The 35m long vessels, with a seating capacity of 220 passengers each, are the first two of six new riverboats being built by BSC Marine Group Australia for Thames Clippers. The other four will arrive in pairs between this month and the end of the year. With the new vessels, Thames Clippers plans to step up the O2 Express service to a 15 minute frequency.

The arrival of the river buses at Tilbury underlines the critical role the port can play in ‘green transport links, in particular serving the London Olympics 2012.

The Olympic Delivery Authority has promised that London 2012 will be a ‘sustainable’ and ‘low carbon’ games, putting the use of water for transport very high on the agenda.

The Port of Tilbury is well placed to service the Olympics sites and also the massive regeneration projects in Stratford and the Thames Gateway region. The port is gearing up to handle increased volumes of aggregates, steel and other construction materials, and also planning ahead for increased imports of equipment, food and other goods that will be needed during the games.

Among key developments at the port, Cemex UK is investing £27m in a new 1.2m ton cement grinding and blending facility.  The building materials company is building the plant in order to meet demands for cement for the construction of the London 2012 Olympic Games facilities and the Thames Gateway developments.