Tag Archives: Silvertown Tunnel Project

#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.

PS Waverley returns to the Thames

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After a few years’ absence the heritage Paddle Steamer Waverley was once again to be seen and heard as it made numerous voyages along the Thames and around the Thames Estuary.

Launched in 1946 and making it’s maiden voyage the following year the PS Waverley is now the last seagoing passenger-carrying paddle steamer in the world and whilst celebrating the 75th anniversary of her maiden voyage is still operating a programme of public excursions around the UK under the banner of Waverley Excursions.

**PS WAVERLEY waiting at Tower Millennium Pier in London**

I decided to have a trip down the Thames from Tower Millennium Pier to Southend Pier (the longest pleasure pier in the world) both to enjoy experience of steam-powered travel (I did a similar trip on the ST Portwey a few years ago) but also to see the sights (mainly boat related!) on a trip through the Port of London.

So it was up to the Upper Pool to board the PS Waverley and to experience the vessel being swung in the Upper Pool by a tug – this year Livett’s Group were providing the tug with THAMES VIXEN in attendance.

**THAMES VIXEN swings PS WAVERLEY in the Upper Pool**

The next event of the trip was the passage through Tower Bridge that had opened to let us pass (something I have had the privilege to experience on quite a few occasions) accompanied by a blast of the ships whistle and a greeting to the onlookers from the crew.

The following video contains a number of clips of the early part of the journey including the swing in the Upper Pool and transits of Tower Bridge and the Thames Barrier.

Looking back at Tower Bridge as a pair of City Cruises sight-seeing boats head up river.

**A pair of City Cruise’s vessels heading towards Tower Bridge**

It was then off down the Thames through East London with it’s many familiar sights as well as the major Thames Tideway Tunnel site at Chambers Wharf where I was lucky enough to see a delivery of tunnel lining components being delivered by barge – part of the Tideway project’s desire to reduce the amount road traffic to the central sites.

**Tideway Tunnel Project supported by GPS Marine**

As we rounded Blackwall Point we passed the small passenger ferry that runs between Trinity Buoy Wharf and the O2.

A little later we passed another major civil engineering tunneling project – this time the Silvertown Road Tunnel site. No barges alongside at the time of my visit but another project making use of the Thames for materials transport – including the delivery of the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM).

Next up was the always impressive sight of the Thames Flood Barrier and just after that is the Thames Refinery Wharf that serves the Tate & Lyle sugar plant with a large bulk carrier being unloaded.

**Thames Flood Barrier looking East – one of the gate in the ‘defence’ position**

**CHINTANA NAREE unloading at Tate & Lyle factory**

At this point I took the opportunity of going below decks on the WAVERLEY to have a look at the engine and to look through one of the portholes that allows you to view out through the paddle wheels – a space full of the sights, sounds and smells of a working steam engine. The video posted above contains a few more pictures and a video of this area.

**PS WAVERLEY’s engine – full steam ahead!**

At the time of my trip quite a few of the river berths were empty and so the next ship we encountered was the Tanker EVIAPETROL V making it’s way to Dagenham.

We next saw the POLLA ROSE unloading at Erith – once a regular visitor to the middle Thames area on aggregate runs but now doing an intra-port shuttle between Tilbury and Erith helping keep lorries off the roads.

As we approached Purfleet we encountered the only other bridge on the trip – the Queen Elizabeth II bridge at Dartford. On the Northern bank of the river is the Purfleet Ro-Ro (Roll-On Roll-Off) truck ferry jetty – only the trailers are transported across the North Sea to Belgium where locally based tractor units take them to their final destination.

**The Dartford Crossing with river traffic below**

Also heading up river at this time was General Cargo Ship FEED ROGALAND making it’s way to Erith.

As we passed West Thurrock jetties on the Northern bank there was the General Cargo Ship NECKARBORG and the Tanker SEACOD unloading their cargo.

On the Sothern bank at Northfleet the General Cargo Ship MARATONA was alongside.

The next point of interest was the Port of Tilbury – the Port of London actually contains jetties operated by various operators and at Tilbury there are berths both along the riverside and within the enclosed docks system.

The Container Ship SC MARA was alongside on one of the river berths and was in the process of being unloaded. The vessel is owned and operated by UniOcean Lines and also carries containers of their subsidiary Ellerman Lines – the latter having an historical connection with the Port of London as Ellerman was a cargo and passenger shipping company that operated from the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century and also operated in the Royal Docks.

The jetty at the London International Cruise Terminal in addition to supporting visiting Cruise Ships and the Gravesend – Tilbury passenger ferry also provides another Ro-Ro freight berth and on this occasion the Vehicle Carrier MORNING CELESTA was in residence.

THAMES SWIFT is one of the vessels that is used to operate the Gravesend – Tilbury passenger ferry.

Due to how busy the Port is and the complexities of navigating the tidal river vessels of a certain size require the support of a PLA pilot and so we slowed as we came abeam Gravesend to rendezvous with GUIDE, one of the Pilot Cutters that support operations on the Thames.

As we passed the Svitzer tug base at Denton there was just SVITZER INTREPID sitting on a buoy awaiting the next job – I don’t have a record of this tug having visited the Middle Thames region in the last few years as it is mainly used to work on the large vessels at Tilbury and London Gateway.

With the Pilot on board we headed further down river whilst in the opposite direction the SEA SHANNON was headed for Erith.

After a cruise following the meandering river the ever expanding London Gateway port came in to view with three large Container Ships alongside engaged in importing and exporting various commodes all around the world.

Working at the London Gateway site were a team of three Svitzer tugs supporting the departure of MSC MARIA ELENA – Svitzer has tugs based at both Sheerness and Gravesend to provide tug support to vessel movements across the Thames and Medway river areas.

A little further down river SVITZER LONDON was waiting for the next customer.

The Tug VB PANTHER is seen heading out to meet it’s next ship whilst in the background container ship SEALAND WASHINGTON makes it’s way towards the London Gateway site.

The Thames Estuary is a busy shipping area – here two inbound vessels pass an outbound Ro-Ro ferry.

Soon the end point of the journey came in to sight – Southend Pier (all 1.34 miles of it!) seen against the stormy skies and grey-green waters of the Thames Estuary.

The pictures below show the final stages of the approach to moor alongside the pier, then one of the WAVERLEY as it prepares to depart and finally as it turns to head back up river to Gravesend.

**PS WAVERLEY on final approach to the pier**

A very enjoyable trip with lots to see along the way that gives an idea of the scale and diversity of operations in the Port of London.

KGV Lock – 100 not out

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The year 2021 saw the 100th anniversary of the official opening of the KGV Lock and Dock complex as the final addition to the Royal Group of Docks in London.

Whilst the Royal Docks closed for commercial shipping in the early 1980’s the docks have continued to see a variety of uses but very little in the way of cargo operations (projects like the London City Airport development were not really cargo activities).

Over the last decade there have only been two previous cargo operations (the last being in March 2017) and so it was great to see a cargo ship arriving in the KGV Lock on 5th December 2021.

These days most of the activity is centered on the KGV Lock, mainly due to the fact that most of the former dockside areas have either been redeveloped for other uses or have limited accessibility – in it’s heyday the lock would have been too busy with vessels entering and leaving to support such use.

The reason for this particular visit was in support of the Silvertown Tunnel project (this article is not for debating the merits of that project!) with sections of the outer-casing for the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) that will excavate the two tunnels for the project.

This TBM will be the largest diameter TBM used on a UK tunneling project and it measures in with a diameter of 11.9m and a weight of 1800 tonnes.

The cargo vessel used for the task was the MV RUNNER and it arrived after crossing the North Sea having loaded the cargo in the Netherlands after being contrasted by Herrenknecht at their factory in Germany.

A heavy lift crane and transporter vehicles from Mammoet UK, a specialist heavy lift and transportation company, arrived at the KGV Lock and were set up for operations.

Due to the size of the casings they were defined as abnormal loads which meant that escort vehicles were needed and the moves were planned for the evening when the roads are quieter.

Whilst it is good to see the Docks working again I fear it will be a short-lived revival as the current plans for the redevelopment of Albert Island would mean that there is no access to the lock side for lorries or cranes and limited space to conduct complex lifting operations – enjoy the spectacle whilst it lasts!!

Some more pictures can be seen here.

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.