A tricky two with historic Queen Mary was carefully timed

The ship was leaving central London under tow after a career of a couple of decades as a floating public house and bars. Queen Mary was closed for business in January 2009 and sold four months later for conversion into a floating hotel, to be moored at the port of La Rochelle in France. Built in 1933, Queen Mary is a ship of almost 80m in length with a beam of some 11.2m, originally operated as a ferry and cruise ship on the west coast of Scotland. The ship saw service in the area throughout World War II and was finally withdrawn from service in 1977 and later brought to the Thames for use as a floating pub.

Since it was first put in position a number of alterations have been made to the vessel increasing the draft and making plans for its departure more complex. With an air draft, with the funnels removed, of 10.6m and draft afloat of 2.5m, selecting the correct tidal conditions and timing was critical to allow the ship to pass beneath the bridges between Waterloo and the pool of London.

The towage operation was undertaken by Thamescraft Marine Services using their own tug Aicirtron and chartered vessels Horton and Unico. With the Acirtron on the head and the two smaller tugs made fast on either side of the stern, the ship left the Victoria Embankment at approximately 09:00 and passed stern first through Waterloo Bridge to wait several hours for the precise moment to be ‘swung’ and taken through the other bridges at low water. Two Thames pilots positioned themselves on the wheelhouse roof for the transit through the bridges. Waterman Mr Ron Livett, a former Thames tugowner with 60 years experience of carrying out similar operations, came out of retirement to assist with the tow, which was completed without a hitch.

Queen Mary and its attendant tugs arrived in Tilbury Docks at 18:50 the same evening. There the old steamer will be prepared for the journey, in tow, to France. The new owner is reported to be M. Samuel Boudon, managing director of Naval Force 3, a shipyard in La Rochelle dedicated to the construction of luxury yachts as a private venture. A 17 month long conversion is planned, giving the vessel three suites, 24 four star rooms and 18 three star rooms, a restaurant, bar and fitness centre. The refit will be undertaken by sister companies of NF3, part of the Pole Refit group, located in La Rochelle.