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THE FUTURE OF THE PORT HEALTH SERVICES
[Abridgment of a paper given to the Association of Sea and Air Port
Health Authorities' annual meeting, Kingston upon Hull, 2nd April, 1970.
By W.G. Swann, M.D., B.Ch., B.A.O., B.Sc., D.P.H., D(Obst), R.C.O.G., D.P.A.,
Medical Officer of Health, Port and City of London]
In many ways the Port Health Services are in a period of unusually rapid change and one can
only select a few of the many factors involved in this change and endeavour to foresee the likely
effect on the Port Health Services. What I have to say concerns of course, primarily the Port of
London, but much of our experiences is analogous to that found in other Ports.
The two major trends in port transport are, firstly, an explosive growth in bulk traffic,
especially oil but also bulk grain and forest products, and secondly in unit load traffic such as
containers, palletized loads, and dumb lighters. Consequently there has been a major reduction
in the level of conventional general cargo, though on balance the total tonnage handled in the
Port of London will increase in the future.
From a Port Health Authority point of view the decrease in conventional general cargo trade
effected by the container revolution has meant such a loss of traffic at conventional berths in the
Upper Docks that the "centre of gravity" of the port is moving down river towards the Estuary,
with deeper draughted, faster ships needing to operate at high throughput berths. This creates new
problems regarding boarding duties, especially boarding from launches by Medical Officers.
The Gravesend Reach was a most suitable place for boarding vessels by medical officers
from launches en passage to the Docks up-river. However the deep sea tankers berthing at the
Havens or the Isle of Grain do not pass Gravesend. This problem is partly met by endeavouring to
board in Lower Hope Reach somewhat difficult in an S bend in the River where the ships arefinding
navigation more difficult — or Sea Reach.
Following on Container Ships, which may in the future become nuclear powered, we come to
the LASH ships — (Lighter Aboard Ships), now arriving in London from New Orleans with some
73 dumb lighters each carrying 300-400 tons of cargo. The lighters are discharged by a gantry
crane in the Medway and towed to Thames-side berths. The operation takes about 15 minutes per
barge so that the vessel can discharge and be back at sea in one day.
From a Port Health aspect these dumb lighters can be treated as containers, each lighter
coming within the official definition of a container. Only the mother ship per se is required to
carry a current deratting or deratting exemption certificate; the lighter is considered an integral
part of the vessel itself. So independent inspection and certification of individual lighters is not
required for the issue of deratting certificates. Inspection of the lighters should be carried out
whenever the mother vessel's deratting or deratting exemption certificates are renewed.
Inspection of each lighter at the time or arrival whenever a piague-infected port has been
visited must be particularly borne in mind in view of the wide ramification of the Mississippi
River and its tributaries and canals into the heart of the USA. Human plague has been recorded in
the State of Louisiana as recently as 1920 (eight cases and three deaths reported). Bearing in
mind the precautions taken against plague in connection with container traffic in the USA, especially
when rat infestation was found in sealed containerized cargo received from Viet-Nam, where
plague is widespread, and military supplies are being shipped via the Eastern Ports with sylvatic
plague endemic even today in California. Similar precautions are necessary to have up-to-date
epidemiological reports of the States in the Mississippi basin and measures for rat control instituted.
Lighters, when necessary, may have to be treated with diazinon dust 2% and anticoagulant
bait be placed in each lighter prior to its being closed and/or sealed.
It is envisaged that LASH ships will operate to the Far East, Malaya and West Africa in the
future. They will be complementary to rather than replace container ships. In certain cases
combined usage will occur, LASH ships carrying containers in lighters.
Already there are developments of the original LASH ship such as the Seabee Clipper, in
which an elevator loads and unloads the lighters, and the BOB ship in which the lighters are
floated out of an opening in the mother vessel amidships.
The Olsen Line are developing palletized loading, using side-doors through which the loaded
pallet can be off-or un-loaded using a sophisticated fork lift truck.
Other minor developments are the use of a 120-foot-long dumb barge for conversion into a
floating restaurant, involving the Port Health Department in regard to compliance with the Food
Hygiene Regulations. Daily collections of refuse, mains sewerage or water are to be laid on
when the conversion is complete and the ship arrives at moorings off Battersea Park.
Similarly the holiday paddle steamer Princess Elizabeth has been moved from Chichester
Harbour to London for conversion into a restaurant and conference centre.