Archive of stories relating to incidents and accidents on the River Thames
A 144 metre long oil & chemical tanker ran aground in the River Thames on Wednesday night. Arsland had departed Purfleet and was rounding Swancombe Peninsula at Broadness when she went aground. Svizter tugs Madeline, Bootle and London assisted with pulling the Hamburg-bound vessel clear. The incident was also attended by the oil cleanup vessel Recover and the PLA’s Southwark. …
A PORT of London Authority pilot has died in an accident while boarding the cargo ship Sunmi. The tragic incident occurred on Wednesday shortly after 6pm in Gravesend Reach as the pilot was boarding the ship which was bound for Spain. A statement from the the Port of London Authority confirming the incident says that “PLA teams on duty, the emergency …
The ferry between Gravesend and Tilbury was of action on Thursday (4th) after being struck by a 222-metre long cruise ship leaving London Cruise Terminal, Tilbury, yesterday. A handwritten sign at Gravesend town pier notified passengers that the Duchess M ferry was not operating due to “the Magellan hitting [the] ferry.” Although it’s not thought the ferry was damaged, she …
ONE man died and dozens more were taken to nearby hospitals after they were discovered in a shipping container last weekend. The container had come across the English Channel from Zeebrugge on board the roro ferry Norstream, arriving at Tilbury at about 6 am. Norstream and her sister vessel Norsky are owned by P&O and make regular crossings between the …
AN AERIAL response team performed a dramatic rescue ninety metres above the Thames yesterday – but it was just for a training exercise. The operators of the Emirates Air Line are required to practise what would happen in the unlikely event of a problem occuring mid transit. Shortly after 8am, the emergency responders in orange hi-viz outfits started climbing out …
THE CRUISE liner MARCO POLO returned to London Cruise Terminal at Tilbury late on Saturday night, a day after a passenger was sadly killed on board. The 22,000-tonne vessel arrived back at her home port shortly before ten o’clock on Saturday. The end of her 42-night cruise hit the headlines when a “freak wave” crashed through windows in the Walforf …
A FREAK wave has left one passenger dead and others injured on the cruise ship MARCO POLO. The vessel was on her back to her home port of Tilbury when the incident happened today in the English Channel. Reports say that the water crashed through a window, killing an 85-year-old man. Another passenger was air-lifted from the ship. Operator Cruise …
Eel Pie Island (File Photo) POLICE officers gave piggy-back rides to members of the public left stranded by flooding at Eel Pie Island on Tuesday. Twenty-five people were cut off from the road at Twickenham because the river had risen up, leaving them unable to leave the island via the footbridge. Six Special Constables from Twickenham MPS waded through the …
THE RNLI have rescued a man from the river by Waterloo Bridge. The crew from the RNLI Tower station sprung into action ninety seconds after members of the public who witnessed the incident raised the alarm on Thursday (23rd) evening at about half past five. Lifeboat helm Keith Cima said: “We could see from where the crowd of people were …
EMERGENCY services responded this morning after a man fell in the Thames near Waterloo Bridge at 8am. The Metropolitan Police’s Marine Policing Unit, Maritime and Coastguard Agency and RNLI responded and the man, aged 70, was pulled from the water after five minutes. He was taken to an east London hospital by Air Ambulance where his condition is described as …
