Port of London Authority

The Port of London Authority (PLA) is the statutory harbour authority responsible for managing the tidal River Thames from Teddington in the west to the North Sea in the east. Its core function is to ensure the safe and efficient navigation of commercial, passenger and leisure vessels on the river. To achieve this, the PLA provides compulsory pilotage for certain classes of shipping, maintains a network of buoys, lights and electronic navigation aids, and monitors traffic through its Vessel Traffic Service. It also oversees licensing and regulation of watermen, lightermen and other river users, and manages the allocation of berths and wharves along the Thames.

The PLA’s jurisdiction covers approximately 95 miles of river, making it a significant port authority in the United Kingdom. It serves a range of markets that include international shipping, domestic freight, passenger vessels and recreational craft using the Thames. The authority’s responsibilities encompass the management of docks, wharves and terminal facilities, either directly or through oversight of private operators. Its operational area encompasses both busy commercial stretches and quieter reaches used for leisure and tourism.

The PLA operates as a public trust corporation established by the Port of London Act 1908, and its duties are defined by statute rather than commercial objectives. It is self‑financing, deriving its income from charges levied on shipping, pilotage fees and other river‑related services, without reliance on direct government funding. A distinguishing feature of the authority is its dual role as both a regulator of river safety and a provider of essential maritime services such as pilotage, traffic monitoring and navigational aid maintenance. In May 2022 the PLA experienced a distributed denial of service attack that disrupted its public website but left its operational systems unaffected, an incident attributed to the Altahrea Team and reported in open sources.