Peter Deilmann’s small cruise ship Deutschland (1998/22,496gt) began her own preparations for the London Olympics next year by visiting the capital on 14 July and undertaking a tight manoeuvre to reach her intended berth in South Quay in the heart of the Canary Wharf development.
The lock is 178m long and 24.4m wide, which meant there was little margin for error for the vessel, which has a length of 173.3m and beam of 23m. Media reports indicate that onlookers were amazed to see the largest vessel ever to navigate through the lock and squeeze through without incident, at just after midnight.
As reported previously, Deutschland is, so far, the only ship booked to serve as a floating hotel on the Thames during the Olympics. She has been chartered by the German Olympic Sports Confederation, who will also use the Museum of London Docklands as their Headquarters.
