Olympics Anticipated at Port of Tilbury

The

Typhoon Clipper

and the

Tornado Clipper

will remain in port for about two weeks while final commissioning work takes place, before going into service on Thames Clippers’ O2 Express route, from central London to the O2 Dome.

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.