This new traffic follows the use of the public facility to load the last Concorde aircraft onto the multi-purpose pontoon/barge ‘Terra Marique’ for transport to Scotland in 2004.Speedrite, the plant and machinery moving specialists, won the contract for the decommissioning of the Diageo Guinness brewery after production of the famous stout was transferred back to Dublin.

Speedrite subcontracted Markham Moor Transport for the road haulage of the fermenting tanks and Thames Wharfingers for the river transport. AC Bennett and Sons provided the craft, with the 1927 built, shallow draft tug Unico chartered from J.T. Palmer & Sons of Gravesend to tow the barges from Isleworth down through the bridges to the Pool of London, where Bennett’s own tug picked up the tow to Tilbury for onward shipping.

Over three series of river movements, eight of these stainless tanks, which measure 16m long, 5.7m diameter and weigh 18 tons, were towed downriver . The tanks had been delivered originally by barge to the same wharf by the same contractors in 1985/6 and 1990 and a photo of them at Isleworth on their way in adorned a recent waterman’s calendar.One of the decommissioned tanks was bound for Nigeria and three for Ghana, countries where bottled Guinness is popular, and stronger than the UK brew. The remaining tanks were to be shipped to Hartlepool via Middlesborough by coaster.

David Foster, the PLA’s deputy harbourmaster for this section of the Thames said, ‘The movement of these abnormal loads by tug and barge by river from West London through the capital and out to Tilbury has gone extremely well. It obviously required some careful planning but we very much welcome such special project cargoes on the Thames. It is all part of our continuing work to further increase use of the river and to keep unnecessary large movements off London’s crowded roads.’By Graeme Ewens