Port of London Authority

Port of London Authority
Predecessor
Formation31 March 1909; 115 years ago (1909-03-31)[1]
TypePublic trust
PurposeOperation of the Port of London
HeadquartersLondon River House
Location
Coordinates51°26′41″N 0°22′26″E / 51.4447°N 0.3740°E / 51.4447; 0.3740
Region
Kent
Chair
Jonson Cox CBE
Chief Executive
Robin Mortimer
Websitepla.co.uk

The Port of London Authority (PLA) is a self-funding public trust established on 31 March 1909 in accordance with the Port of London Act 1908 to govern the Port of London.[1] Its responsibility extends over the Tideway of the River Thames and its continuation (the Kent/Essex strait). It maintains and supervises navigation, and protects the river's environment.

The PLA originally operated all enclosed dock systems on the river (except the Regent's Canal Dock), but these have long been closed to commercial traffic, with the exception of Port of Tilbury, which was privatised in 1992. It inherited the private police forces of the companies which had previously run the docks, reorganising them into a single Port of London Authority Police.

  1. ^ a b "The Port of London". The Times. No. 38921. 31 March 1909. p. 10. Retrieved 3 August 2019.