BW announce moorings plan for Olympic Games

British Watersays have announced plans for booking moorings in London for the the Olympic Games.  An online booking system will begin on 19 April 2011 so that boaters can reserve a visitor mooring on London’s waterways during summer 2012. 

BW say that this follows research that shows there will be strong demand for mooring in London throughout the Olympic Games so with the expected increase in the number of visiting boats a dedicated mooring plan will be in place with moorings reserved for those who have booked them. 

There will be a ‘controlled zone’ for several weeks throughout the Olympic summer.  All boats that have a home mooring within the ‘controlled zone’ will be largely unaffected. Visiting boats, however, will only be able to enter with a confirmed booking of a visitor mooring (with BW, another operator or individual).

The pre-bookable BW visitor moorings will vary in price depending on location ands details will be published when the online booking system goes live on 19 April. BW say they will set the prices so that additional costs involved in accommodating the expected large increase in boat numbers are covered — any surplus, they say, will be re-invested in the historic waterway network. 

BW will appoint the Inland Waterways Association Festivals Team to manage the visitor moorings during summer 2012.

The ‘controlled zone’ will cover approximately 15-miles of London’s waterways, meaning that there remain nearly 85–miles of canal and river where moorings will be available as usual on a first-come first-served basis.

It is expected that, because of the BW's 'controlled zone', and the indications given by the security services about the restrictions to boat movement and mooring that may be implemented near the Olympic Park, visitor mooring rules on the remaining stretches of London’s waterways may be modified to help minimise the impact of these restrictions on local boaters.

BW say that by giving more than 12 months’ notice of the mooring arrangements for the summer of 2012 boaters will have plenty of time to plan their cruising routes and make their mooring arrangements for the Olympic summer in plenty of time.