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Life on board a container ship – in pictures

Artist Zoe Childerley is embarking on a project with the National Maritime Museum to bring experiences of modern seafarers to light. How did she find her first voyage on board a container ship?

Thames barges and London docks – an oral history

Gordon 'Willie' Williamson worked aboard Thames barges throughout the 1960s, and witnessed the final years of central London as a busy cargo hub

Dickens and The Great Stink of 1858

For many, Charles Dickens is synonymous with Christmas jollity. However, there was a darker side to Dickens’ work. Not only did he repeatedly refer in his novels and articles to the contemporary filth of the Thames, which culminated in the Great Stink crisis of 1858, he was also actively involved in kick-starting the reform programmes to resolve the issue.

The end of an oil rig's life

What happens to offshore platforms when they are decommissioned? Follow their final journeys from the North Sea to the breaker's yard

Pollution in the River Thames: a history

Lifeline, water source, sewer – follow the murky history of London's relationship with the River Thames

Protecting human rights in the fishing industry

Exploitation, slavery and even murder have been documented on board modern fishing fleets

Where is the HMM Algeciras now?

Track the largest container ship in the world using the interactive map

How can shipping be more environmentally friendly?

From Cutty Sark to cutting edge technology, could a new era of wind power help global trade go green?

Life on a North Sea oil rig

Photographer and offshore worker Peter Iain Campbell shines a light on one of Britain's most challenging working environments