Wednesday, October 30, 2013 - 20:55 by ce-press
Tilbury has appointed a contractor to rebuild the centre and final section of the 348m-long Grade II listed landing stage for £2m (E2.35m) in order to accommodate post-Panamax ships. The work is planned for the new year when the port has minimal ship moves and is due to be completed in May, according to Richard Exley, marine & cruise manager Port of Tilbury. The upper and lower sections of the stage were rebuilt a few years ago and will be available throughout the work.
A £250,000 project to repair the roof of the baggage & customs hall and the distinctive, historical cupola has already started. Additional annual funding of £550,000 will be invested to transform the hall into the waiting lounge with seating for 750 passengers together with a cafe, ship, wifi and toilets. The current smaller lounge will be dedicated to the UK Border Agency.
In addition the adjacent disused Tilbury Riverside Railway Station will be reactivated and redecorated as a 18,000m2 baggage reclaim area with toilets, offices and restrooms for the UKBA, ship agents and terminal staff. By 2015 all of the boarding bridges will have been refurbished.
Tilbury is situated on the River Thames 22nm downriver from Tower Bridge, London. As far back as 1916 it opened berths specifically for P&O's liners and in 1930 a new passenger landing stage was opened by UK prime minister Ramsay MacDonald. With 350m of floating quayside, a passenger reception and grand hall, it is this facility that is being rebuilt.
The port has a rich history when it comes to passengerships. In June 1948 Tilbury Riverside hosted the arrival of the converted troop ship MV Empire Windrush, heralding a period of migration. Setting sail from Kingston, Jamaica, she arrived with 492 Caribbean migrants having paid £28 for the passage. By 1970 almost 500,000 people had left their homes in the West Indies to live in Britain.
Tilbury was also the setting off point for emigrants to Australia and the Commonwealth who arrived into the railway station. In the 1970s with the demise of the British liner fleet, the terminal was no longer in use and the railway station closed.
The emergence of cruising breathed new life back into the Passenger Terminal and in 1985 the existing Baggage and Customs Hall was refurbished by the Port of London Authority, the present lounge built and the facility rebranded and promoted as the London International Cruise Terminal and more recently additionally as 'The Quay to the Capital'.
Next year the first call takes place on January 5 when Cruise & Maritime Voyages' Marco Polo departs for the Amazon, West Indies and The Azores. A total of 27 calls are booked with Fred Olsen Cruise Lines also visiting. For 2015 and 2016 both cruiselines have outlined calls to the port.
