I hope you all enjoyed your Easter weekend, at home and in good health; in the meantime Trinity House still has to carry out its essential role as a General Lighthouse Authority for the safety of all mariners and the health of our national economy.
Last week THV Patricia completed her refit on time thanks to the good work of shipyards on the River Tees and at Lowestoft. Once back in her home port of Harwich the Trinity House home team pulled together to store the ship and load her up ready to return to work. One of her first tasks was to service the Foxtrot 3 lightvessel in the North Sea, one of the critical way marks for shipping in our busy waters.
Following that she has a busy east coast schedule; meanwhile, THV Galatea is working the west coast in company with MV Mair, and THV Alert is on standby in the busy Dover Straits.
So when you go out to clap for our NHS on Thursday evening, please also keep in your thoughts the British seafarer away from his or her family, and the support teams ashore who all work together to keep the seaways open for this island nation.
I can only offer my humble thanks to all at Trinity House, and their families, for keeping the vital service we provide going under the difficult circumstances presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ian McNaught
Chief Executive, Trinity House
14 April 2020
THV Patricia in dry dock, 1 March 2020. Image by Jamie Molony