Harbour Service vessels

The PLA maintains an active presence on the tideway with regular patrols by Harbour Patrol Launches, on a 24 hour duty and call between Southend and Putney (the "Lower" and "Middle" PLA districts). Special events and large ships requiring escort are also provided for by these vessels.

The area between Putney and Teddington (the "Upper District") is patrolled daily, using two special launches for River Patrol, designed to serve the leisure community. Two reserve launches are maintained to be available at short notice for special duties such as local traffic control and Thames Barrier closure patrols.

'Chelsea' and 'Richmond'
	These new launches were built by Ecocats Limited in 2006/07, for use in the PLA's Upper District, following a three-year research programme into wash characteristics in shallow water carried out by the PLA and Southampton University. The overall length of 10 metres and beam of just under 4 metres gives a large open platform and a spacious island wheelhouse from which the river patrol can provide ready assistance and guidance to rowers, canoeists and other small boat operators. The narrow-beamed hulls and light displacement (3.9 tonnes) cause the least possible resistance, which substantially reduces the power required to achieve normal patrol and emergency response speeds. Due to the vessel's low resistance, the twin Yanmar 36hp diesel outboards provide power for 17 knots, but offer a substantial 67% fuel saving when compared with the former Upper District patrol launches. This fuel economy, together with the solar panels provided to supplement electrical systems onboard, offer savings not only in operating costs but also in emissions of CO2.
'Lambeth'
	'Lambeth' is the first of a fleet of four purpose-built harbour patrol vessels which will be used in the middle and lower districts of the tidal Thames, between Putney Bridge and the North Sea. The launches are being built by Alnmaritec, based in Alnwick, Northumberland, and the hull type is aluminium catamaran with deep vee hull form, designed by Newcastle University The hull structure was designed by Amgram Limited. The vessels are 13.5 metres long and 4.8 metres wide with a weight of 11 tonnes. Two John Deere 200 horsepower marine diesel engines provide a maximum speed of 21 knots (24 mph) and a patrol speed of 18 knots (20.5 mph). Click here to find out more about the £2 million project to equip the PLA with the most modern and efficient vessels for the job.
'Kew'
	Catamarans 'Kew' and 'Southwark' are the latest of four new boats the PLA has ordered at a cost of more than £2 million. They have been delivered as preparations continue for an unprecedented year on the Thames with the river pageant to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and events linked to the London Olympics. 'Kew' and 'Southwark', join the first of the boats, 'Lambeth', which has been in service for the last two years. The last of the new boats, 'Barnes', will enter service in the autumn of 2011. All four boats are named after London bridges. They have been specially designed to work on the tidal Thames with reduced weight and lower fuel consumption than the boats they are replacing. The launches have twin hulls made of aluminium and each weighing 11 tonnes. They were built by Northumberland’s Alnmaritec following a five year PLA-led design and research project with Newcastle University to create a new design boat for the Thames. The 13.5metre launches are each powered by two 200bhp John Deere marine diesel engines and can achieve top speeds of around 20 knots.
'Southwark'
	Catamarans 'Kew' and 'Southwark' are the latest of four new boats the PLA has ordered at a cost of more than £2 million. They have been delivered as preparations continue for an unprecedented year on the Thames with the river pageant to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and events linked to the London Olympics. 'Kew' and 'Southwark', join the first of the boats, 'Lambeth', which has been in service for the last two years. The last of the new boats, 'Barnes', will enter service in the autumn of 2011. All four boats are named after London bridges. They have been specially designed to work on the tidal Thames with reduced weight and lower fuel consumption than the boats they are replacing. The launches have twin hulls made of aluminium and each weighing 11 tonnes. They were built by Northumberland’s Alnmaritec following a five year PLA-led design and research project with Newcastle University to create a new design boat for the Thames. The 13.5metre launches are each powered by two 200bhp John Deere marine diesel engines and can achieve top speeds of around 20 knots.
'Ravensbourne II'
	The 'Ravensboune II' is used for patrols in the Middle District and has an MCA Small Commercial Vessel (SCV) certificate that allows for Pilotage operations as required. She is a Lochin design semi-displacement monohull and was built in 1985. Ravensbourne II is 11.7m in length with a draught of 1.1m and displacement of 16.5 tonnes. Powered by twin Yanmar 6LYA STP engines, each giving 370 bhp, the vessel has a maximum speed of 23 knots.
(Image by kind permission of Sheila Pennant Jones)
'Benfleet'
	The 'Benfleet' is a dual-purpose William Osborne design based on a Talisman 49 hull. She was built in 1997 and has a length of 15m, a draught of 1.3m and displaces 22 tonnes. Powered by twin Volvo TAMD 122P engines, each giving 530 bhp, she has a maximum speed of 24 knots. Whilst 'Benfleet' is mainly used for patrolling the lower district she can also be used as a Pilot Cutter, having been certified by MCA for use in both roles. She is equipped with a stern recovery platform for rescue purposes.