Richard Bain of Jetstream Tours has found an obstruction just outside of the upper end of the Sun Pier (Rats Bay) buoys. It seems to be metallic and sits proud of the river bed by an estimated 3 metres. His vessel had struck the object in October last year but as Peel Ports had surveyed the area the previous day and found nothing it was assumed to be just a driftwood strike.
Yesterday Richard heard the metallic clang again, so stopped and did a drift over it, capturing this image on his echo sounder. Peel Ports have been informed but no marker has been put down yet.
UPDATE 16.09.2021: Peel Ports have now marked the location with an orange pellet buoy which says “wreck.”
I think I hit this last week at low tide. It broke my drive plate.
It made a right clang.
Guys I work for UKPN, and have escalated this up our chain of command. running across the river bed in that location are two 132KV oil filled cables. There is no suggestion this obstruction is anything to do with them, but it could be a concern for the protection of our plant and supplies.