
Port Talbot RNLI joins flotilla to mark an historic moment and the end of an era
On Monday 2 September at 4.42pm an eerie silence fell across the bay as Port Talbot RNLI joined Mumbles and Porthcawl lifeboats to escort the last bulk carrier out of Port Talbot's deep water harbour.
On Saturday 31 August the vessel Trinity Island berthed at Port Talbot's deep water harbour after travelling from Japan with 44,000 tonnes of coke for use in blast furnace four at Tata Steel's Port Talbot steelworks, the last load of raw materials to the dock for use at the steel works.
After offloading the raw materials over the weekend Trinity Island was ready to leave the harbour on route to her next destination: Norfolk, Virginia in the United States.
A flotilla of tugs, Pilot boats and three RNLI lifeboats joined to escort her safely out of the harbour.
One onlooker was RNLI fundraiser John Lewis who has been with the station for over 60 years. John was a pilot working in the docks in 1970 and welcomed the first-ever carrier into the harbour so it was poignant that he was there to see the last vessel from there set sail.
RNLI Shop Volunteer Sue David whose home overlooks the town including the steel works and the harbour said: ‘I have been watching these giant ships come and go from the docks for 54 years. Today is a sad day which signals the end of era.
'Trinity Island we bid you farewell and safe passage.'
Port Talbot docks have a long and rich history, and the inner set of floating docks was developed in 1834, just 10 years after the RNLI was founded in 1824 by Sir William Hillary. The outer tidal was completed in 1970 and was opened by Queen Elizabeth II.
The harbour is one of the very few in the UK capable of handling capesize vessels. Iron ore carriers can weigh up to 100,000 tonnes.
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For more information please contact Kirstee David, volunteer Lifeboat Press Officer on [email protected] or or Claire Fitzpatrick-Smith Regional CommunicationsManager on 07977728315 or [email protected] Alternatively, call the RNLI Press Office on 01202 336789 or email [email protected].
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