Marine Matters

In much the same way as London, the commercial activities on the River Medway contribute to the regions prosperity.

The Isle of Grain lies at the eastern end of the Hoo peninsula on the north side of the River Medway. The area has an interesting history, a dubious claim to fame is it being the location of Britain’s last recorded outbreak of Malaria in 1918.

After the Second World War part of the south side was converted to an oil refinery. This was closed down in 1982 and in 1989 part of the site was converted into the confusingly named Thamesport Container Terminal.

Lexa Maersk outwards from Thamesport

The depth of water in the river alongside the terminal allows the largest existing and currently planned container ships to be accommodated on the berths.

The latest cargo handling technology is used including driverless gantry cranes to move the containers around. The container park with room for 660,000 twenty foot long containers – 2,272 miles if placed end to end helps make Thamesport the third largest container port in the UK.

Sheerness also has a long and interesting history, it being a Royal Naval dockyard town dating back to the reign of Henry VIII. The naval presence disappeared in 1960 and Sheerness is today a busy commercial port.

The tanker Kihuland passing Sheerness

Over half a million vehicles are handled annually by the huge box-shaped car carriers that are a regular sight at Sheerness.

The other major cargo handled at the port is fresh produce. Nearly a million tonnes of virtually every type of refrigerated fruit passed through the port in 2003 making it the UK’s largest fresh produce import destination.

Another town with a long naval history is Chatham. The enclosed dock system is now very much a part of the commercial scene of the River Medway. Ships carrying forest product cargoes from Scandinavia form the main area of cargo operations and overall over a million tonnes of cargo in over 500 ship visits are handled annually at Chatham.