Cruising too dirty for London

Campaigners are appealing to Boris Johnson’s better nature and asking him to block plans to build a new cruise terminal in Greenwich, London.

The plans will be the first for nearly 34 years for a new cruise terminal to be built in the capital city along with 477 new homes. Residents are not happy due to the risk of increase in pollution while the ships are berthed in Enderby Wharf in Greenwich.

The average cruise ship can burn 700 litres of diesel an hour, equivalent to 400 Lorries. However the developer dealing with it all has assured people that there would be no impact on the air quality levels and that they were in fact committing nearly half a million pounds into monitoring and improving the air quality in the area.

The proposal will see the arrival of vessels up to 240 meters long and an expectation of up to 60 cruise ships a year. The plans are hoping for completion by 2017 and could see ships docked up against some popular tourist attractions such as the Royal Naval College and the cutty Sark.

I personally think it is a great idea another cruise terminal opening up will make it far easier for those who do not wish to travel down to Southampton.

I think that living in Greenwich people are used to the hustle and bustle of London life and actually it may be quite nice to see the cruise ships coming into dock and the excitement that surrounds embarkation and waving them off. The Thames isn’t deep enough for the big mega ships so it will only be the smaller ships coming in anyway.

Who knows in years to come it could be the new Venice and people could see the great ships sailing in on the Thames. It could even boost tourism for London and people may wish to stay a few nights pre cruise to take in the sights and sounds of London.