strange year with many long-lasting impacts for many people but hopefully things will rebound as 2021 progresses – we will have to wait to see what that looks like in terms of traffic on the Thames.

To see more of my pictures (not just of boats!) click here or follow me on Twitter or Instagram.

#dlr_blog review of 2019

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The year 2019 brought another varied shipping scene to the middle Thames region covered by #dlr_blog whilst in the Royal Docks the continuing London City Airport programme created the majority of vessel activity.

The overall number of visiting vessels did reduce, especially military visitors, with almost half of these visitors being Royal Navy Archer Class patrol vessels again but especially nice to see HMS ENTERPRISE visit the Thames.

There were about the same numbers of Cruise Ship visitors this year with a number making multiple calls and within the group were a couple of new visitors.

The Royal Docks had the biennial Defense & Security show again which brought in a number of larger vessels but not much else of note among the regular visitors across the remainder of the year.

The SHIP OF TOLERANCE art-work did spend over a month in various parts of the Royals.

London did not host a specific Tall Ship event in 2019 but the Thames saw a few interesting sail visitors, notably the Argentinian Navy’s ARA Libertad.

A few vessel statistics for 2019 (some vessels visited more than once):

Bulk cargo ships visiting Thames Refinery – 25 (24 Import / 1 Export)
Naval vessels – 31 (of which 8 attended DSEI)
Cruise ships – 24 (several making multiple visits)
Sailing ships – 18
Luxury Yachts – 15 (including two carrying helicopters)
Visitors to KGV Lock – 250 (many of these were multiple visitors and i might have missed a few!!)

In conclusion 2019 had a number of interesting first time visitors across a number of different classes of vessel. 2020 promises a few new events in the #dlr_blog area and it will be interesting to see what these bring in vessel movement terms.

To see more of my pictures (not just of boats!) click here or follow me on Twitter or Instagram.

#dlr_blog review of 2018

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Looking back on 2018 it has been a busy and varied year for vessels visiting the middle Thames region covered by #dlr_blog.

That said the overall number of visiting military vessels did reduce with almost half of these visitors being Royal Navy Archer Class patrol vessels – always nice to see but very regular visitors to the Thames.

Royal Navy P2000s (1) @ Gallions Reach 06-04-18 — Three Royal Navy Archer-class patrol vessels on the Thames

I also was fortunate enough to be invited to take a trip along the Thames on board HMS Example – a report can be seen here.

There were many more Cruise Ship visitors this year with a number making multiple calls and within the group were a couple of new visitors.

LE LAPEROUSE (1) @ Gallions Reach 06-09-18 — Cruise ship LE LAPEROUSE visited London for the first time in 2018

The Royal Docks was quite busy this year with a large proportion of visits being associated with London City Airport expansion works that saw a number of tugs and workboats take up residence in the King George V dock and lots of equipment being brought in by barge and spoil removed.

Devout + Progress + NP421 (23) @ KGV Lock 15-05-18 — Tug DEVOUT bringing in floating pontoon blocks for the London City Airport CADP works

The Royal Docks also saw a number of events taking place in the Royal Victoria Dock including the Oceanology International trade show and F1H2O powerboat racing.

F1H2O Powerboats (69) @ Royal Victoria Dock 17-06-18 — F1H2O Powerboats in Royal Victoria Dock

A full report about the F1H2O powerboat racing can be seen here which includes lots of photos and video. Fingers crossed they return to London in 2019!!

Towards the end of the year the three old Woolwich Ferry vessels were retired and their two new replacements arrived.

Woolwich Ferry sunset (6) @ Gallions Reach 27-09-18 — Sunset for the old Woolwich Ferry boats

Dame Vera Lynn (1) @ Gallions Reach 03-12-18 — Dawn of a new day for the new Woolwich Ferry boat

A few vessel statistics for 2018 (some vessels visited more than once):

Bulk cargo ships visiting Thames Refinery – 31 (22 Import / 9 Export)
Naval vessels – 31 (of which 15 were of Royal Navy P2000 patrol boats)
Cruise ships – 25 (several making multiple visits)
Sailing ships – 19 (including 8 for SRG2018)
Luxury Yachts – 13
Visitors to KGV Lock – 180 (many of these were multiple visitors)

There was also some different “wildlife” spotted in the area during the year included Whales. Dragons and Dinosaurs…….

Predator Adventures Seabreacher Killer Whale — A “Killer Whale” in Royal Victoria Dock

2018 London Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival — Dragon Boats in Royal Albert Dock

SAURUS perform at the 2018 Ferry Festival in North Woolwich — Dinosaurs in North Woolwich

We also had quite a few robot vessels operate in the docks – including a red submarine!!

In conclusion 2018 will be remembered for quantity but not so much for seeing new or larger ship visitors so hopefully 2019 will bring some interesting and different vessels to the dlr_blog area.

To see more of my pictures (not just of boats!) click here or follow me on Twitter or Instagram.

Flying boats in the Royal Docks

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So the London Boat Show has been and gone for another year and the last of the boats are on their way back to their home locations.

This first picture shows one of the boats arriving for the show at the end of December.

According to the organisers there were more boats on show this year than on previous occasions but in terms of boats visiting by water the number was much reduced with only 9 arriving this way.

Sunseeker Predator 57 (2) @ RVD 19-01-18

Part of the problem is down to logistics – to get the boats from the water, then in to the exhibition hall and finally back to the water requires 2 days of work using a mobile crane and a fleet of boat transporters and a big crew of people.

The day for their return to water was a cold and bright day but with quite a gusty wind which occasionally made the handling of the boats a bit tricky as they were suspended in the air but all 9 boats made it safely back in to the dock.

Sunseeker Predator 57 (7) @ RVD 19-01-18

Most of the boats that had attended the show were transported by road using specialist boat transport companies but still a major undertaking as each of the large boats had to be craned in to position.

The following video shows one of the boats, a Princess S65 Yacht, being returned to the water.

More pictures can be seen here.

2017 #dlr_blog year in review

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2017 turned out to be a busy and varied year with many more cruise ship visitors and well as a significant number of warships – helped in part by the biennial DSEi defence show in the Royal Docks and a goodwill visit by a Chinese navy flotilla.

There were also a significant number of sailing ships seen during the year, largely thanks to the Rendezvous 2017 event taking place in Greenwich but a number of other first-time visitors also came to London.

The Royal Docks was quite busy this year with a large proportion being associated with Tideway Tunnel enabling works that were based in the KGV Lock.

So, on with the review.

January

Whilst January is typically a quieter month for visitors the river is still busy with various tugs, passenger boats and dredgers but the number of marine engineering projects that are taking place in London along the Thames at the moment means that there has been a steady stream of special equipment including jack-up and crane barges.

One such event saw S. Walsh & Sons Ltd tug SWS Breda along with Palmers Marine Services LTD tug Horton towing Red 7 Marine jack-up platform Haven Seaseven up river.

A more interesting and unusual visitor later in the month was former Gosport Ferry Gosport Queen which arrived on the Thames for conversion to a party boat to be named MV Pearl of London operated by London Party Boats Ltd.

February

The month started off with another new addition, this time another multi-cat for the CPBS Marine engineering fleet in the shape of Hound Dog – seen arriving on the Thames prior to painting in house colours.

The year’s first bulk carrier cargo ship to visit the Thames Refinery berth at Silvertown was the Oslo Venture I and this picture shows her departing down the Thames after unloading her cargo of raw cane sugar.

The month also saw the first of the year’s naval visitors in the shape of German Navy signals intelligence ship FGS Oker A53 – a photo report can be seen here.

March

The first half of March saw luxury yacht Justa Delia arrive on the Thames and she then spent the rest of the year based in West India Dock at Canary Wharf from where she made numerous trips down river over the following months.

March also saw the first visit of vessels from Thamescraft Drydocking in the Royal Docks this year with Multicat Devour and Workboat Device working with equipment barges in the dock.

The month also saw the extremely rare sight of a working cargo vessel in the Royal Docks – in this case it was the bulk carrier Haringvliet which arrived with a cargo of steel pipes that were then unloaded in the KGV Lock where BAM Nuttall had set-up a base of operations in support of the Thames Tideway tunnel project which would see significant numbers of vessel movements in the Lock over the following months.

April

The main event for April, and one of the key events of the year, was the sight of 26 sailing vessels from 8 countries that came to the Thames as part of the combined Rendez-Vous 2017 Tall Ships Regatta and the Sail Royal Greenwich event. The former was the launch of the trans-Atlantic trip of a number of sailing ships to Canada to help mark the 150th anniversary of the Confederation of Canada – a full report can be seen here and more pictures here.

The same Easter weekend also saw the arrival of 3 ships of the NATO Standing Naval Mine Counter Measures Group 1 (SNMCMG1) that spent the weekend in West India Dock.

May

At the beginning of the month the recently delivered CPBS Marine boat Hound Dog paid its first visit to the Royal Docks and was fully painted in their livery.

The month also saw the Indian Navy send one of their Frigates, the INS Tarkash, to spend a few days in West India Dock as part of a cultural and naval exchange visit to the UK.

Whilst not the first such visit of an Indian vessel to London it was still a rare and interesting event. A full report can be seen here.

Notable among the other visitors was Damen Shipyard’s superyacht support tender ‘Game Changer’ which spent a few days in London on a promotional tour.

June

During June the Royal Docks saw a bit more activity with the Offshore Wind Energy show taking place at ExCel exhibition centre and two Offshore Support Vessels were in attendance. More pictures can be seen here.

The other event in the Docks was a round of the European Jetski Freestyle championships which saw a number of riders competing – sadly there was no local publicity and only a very small crowd of spectators which was a shame and puts the future of the event under threat. More pictures can be seen here.

The month also saw the extremely rare event of two cruise ships from the same company passing each other on the Thames with the Silversea Cruises ships Silver Cloud and Silver Wind passing each other near the O2.

July

July was a month for Warships and Cruise Ships with several of each type of vessel paying a visit to London during the month.

The month started with a nice sunset departure of Viking Sky and her sister ship Viking Sea visited a few days later.

The naval visitors comprised of a mix of Royal Navy Archer Class patrol boats and visitors from NATO countries including BNS Godetia & BNS Bellis.

The other naval visitor came in the shape of Tall Ship BAP Union of the Peruvian Navy with London being the first port of call on its inaugural visit to Europe since entering service. A report from a visit onboard can be seen here.

August

During the month four cargo ships visited the Tate & Lyle Sugars Thames Refinery wharf at Silvertown, three of which were bringing in raw cane sugar and the fourth taking away pallets of refined sugar products.

The first picture shows Bulk Carrier Pacific Basin heading down river after discharging her cargo.

The next pictures show Bulk Carrier Western Miami in the process of being unloaded at Silvertown.

Chilli Dog, the latest addition to the CPBS Marine fleet, made it’s first visit the KGV Lock to collect a container of diving support equipment in support of marine engineering works further up the Thames in London.

The end of the month saw yet another naval tall ship, this time the Nve Cisne Branco from Brazil, a full report can be seen here.

September

The Royal Docks was again busy with various activities this month. It started with a night-time move of Light Ship 93 from it’s normal mooring location in Royal Victoria Dock up to Tower Bridge as part of a PR stunt – seen here in the KGV Lock with two Livett’s Group tugs providing assistance.

The other big event was the biennial Defence exhibition held at ExCel which saw a number of warships and smaller craft moored in Royal Victoria Dock – a full report with more pictures and videos can been seen here.

Also in the Docks during the month was a mass hot air balloon event taking off from London City Airport’s runway as part of their 30th anniversary celebrations in partnership with the Lord Mayor of London’s charity appeal.

October

The month kicked off with an historic visit to London by a flotilla of three Chinese Naval vessels with two Destroyers visiting West India Dock and a Replenishment ship coming to the King George V Dock. A full report with photos and video can be seen here.

Later in the month Toploader, a multi-cat belonging to Topbond PLC, arrived in the KGV Dock to take up residence in support of the first phase of development works at London City Airport.

Towards the end of the month Royal Navy Type 23 Frigate HMS Sutherland came up river to spend a few days in West India Dock to celebrate her birthday.

November

Briggs Marine sent their multi-cat Forth Fighter to spend some time on the Thames undertaking diving operation around the two Woolwich Ferry pier in preparation for the enabling works in 2018 for the arrival of the two replacement ferries.

Two NATO Frigates also visited during the month although the replenishment ship that was due to join them had to stay in Bruges for some repairs but still nice to see the Portuguese and Norwegian ships.

The end of the month saw floating sheerleg crane Cormorant arrive on the Thames to undertake recovery of a sunken barge from the river at Gallions Reach.

December

Whilst the year had seen fewer visits by Luxury Yachts it was nice to see Sea Falcon II arrive on the river to spend the festive period moored in West India Dock.

Multraship sent their tug Multratug 17 to the Thames to help take Cormorant back to the Netherlands after the salvage operation.

The year once again came to a close with a number of luxury motor cruisers arriving in the Royal Docks on their way to the 2018 London Boat Show.

So that concludes a look back at some of the highlights from the year, lots more pictures from these events and others can be seen here.

It will be interesting to see what 2018 will bring in terms of new visitors and familiar vessels making a visit to London. The #dlr_blog “Lookout” page will attempt to provide notice of expected arrivals and watch out for blog reports about key events and visitors so stay tuned……

A few vessel statistics for 2017 (some vessels visited more than once):

Bulk cargo ships visiting Thames Refinery – 31 (21 Import / 10 Export)

Naval vessels – 45 (includes 8 to the Royal Docks)

Cruise ships – 16

Sailing ships – 35 (including 26 for RV2017)

#dlr_blog review of 2016

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2016 was another varied and interesting year in the #dlr_blog area of coverage with lots of vessels coming up the Thames of all shapes and sizes and quite a few first time visitors although there was a marked reduction in the number of bulk cargo carriers visiting Silvertown.

The Royal Docks were busy although most of this was traffic generated by building works or events taking place at the Excel exhibition centre rather than activities specifically utilising the water.

So, on with the review.

January

Most of the movements at the beginning of the month were connected with the annual London Boat show that takes place at the Excel exhibition centre and one of the features was the debut of the Sunseeker 131 in the shape of Zozo.

Towards the end of the month three ships of the Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1) spent the weekend in the Royal Docks, a rare but welcome visit. A full report can be seen here.

February

This was a quieter month but did see the year’s first visit of a Royal Navy Archer Class patrol boat in the form of HMS Trumpeter – she and her sister vessels were to make several more visits during the year.

The month also saw the year’s first cargo ship to use Murphy’s wharf in Charlton on one of the occasional export runs from the middle Thames. For this trip the Celtic Mariner was in use.

March

The biennial Oceanology International event took place at Excel and attracted a number of visiting vessels of various shapes and sizes including the RV Mintis that is owned and operated by the Klaipeda University in Lithuania. A full report on the vessels attending the event can be seen here.

The KGV Dock and Lock continued to be used for a variety of things from the long-term storage of unoccupied Houseboats through to the loading of marine engineering equipment onto barges, one such visit saw Thamescraft Drydocking’s multicat Devour bring in a pontoon to load up some dredging equipment.

April

The middle of the month saw three ships from the German Navy’s 3rd German Minesweeping Squadron arrive on the Thames to spend a few days in West India Dock where they were open to the public – a report of a visit on-board the ships can be seen here.

The end of the month also saw the first cruise ship of the season arrive on the Thames for a stay alongside HMS Belfast in the shape of L’Austral.

May

May was a very busy and varied month that included visiting warships, cargo ships, tugs, luxury yachts, tall ships and cruise liners.

Viking Cruises brought their 2nd new ship to Greenwich for her christening making her the largest vessel to be named on the Thames, a full report can be seen here.

A slightly more unusual vessel seen on the Thames and in the Royal Docks during the month was an amphibious vehicle called the Humdinga, it was in London for some demonstration runs and promotional work and is one of a range of vehicles produced by Gibbs, the manufacturer. See here for a full report.

June

Two sail training ships paid a visit to West India Dock during the month with the USCG’s Eagle and the Mexican Navy’s Cuauhtemoc spending a few days in West India Dock. See here for a full report.

There is a huge amount of engineering and development work taking place on and around the Thames in London and this is bringing in a number of visiting tugs, pontoons and workboats but is also encouraging local firms to add new vessels to their fleets.

As part of the Thames Tideway tunnel project the month saw a visit by the tug Forth Trojan with crane barge Forth Olympian and this was assisted by S Walsh’s new pusher tug SWS Suffolk. A full report can be seen here.

July

This month saw the arrival of two new tugs for the Livett’s Group fleet in the shape of Christian and Felix joining a growing number of vessels operating on the Thames that feature a hydraulic lifting wheelhouse that allows them to pass under low bridges but also to see over loaded barges.

The first outing for the new tugs was to assist with Virgin Media’s #Bethefastest promotion – details can be seen here.

The month also saw the very rare visit of a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force training ship, the JS Kashima, which was one of three Japanese ships undertaking a round-the-world training cruise.

August

The Royal Docks was quite busy during the month with two large pontoons and huge amounts of wood being used for the 350th anniversary commemorations of the Fire of London with all the setup work taking place in the docks, a full report can be seen here.

The new Blackfriars Pier also spent a few weeks being fitted out in the Docks and the Totally Thames festival’s ‘Floating Dreams’ installation was also constructed here.

Meanwhile, out on the Thames the everyday working vessels continued to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week carrying building materials and waste to and from London.

September

London was visited by the sinister looking, and expensive, superyacht A at the start of the month. An example of the more modern type of ships that visit the Thames.

The more traditional tall ships visited Greenwich again operating pleasure trips and holding fireworks displays each of the three evenings they were in town.

A community art project also took place in the area with an artist building a ship out of recycled wood on the site of the former Harland & Woolf shipyard, a report of the build process can be seen here and the launch can be seen here.

October

Tugs + Good Hotel (28) @ KGV Lock 13-10-16

This month saw lots of activity in the Royal Docks as the new floating hotel was delivered on the back of a semi-submersible transport barge that was almost as wide as the KGV Lock. Blog reports of the arrival of the hotel can be seen here and the departure of the empty transporter barge can be seen here.

The following video shows the barge leaving the Royal Docks.

The month also saw visits by two warships and two luxury yachts including a visit from Lady S.

November

November began with a number of military vessels paying a visit to London which included two University Royal Naval Unit (URNU) Archer Class patrol vessels that took part in the Lord Mayor’s show.

A French Navy Offshore Patrol vessel also paid a visit during the early part of the month.

Later in the month the SS Robin pontoon was temporarily moved from it’s normal berth in the Royal Docks due to filming taking place and it was returned a week later – a report can be seen here.

December

Arriving at the beginning of the month was the Belgian Navy’s sail training vessel Zenobe Gramme, quite a rare visitor to the Thames.

BNS Zenobe Gramme A958 (7) @ Gallions Reach 02-12-16

The year ends as it started with boats taking part in the London Boat Show which is held at the Excel exhibition centre in early January.

Here is a video of some of the yachts arriving in the Royal Docks.

That concludes the review of 2016, some big events to look forward to in the coming year including a large number of tall ships for the Tall Ship race in April and naval vessels for the defence exhibition in September – follow #dlr_blog for updates.

A few vessel statistics for 2016 (some vessels visited more than once):

Bulk cargo ships 22
Naval vessels 25
Cruise ships 10
Sailing ships 22

Boats in the Royals!!

1 Reply

In what is an all too infrequent event the Royal Group of Docks in the east end of London has seen a large number of boats gracing the waters.

Sunseeker 68 Sport Yacht (1) @ KGV Lock 15-12-15

Whilst these are small luxury motor yachts rather than the cargo ships of days gone by it is none the less good that the waters are busy once more.

Sunseeker Manhattan 55 Yacht (1) @ KGV Lock 15-12-15

The reason for the flurry of activity is that the first arrivals for the London Boat Show 2016 have made their way to London.

Whilst the show itself doesn’t open until 8th January 2016 it takes quite a bit of time to set up the show as the majority of the boats are exhibited inside the ExCel exhibition centre.

The first group to arrive was a contingent of Sunseeker yachts, plus a solitary Princess yacht.

Sunseeker yachts (1) in KGV Lock 15-12-15

These were followed the next day by single examples from both Pearl and Prestige yachts along with further Princess yachts.

There will be a few more arrivals by water over the coming weeks and a large number of exhibits will arrive by road.

This is a video of the second group passing through the bascule bridge.

The final big yacht to arrive for the show was the Sunseeker 131 – arriving for its official launch at the show.

Dock, Lock and River Blog (#dlr_blog)

A blog by @AJBC_1 about things going on around Gallions Point, East London – mainly boats but could be other things too.

Category Archives: Luxury Yacht

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Flying boats in the Royal Docks

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Boats in the Royals!!