Feature, Freight News, Inland waterway, Logistics, Sea


Give us the tools and we’ll finish the job, barge operators tell government

[ June 4, 2025   //   ]

Robert Wynn & Sons and other speakers from the inland waterway sector called for more investment and joined-up thinking for inland waterways at a House of Commons reception on 22 July.  

They called on the Government to take steps to improve inland waterway operations and infrastructure to handle the increasing number of oversize and overweight loads that will require transport as part of the UK’s transition to Net Zero.

The event was organised to celebrate the 21st ‘birthday’ of the unique heavy lift barge Terra Marique, originally built by Robert Wynn & Sons with the support of an £8.5 million Freight Facilities Grant from the Labour Government of the day.

The Terra Marique has come to symbolise the way that creative thinking, innovative solutions and real expertise can meet challenges head-on when it comes to delivering abnormal loads by water. Its very first assignment took Terra Marique – with a decommissioned Concorde aircraft  on board – past the Houses of Parliament as it headed down the River Thames, a move that attracted national headlines and television news coverage.

Managing Director, Peter Wynn,  said that the ‘out of the box’ thinking of the 1960s and 1970s to meet the needs of the Central Electricity Generating Board’s infrastructure  projects had led to a focus on sea and waterway transport to move heavy and oversize transformers and generators as close as possible to their final destination. 

“One wonders if the experiences of war and the need to innovate were the inspiration of those gifted individuals and I often ask myself, has that breed gone forever?” he asked. “My observation is that it has not – the skills that are needed in delivering the complex energy systems are largely in this room today.”

However, he emphasised, the answer to the urgent need for moving Net Zero-related cargoes by water must also come from Government. “We can and will play our part, but we need a clear script, the right stage and the right audiences. Put those together and we shall succeed.” 

Director of Logistics UK Chris Lipscomb, added: “If we are serious about improving productivity, decarbonising transport and ensuring resilience in supply chains, we must make full use of every mode available to us – including our rivers, canals and estuaries.

“Water freight often remains overlooked in policy, investment and planning, which is why Logistics UK is calling on Government to set a clear growth target for water freight, just as has been set for rail freight.”

Chief executive of the Canal & River Trust, Richard Parry, told the gathering that around 300 miles of commercial waterways in the UK have the breadth and depth to support large freight barges. He also  called for investment and commitment from the Government, “because so much of the benefit, adding: “It will take a fraction of the investment we see in road and rail infrastructure to go into inland waterways to pay back many times over.”

Graeme Proctor, former Harbour Master of the Dee Conservancy, recalled being approached by Robert Wynn & Sons, when the company wanted to bring abnormal and heavy loads up the River Dee to Shotton and in north-east Wales and unload across a redundant jetty, by mooring the Terra Marique stern-to-jetty across the tide.

“In my mind, this simply wasn’t going to happen. But Wynns set about convincing me that this project would sail. Every hurdle or concern I had, they would go away and come back with a solution. The results were totally rewarding – tugs, pilots, everything working together for a smooth operation. It was a beautiful thing to see and we were all very proud to see a safe and successful result.”

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