VISIT ON THE RIVER TEES
Last week I had the chance to experience what it’s like to work on the River Tees. I joined the crew on the Phoenix Cross to find out more about Maritime safety and what exactly our tugboats get up to on the water.
Not only do these boats keep our food imports open and our industrial exports alive by navigating ships down the river, they also operate as an emergency response team. All the team are specially trained to deal with severe incidents on the tees, whilst working tirelessly every day to keep our port open for business.
These men are experts at what they do, having spent years training and teaching young apprentices – our skippers of the future.
Whilst I have some experience of this sort of work from doing a few shifts down at Teesport, this was a whole new level for me. Whilst aboard, I witnessed first-hand how they tug enormous tankers ready for offloading at North Tees. It’s hard to believe this is the sort of work these people do every day. It was certainly an astonishing experience for me!
I intend to work closely with these workers and other industry representatives to try and ensure that the exceptionally high safety standards they adhere to are followed by others nationally.
J.
