Latest marine news about UK’s canal network and European canals.
Read about the first UK boater census, the energy support scheme opens to berth holders and Camden’s Dead Dog Bridge enjoying spring facelift. As boating holidays rose across the UK, River Canal Rescue called for ‘sticky fuel’ samples.
Plus, what happened when Venice canals started to run dry, leaving gondolas stranded.
News on the Suez Canal crisis, and the Canal and River Trust can be found in MIN’s archives.
Unprecedented rainfall levels, water surges and numerous flood warnings resulted in River Canal Rescue (RCR) responding to more major incidents in the first three months of this year, than it did for the whole of 2023. Between January and March 2024, its teams responded to 155 major incidents (emergency situations either involving submerged, partially sunken […]
Fund Britain’s Waterways (FBW), an advocacy group championing the sustainable future of Britain’s canals and rivers, has revealed details of a ‘weekend of action’ planned for the upcoming May Day Bank Holiday, 4-6 May 2024. Events will be taking place across the country on waterways managed by different inland navigation authorities, with the aim of […]
Representatives from the Fund Britain’s Waterways (FBW) coalition have met with senior representatives of the Canal & River Trust to have an ‘open and frank’ discussion about the future of the country’s waterways. During the meeting, held at Hatton Locks, Warwickshire, the trust answered questions from FBW about its current strategy, future plans, and the […]
The narrowboat holiday company Anglo Welsh has bought Sally Narrowboats, offering canal boat hire on the Kennet & Avon Canal at Bradford on Avon Marina in Wiltshire, UK. Carl Cowlishaw, operations director for Anglo Welsh, says: “We’re delighted to announce that Sally Narrowboats on the Kennet & Avon Canal at Bradford on Avon are joining […]
River Canal Rescue (RCR) is calling on photography fans to send in their marine, river or canal-based pictures, from which 12 will be chosen to illustrate its 2025 calendar, with proceeds going to Cancer Research UK. A panel of judges including RCR director Stephanie Horton, Canal Boat editor Charlie Waters, and Canal & River Trust […]
The waterways body, the Canal & River Trust has confirmed an increase of 6 per cent in boat licence fees from 1 April 2024 for both private boat owners and boating businesses. The rise is based on the latest Bank of England forecasts that inflation will remain at around 4.5 per cent until April 2024. […]
Waiting times for the Panama Canal have risen dramatically after the number of crossings have been capped due to serious drought, with the numbers in the queue steadily increasing. The canal uses three times as much water as New York City on a daily basis and needs rainfall to replace it. But the rainy season […]
The Canal & River Trust has published the results of its first-ever boater census of the 35,000 boats licensed on the charity’s 2,000 miles of waterways in England and Wales. The census is intended to offer a snapshot of life on the waterways in the 21st century, 250 years after the network opened to navigation. […]
A new online portal has gone live, allowing residential boaters to apply for financial support for energy bills. While UK households were able to access the £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme (EBSS), only now is the equivalent support available to households not directly connected to the grid. The portal went live on 27 February 2023. […]
Rescue teams are working with Stafford police, after a man was found dead on a canal boat following a fire. Firefighters and police were called out on Friday morning (24 February) to recover a burnt-out boat on the Shropshire Union Canal, moored between Penkridge and Wolverhampton. First responders were on the scene at 2.43am and […]
Italy is facing another year of severe drought, with the Alps receiving less than half of the expected snowfall this winter and water levels in the north of the country falling to record lows, according to science and environmental groups. In Venice, a low-lying city typically more concerned with flooding, the historic canal network has […]