A Thames sailing barge has become the first for decades to be authorised as a commercial cargo carrier – and will be delivering cement for a Brightlingsea-based business.
The ‘Blue Mermaid’ has been given permission by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to carry cargoes of up to 110 tonnes between Lowestoft and Sandwich and up the Thames for Essex Cement, which operates from Oliver’s Wharf on Brightlingsea’s shipyard estate.
The last commercial cargo – 100 tonnes of cattle cake from Tilbury to Ipswich – to be carried by a UK-registered sailing barge was in 1970 by the Cambria. One full load on Blue Mermaid removes the equivalent of four articulated lorries from the road.
Sea-Change Sailing Trust provides training and education for young people and vulnerable adults and the cargo-carrying opearation is helping to fund its work, as well as cutting carbon emissions. In 2022, a total of 200 mainly young or vulnerable people took to the water with the Trust.
Other cargoes can be transported on the barge. For information see the trust’s website.
