The Queen’s Harbour Master, Steve Hopper, stands in front of the Boskalis Westminster backhoe dredger Manu Pekka, at work in Portsmouth harbour.
Preparing Portsmouth for HMS Queen Elizabeth The work to prepare Portsmouth for the two new aircraft carriers has taken years, but thankfully everything has been completed in time for HMS Queen Elizabeth’s arrival in her new home. Simon Michell talks to the Queen’s Harbour Master to find out what this work has entailed. 28
HMS Queen Elizabeth
Portsmouth is probably the second busiest port in the country after Dover. We manage about 200,000 movements a year, including the Royal Navy (RN) warships, the cross-channel and Isle of Wight ferries as well as a growing amount of commercial shipping. Portsmouth is where Fyffes bananas enter the country before ending up in your local supermarket,” explains the man who supervises all this activity, the Queen’s Harbour Master: Steve Hopper. Hopper is very proud of the new commercial enterprises the port has managed to attract. Portsmouth is now also a major national sport and leisure site. “We have seven large marinas,
PAUL HALL – FLEET PHOTOGRAPHER
CARRIER ENABLED
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