Anchor's away: PLA team removes object from bed of the River Thames

Divers employed by the Port of London Authority (PLA) helped remove a giant anchor, lodged in the bed of the River Thames near Gravesend (9 February).

The exact age of the iron anchor - measuring over 15 feet in height and weighing more than five tonnes - is a mystery.

It’s presence deep in the tidal Thames’ muddy waters was confirmed by routine surveys of the river bed, undertaken by the PLA’s hydrographic team, using a high-resolution multi-beam sonar, to identify changes in the river bed and objects that could pose a navigational risk for vessels.

Divers Ryan Pearce and Jason Durkin were deployed on the river on consecutive days, tasked with salvaging two submerged items with the potential to obstruct river traffic.

The anchor was top of their list of items to remove from the Gravesend Reach.

On Thursday (10 February), they turned their attention to a smaller, rectangular pile, which proved trickier to locate in the pitch-black waters, and required brute force to dislodge it from the bed of the river.

Ryan, a diver since 2008, explained: “You can’t see anything down there; you have to work by touch.”

A PLA crew aboard London Titan returned both the divers’ finds safely back to dry land.