St. Katharine Docks has played its part, doing its bit for the environment for years
St Katharine Docks Marina continues to clean up its act
As gatekeepers to our seas and waterways, marinas must do their bit for the environment. Just metres from the major London tourist landmark, the Tower of London, IGY Marina destination St Katharine Docks is doing its bit and cleaning up its act.
Committed to be a cleaner marina, the team at the185-berth marina conduct regular water clearances, and the resulting hauls, sometimes daily, are staggering. Up to 75kg of flotsam and jetsam is netted from the water at a time, 30% of which is plastic waste.
In addition to water clearances, in 2019 the marina equipped its historic basins with three Seabins. Each Seabin can collect almost half a tonne of floating debris per year, including microplastics as small as 2mm. Each Seabin has a submersible water pump that is capable of displacing 25,000 litres per hour, which cleanses surface water and trapping debris inside.
The marina also has Schiller water bikes fitted with collecting nets, skimming the surface for floating debris as the user cycles across the marina.
The marina is also proudly working with Yacht Carbon Offset to counterbalance the carbon impact of boating to the marina. Most customers visiting St. Katharine Docks use a fossil fuel powered engine to transit along the Thames. Visitors are now being offered the opportunity to carbon offset their fuel emissions by making a voluntary £1 carbon offset donation. The marina also matches every contribution made. The £1 is added to the marina fee and can be removed on request. Each donation is sufficient to counterbalance close to 100 kg CO2e of GHG emissions and is invested into carbon offset projects. For Q3, covering visitors in July, August and September, St Katharine Docks Marina offset 22 tonnes of CO2, which is the volume equivalent to 6 hot air balloons.
The marina’s general manager, Paul Atkins said “We are committed to providing a safe and clean environment for our berth holders, visitors, tenants, residents and wildlife, and do what we can support sustainability initiatives and help to fight pollution in our seas.”