London is the UK's second biggest port, handling some 50 million tonnes of cargo each year, employing more than 40,000 people and contributing over £3 billion to the economy annually. The Port of London Authority runs Britain's biggest, most modern Port Control Service which oversees the safe movement of 230,000 commercial and leisure vessels within the Port of London each year.
Since the Thames is a tidal river and estuary, the safe passage of ships relies upon up to the minute information on the status of the tides. Without this information, ships could run aground or be damaged. Wood & Douglas has recently collaborated with Valeport and Oceanwise to support a major upgrade to telemetry equipment that provides this information to the Port of London Authority.
Using Orion and OpenNET 6000 radios, Port of London Authority has completely upgraded its telemetry capability along the Thames, with the radios regularly polling data about the tides to provide the relevant information, from the London gateway to the Margate and the Suffolk Coast.
This equipment will help provide a safe and reliable environment to help cement London’s position as a premier hub for shipping.