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.
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!)
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…… and that, is that!
Dock, Lock and River Blog (#dlr_blog) 