Sunderland Docks

Sunderland Docks is an area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. Home to the Port of Sunderland, the docks have access to the North Sea. Sunderland City Council took over the port in 1972 and since then deindustrialisation has caused the port to decline.^[1]

Sunderland Docks in 1969.

History

Sunderland Dock Act 1846
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act for constructing a Wet Dock and other Works on the South Side of the River Wear at Sunderland-near-the-Sea in the County Palatine of Durham.
Citation	9 & 10 Vict. c. xiii
Dates
Royal assent	14 May 1846
Other legislation
Repealed by	Sunderland Dock Act 1855
Status: Repealed

The Sunderland Dock Company was formed by the Sunderland Dock Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. xiii) and was chaired by Sunderland's Member of Parliament George Hudson MP.^[1]

On 27 July 2018, a man was killed in an explosion at the docks.^[2] A spokesman for Northumbria Police said that "The police were made aware that a man had died in a suspected industrial accident on Prospect Row, at Sunderland Docks.^[3] The man was named as dock worker Brendan Eccles, a 61-year-old grandfather from Billingham.^[4][5][6] In 2019, the incident was investigated and examined by Sunderland City Council who produced a review into health and safety issues.^[7]

In 2020, a Greenpeace ship staged a protest off the coast of the docks.^[8]

Politics

Sunderland Docks is part of the Sunderland Central parliamentary constituency.

Popular culture

In 2021, scenes for the TV series Vera was filmed at the port.^[9]