Kirkella left Tilbury on Tuesday afternoon to head up the river Thames and pass through Tower Bridge, turning in the Pool of London before mooring off Greenwich, just a few hundred yards from the iconic tea clipper Cutty Sark, reports David Linkie.

The following morning, 350 guests were ferried out to a pontoon alongside Kirkella in a highly efficient manner, before HRH The Princess Royal arrived to christen Kirkella. She then went aboard the highly advanced whitefish factory freezer stern trawler, where some of the crew explained operations on the trawl and processing decks, and in the wheelhouse.

Click through the gallery below to find out more.

  • Skipper Sigurbjoün Sigurlsson and first mate Mark McGorrin keep watch as two river pilots take Kirkella through the Thames Barrier.
  • The Shard towers over Kirkella as the factory freezer trawler turns in the Pool of London.
  • Kirkella lined up to pass through Tower Bridge for the second time in 30 minutes.
  • Kirkella berthed on mooring buoys alongside a pontoon in the river Thames off Greenwich, ready to welcome HRH The Princess Royal and 350 guests for the naming ceremony.
  • The crew of Kirkella ready for the naming ceremony.
  • Musical director Stig Maersk and the City of Hull Brass Band, ready to perform on the pontoon alongside Kirkella.
  • The Princess Royal was introduced to NFFO officials past and present, including Nigel Atkins, Barrie Deas, Tony Delahunty, Arnold Locker, Andrew Locker and Fred Normandale.
  • Jonathan Dixon and his son Harvey raise the Royal Standard to welcome HRH The Princess Royal, accompanied by UK Fisheries chief executive Jane Sandell, chairman Sir Barney White-Spunner and Kirkella first mate Charles Waddy.
  • UK Fisheries guests gathered under the Cutty Sark, after returning ashore from the naming ceremony.
  • The first of 350 guests start to gather in the marquee on the pontoon under the bow of Kirkella.
  • Skipper Sigurbjoün Sigurlsson prepares the traditional bottle of champagne for the naming ceremony.
  • The Princess Royal listens intently as factory manager Graham Barney explains some of the highly automated equipment on the processing deck.
  • Members of the general public were quickly attracted by the tempting aroma of fish and chips.
  • The Reverend Pat Mann, chaplain of the Old Royal Navy College, dedicates Kirkella.
  • An ice sculpture of an Arctic cod, as displayed on the bows of Kirkella.
  • Traditional paper-wrapped British fish and chips were on offer.
  • HRH The Princess Royal talks with skippers Sigurbjoün Sigurlsson and Bjössi Reimars and their partners in Kirkella’s wheelhouse…
  • … before Charles Waddy discusses operation of the trawl console.
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