Port Health
Fenland District Council incorporates Wisbech Port Health Authority which covers both Wisbech Port and Port Sutton Bridge.
The Authority provides a Port Health Service to commercial ships, leisure vessels and fishing vessels.
International health regulations require a commercial ship arriving from a foreign port to carry a valid Ship Sanitation Control (Exemption) Certificate to show a satisfactory standard of hygiene on board. These certificates can be renewed locally following ship inspections by port health officers, both the ports are authorised for this activity by the World Health Organisation.
The ships entering the commercial port usually stay a day or two or long enough to discharge or load their cargoes and to replenish food provisions and drinking water. At the request of a ship's captain, water sampling can be carried out by council officers to ensure that the water in a ship's tanks is safe to drink. The water supplies on the quays and pontoons are also sampled routinely.
Ships occasionally arrive in ports carrying sick crew. For each port there is a plan for preventing the spread of infectious disease by working with local hospitals and Health Protection Agencies to safeguard public health.
Fishing vessels landing their catch at the ports can be inspected where processing is carried out on board and the cooked product can be sampled for microbiological testing.
Wisbech Port Health Authority also covers an area of sea in the Wash where cockles and mussels grow. Although there is no known commercial harvesting of these molluscs, routine sampling is carried out on behalf of the council and information is displayed to any casual gatherers of these shellfish at times when algal contamination makes them unsafe to eat.
Contact 01354 654321 or
Email: envhealth@fenland.gov.uk
You can read more information on port health in the United Kingdom on www.porthealth.co.uk
