The last few days have seen another Cargo Ship moored in the KGV Lock discharging cargo – the third in 3 months after a gap of nearly 5 years without any such visitors. The previous two visits had been in connection with the Silvertown Tunnel project but this was a delivery of bulk raw materials for a local company.
The CELTIC ENDEAVOUR is a general cargo ship with a carrying capacity of 3702 t DWT and is owned and operated by Cardiff based Charles M. Willie & Co. Shipping Ltd who’s vessels are a regular sight on the Thames.
The ship arrived in stormy conditions on Sunday, 20th February 2022, coming in from Aveiro in Portugal with a load of bagged cement powder produced by CIMPOR.
Due to the high winds the unloading operation was delayed by a day but a pair of mobile cranes were deployed dockside to unload the bags from the ship and to transfer them to a fleet of waiting lorries owned by MIXIT (believed to be the end customer for the load) who have a concrete production facility in Barking Riverside.
Chamberlain Crane Hire deployed their Liebherr LTM1090-4.2 crane and Bronzeshield Lifting used a Tadano-Faun crane.
The water-space of the Royal Group of Docks in London is significantly under untilised, especially in relation to commercial operations, but despite a growing demand for inland waterway freight there appears to be no plans for the Royals to exploit this trend – in fact the redevelopment of Albert Island males no provision to exploit it’s riverside or dockside areas and will lead to a net loss in quayside access.
Hopefully the situation will change but until then the sight of KGV Lock being used for their intended purpose some 100 years after it was officially opened is still great to see,
A few more pictures can be seen below:
Dock, Lock and River Blog (#dlr_blog) 