Forth Fighter
The 77-foot multicat vessel, Forth Fighter, has arrived in the Wear to demolish the remains of North Dock basin jetty and install a new navigation light.
Work is being undertaken in conjunction with South Shields-based marine civil engineering and diving company, Sea Lane Inshore.
Removal of the timber structure follows an incident on July 18, when it was badly damaged by the Maltese-registered Alexander Kuprin, which was outward bound for Mukran, Germany, with a cargo of limestone.
The navigational aid on the jetty was also lost in the collision. Once the timberwork has been removed, a new beacon – flashing a green light every five seconds – will be anchored to the stumps of the old timber piles set into the riverbed.
Forth Fighter arrived from Grimsby on Saturday and is operated by Briggs Marine of Burntisland, which provides maritime construction, civil engineering, pollution response and oil and gas terminal services.
Built in 1985 and formerly named Gemstar, she was reconstructed in 2001. Her equipment includes a deck-mounted Effer teleboom crane and a Damen 15-tonne deck winch.
The jetty's decking and supports were demolished some years ago on safety grounds, leaving only the isolated end remaining.
It was originally fitted with mooring bollards and projected into the river from the western side of the old North Dock entrance.
Although this entrance disappeared in 1961 after part of the dock was infilled for TW Greenwell and Co's new ship repair berth, the jetty survived.
It once provided access to the adjacent RNLI station and slipway, opened in 1900. The lifeboat, George Woofindin, was based there until closure in 1916, during which time she launched on service 20 times, saving 37 lives. Deptford Yard Sailing Club later used the facilities.
On the Waterfront (October 28), which reported on the opening of the world's first aluminium bridge at Hendon Dock in 1948, brought back fond memories for Echo reader, Don Mitchinson, who was at the opening ceremony.
Don said: "My father was working on RWC Screw Keel that lifted off the dock gates before work commenced.
"The entrance to Hendon Dock was meant to be widened using the RWC dredger Viscount Ridley, but there was not enough room in the original opening to take the dredger and hopper together. Not sure how they managed, but at the time of the bridge opening, the job had not been done.
Don also recalls that both leaves of the bascule bridge stuck in the upright position after inauguration by Minister of Transport, Alfred Barnes – a fact not widely reported at the time.
In 1952, as a young seaman, Don sailed from Hendon Dock through the same opening on board the Burnett steamship, Wallsend
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Weather for Sunderland
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
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Temperature: -3 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South
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