Police boat crashes on the Thames

[Bigends]

Wonder what on earth happened here?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c935k4k4pezo

[Sheepshanks]

On the face of it the amount of disruption and moving people away seems un-necessary. As if they just didn't want people to see.

[Panamax]

At this time of year the Thames in central London is absolutely jammed with tourist boats. I'll bet the silly sods were travelling at speed and needed to swerve to avoid hitting a tourist boat. It's absolutely jammed around there.

They love shutting motorways, so why not shut some other stuff?

[Peterpetrole]

Matthew Parris was always very funny about these wannabe SBS zooming up and down outside his docklands flat, but only when the weather was good.

They can't ever have been fulfilling a cost effective purpose.

[Bigends]

Footage released
https://metro.co.uk/2026/07/25/new-footage-shows-m...

[OutInTheShed]

Bigends said:

Footage released
https://metro.co.uk/2026/07/25/new-footage-shows-m...

I trust the Metro personalised ads a bit less than I trust plod.

Any chance you can summarise?

[LivLL]

OutInTheShed said:

I trust the Metro personalised ads a bit less than I trust plod.

Any chance you can summarise?

It shows the boat passing under the bridge with no other traffic visible and turning too late to avoid smashing into the right side of the bridge flipping thier boat completely on its side.

Sadly it starts just as they begin to pass under the bridge so you can't see why they were heading on a course

This one shows the aftermath with some in the water.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dRNwqyyV0w

Looks on the face of the first video like a boat handling error.

[w1bbles]

I obviously hope they’re all ok but on the face of it that looks like billy basic crap boat handling.

[JagLover]

w1bbles said:

I obviously hope they re all ok but on the face of it that looks like billy basic crap boat handling.

"Watch this, no hands"

[Greendubber]

Responding to reports of a person in the water near Battersea I believe.

Christ knows what's caused it, crap helming or mechanical issue?

Either way, the cake fine will be enormous.

Swift recovery to those injured.

[butchstewie]

Sheepshanks said:

On the face of it the amount of disruption and moving people away seems un-necessary. As if they just didn't want people to see.

Given the scale of response I very much doubt it was so people didn't see.

I assumed it's more that if you get reports of "a boat full of people weighed down with heavy equipment and guns has crashed and people have gone in the water" you don't take any chances about the people or the equipment likely to be in the boat.

Thankfully everyone involved sounds OK but the incident sounds like it had the potential to be very nasty.

[PurplePenguin]

butchstewie said:

Sheepshanks said:

On the face of it the amount of disruption and moving people away seems un-necessary. As if they just didn't want people to see.

Given the scale of response I very much doubt it was so people didn't see.

I assumed it's more that if you get reports of "a boat full of people weighed down with heavy equipment and guns has crashed and people have gone in the water" you don't take any chances about the people or the equipment likely to be in the boat.

Thankfully everyone involved sounds OK but the incident sounds like it had the potential to be very nasty.

More like people wanted to see what happens when you have st seamanship

[butchstewie]

I'm sure that'll come out in the investigation.

The focus on the day is saving the people involved and thankfully that seems to have happened.

[PurplePenguin]

butchstewie said:

I'm sure that'll come out in the investigation.

The focus on the day is saving the people involved and thankfully that seems to have happened.

One would hope it would come out in the investigation….

[milesgiles]

Luckily didn’t kill the person that was supposed to be in the water driving like that

[LimmerickLad]

Perhaps the helmsman saw Farage on the bridge above them?

[Derek Smith]

Standard explanation when a traffic officer piles it up in a one vehicle accident is that a black dog ran out. Not particularly applicable here. Perhaps a black porpoise? Or avoiding a bit of flotsam. Yes, that's what I'd go for; big railway sleeper, black it was.

[OutInTheShed]

BBC link may have been updated, there was another boat involved, seems possible plod was following an orange RIB, which was creating a lot of wash, plod boat lost control due to the wash effect around the bridge pillar?
Quite likely some 'unsecured cargo' effect of several officers on board.

The MAIB will investigate and issue a report in about 3 years time, with some recommendations like 'hold on tight if the water is bit bumpy'.

[JoshSm]

I'm sure there'll be a good excuse, but from the looks of that video they had too much boat for their skill level, and need to be given something they might be able to handle. Like a pedalo.

Too much speed, not enough space. Boats don't turn like cars.

[Jasandjules]

Was Uncle Albert driving?