1. AMENDMENT TO SPECIFIED VESSEL REGULATIONS
As of the date of publication of this Notice to Mariners the separation distance in respect of specified vessels is to be increased to half a nautical mile for the whole of the Thames inside the limits of the Port of London Authority. Direction 14 of the General Directions for Navigation in the Port of London 2003 (as amended) will be amended in due course.
2. PROCEDURES FOR THE TRANSIT OF LNG VESSELS
· Within Port of London Limits, except in the Knock John channel, LNG vessels are to be considered as normal specified vessels and the provisions of Direction 14 of the General Directions for Navigation in the Port of London 2003 (as amended) in respect of passing and overtaking will apply.
· In the Knock John channel between the Knock John buoy and Knock John No 5 buoy, normal one-way traffic rules (vessels navigating with the tide have right of way), will apply. Traffic will be restricted to one way operations and the separation distance from the LNG vessel will be one nautical mile ahead and half a nautical mile astern. Opposing and overtaking traffic will only be permitted subject to the agreement of the LNG vessel and London VTS approval if the other vessel remains outside the buoy line.
· Normal traffic management arrangements in the Fisherman’s Gat Precautionary area will apply.
· The pilots/masters of LNG vessels are to submit their agreed passage plan to London VTS in order that traffic may be appraised of the vessels’ progress and traffic organisation undertaken where necessary.
· Inward LNG vessels will normally require to make fast a tug before the Medway buoy. LNG vessels will, so far as is practicable, cross to the southern limit of the Oaze Precautionary area in the Oaze Deep to be at the southern limit before reaching the East Cant buoy.
· Inward LNG vessels are to inform London VTS of their intentions to manoeuvre to the port side of the channel. London VTS will keep other traffic informed of the intended manoeuvre, monitor the manoeuvre and where necessary organise traffic to keep clear during the manoeuvre and when the tug is being made fast.
· Procedures for the transit of LNG vessels inside Medway Ports Limits will be promulgated in a separate Notice to Mariners published by Medway Ports Authority.
