£500,000 BOOST FOR GREENER VESSELS ON TIDAL THAMES

A £500,000 grant from the Mayor of London’s Air Quality Fund will drive work to reduce pollution from boats on the tidal Thames. The new funding will see up to a dozen commercial freight and passenger boats adapted to cut emissions, including particulates and nitrogen oxides.

Source: PLA

Vessels using the tidal Thames currently account for an estimated one per cent of total emissions across the capital, but this figure is projected to rise as standards for road vehicles become stricter and use of the river expands.

The tidal Thames carries more passengers and freight than any other inland UK waterway. This led to 250,000 fewer lorry movements on London’s roads in 2016.

As part of the Clean Air Thames project, the initiative will be supported by the Port of London Authority (PLA) and co-ordinated by the Cross River Partnership (CRP).

Details of how operators can apply for modifications to enhance their fleet’s environmental performance are due to be announced at Greening Inland Shipping, a major conference and exhibition to be staged by the PLA at The Crystal in Royal Victoria Dock, London, on 10 September.

The event is one of the commitments made in the PLA’s Air Quality Strategy, published in May 2018, the first ever to be produced by a UK port.

Click here to read the full PLA article.