River Thames Cargo Ship Movements October

 Cargo Explorer - Diary October 10th 2020

There is a true feeling of " Once you open a door ." feeling for me at the moment, the more I look , the more I realise just how little I know. I mean I have said it before , but personal experience and contemplation is really driving it home to me.

Having spent the last few days in Gravesend to observe the to'ings and fro'ings of container ships on the river Thames near Tilbury port , I am fascinated and intriqued even more by just how our transport system is the lifeblood of everything we encounter daily.

There is nothing quite like sitting at the riverside watching the giant container carrying vessels, the tug driven river barges , the refuelling tanker boats, the patrols, the river captains the whole entire support system that drives the infrastructure first hand. 

Everytime I see something new I wonder how it fits into the logistics puzzle. I wonder who fits where, what boat supports which ship, why are they here and not there, what port can facilitate which size ship. I am more and more puzzled but slowly some answers are arriving. 

Whilst researching today I came across the whole scenario of seafarers not being able to change crews due to covid 19. I mean that had not ever even occured to me. These deep seafarers are usually 6-8 months at sea , then they get 4-5 months time off depending on their shipping companies policies. But due to these unforeseen health and safety regulations in the wake of further covid measurements, many of the crews on these vessels are having to extend their time onboard even longer. New crews cannot arrive because country borders are closed. Old crew cannot  leave, because new ones cant arrive or old crews find themselves stranded at ports. And yet so little seems known about these people who put themselves out there to supply 90% of the UK cargo. 

Whilst there is nothing I can directly do to change that, I can at least educate myself, find out more, ask more, perhaps share more of what I find so others may learn too.

... all for today here at 

CargoExplorer