In partnership with Thames Festival Trust, we’re delighted to announce the winners of the Thames Lens 2025 photography competition. Nearly 500 entries were submitted by photographers under five themed categories: ‘River City’, ‘River of Life’, ‘River People’, ‘Working River’ and ‘Illuminated River & The Public’.
Caption: Thames Lens & Port of London Authority (Overall Winner) - 'Love Flows Like Thames Resistance' by Kristjan Volt
In partnership with Thames Festival Trust, we’re delighted to announce the winners of the Thames Lens 2025 photography competition. Nearly 500 entries were submitted by photographers under five themed categories: ‘River City’, ‘River of Life’, ‘River People’, ‘Working River’ and ‘Illuminated River & The Public’.
New to 2025’s Thames Lens competition were two categories to encourage younger participants, for students and under 25s. The winners in the five categories were judged by representatives from Thames Festival Trust, the Port of London Authority and the Illuminated River Foundation.
PLA’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Siân Foster said:
“The images of the tidal Thames captured by this year's photographers present such interesting and engaging perspectives on the river we love, and I'm delighted to see entries from younger people this year as well.
“On behalf of my colleagues from the Port of London Authority, congratulations to all of the winners!”
The UK’s first ever exhibition dedicated to mudlarking will open at London Museum Docklands this Spring (4 April 2025), with over 350 mudlarked objects on display, from intimate personal items to historical relics.
Blending archaeology with contemporary art and digital experiences, the Secrets of the Thames exhibition offers fresh perspectives on London and all its people – past and present.
As Kate Sumnall, Lead Curator, says “Above all, it will be an exploration of love and desire, faith and loss, migration, community and culture”.
Introduced by the PLA, Thames Skills Academy and Company of Lightermen & Watermen to improve safety on the river, the CPD programme is a requirement for all Masters operating commercial vessels on the tidal Thames. It is also open to other navigational crew.
By the end of 2024, over 650 people had signed up to CPD, including 510 Masters.
The PLA regulates the Thames CPD Programme through the General Directions (General Direction 34). In a one-year period, Masters of intra-port vessels on the Thames must attain a minimum of 10 CPD points, (which must form of a total of at least 150 points by the end of five years). By the end of 2024, in its first year of being mandatory, the majority of Masters had obtained their 10 points.
If you haven’t yet joined the CPD programme or haven’t yet registered your 10 points for 2024, please do so as soon as possible.
To join the CPD programme, complete a form using the link below. Once you’ve enrolled, you will be able to demonstrate your CPD by submitting photos or copies of your course certificates via your Thames CPD online account. The Thames Skills Academy which administers the CPD programme is available to help – give them a call on 07762 125 727 or email them on thamescpd@thamesacademy.london.
University College of London (UCL) and the PLA have signed a further five-year agreement to support the internationally accredited MSc in Geospatial Science, Hydrographic Surveying. Since 1999, the PLA’s Hydrography team has worked in partnership with UCL Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering (CEGE) to deliver the course, supporting the education of future hydrographic surveyors from around the world.
Last year, the course was accredited as a Category A course by the International Hydrographic Office (IHO); an accolade that puts our Masters course on the world stage. Students are sponsored from countries all around the world to complete the MSc, which gives them the opportunity of exposure to ground-breaking theory, a wealth of knowledge, and practical training on the most cutting-edge equipment.
The PLA supports the practical and theoretical parts of the course, and colleagues in our Hydro department, such as Tom Ford, can share their knowledge with the postgraduate students, as well as work alongside a department that is driving innovation in hydrography.
Caption: (left) Tom Ford in action for the PLA, (right) Tom Ford in action in Scotland
UCL to PLA
Originally from Grays, Essex, PLA Hydrographic Surveyor, Tom Ford, decided to invest in the course with an ambition to work for the Port of London. Tom graduated with his MSc in Geospatial Science, Hydrographic Surveying in 2016 before joining the Hydrographic team at Forth Ports in Edinburgh for five and a half years. He then returned to his roots by the Thames, achieving his goal of working in the world-class Hydro team at the PLA.
Since then, Tom has been supporting the UCL course, which he says gives him a chance to feedback into the latest cohort of students, demonstrate the advantages of the advanced multibeam technology which is on the PLA vessels, and gain from the high engineering and science that is happening in the background.
Although as Tom quips, “It’s great that the students can benefit from the latest and greatest in tech and tools but the very first thing we teach the international students, when they get onboard our boats, is arguably the most important task of all: to put the kettle on. Long days on the water mean tea and biscuits are an essential part of Hydrographic Surveying.”
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