Bennett’s Barges is delighted to officially welcome their fleet of eight new Tideway Class barges to the River Thames.
At an official welcome review of the barges held at Butler’s Wharf Pier in London on Tuesday 22 May 2018, a reception was held on board the paddle steamer Dixie Queen, London’s largest luxury floating event venue.
In the stunning London sunshine looking by the iconic Tower Bridge, guests heard speeches from Chris Livett, Managing Director of Bennett’s Barges, and Bert Advocaat, Managing Director of shipbuilders Baars BV. They spoke about the journey taken to deliver the eight barges to the Thames – a process which took many years and culminated in the completion of fleet delivery in April 2018 – as well as the extensive efficiency and environmental benefits they bring to London and their involvement in the Thames Tideway Tunnel legacy project.
Guests on the day were also invited to board ACB Pegasus, one of the four 1,500t barges, to see their scale, quality and grandeur up close which was a unique occasion for many.
Courtesy of Andrew Christy, we are delighted to share a selection of images from the day below:
Please visit this link to see the full gallery.
The event also saw the premiere of the Tideway Class barges’ introductory video, which we are similarly delighted to share with you below. The six-minute video will help you find out more about the new fleet of barges – ACB Apollo, ACB Poseidon, ACB Churchill, ACB Hercules, ACB Valiant, ACB Pegasus, ACB Phoebe and ACB Zeus – including a time-lapse of Pegasus’ construction, the launching of Zeus, and clips of them at work at Tideway’s Carnwath Road site. You can watch the video here:
Bennett’s Barges would again like to take this opportunity to thank those who joined us on the day to celebrate this momentous occasion for the River Thames.
If you have any questions or enquiries about chartering the barges, we’d be delighted to hear from you. Please visit the Contact Us page to find out more.