Thames Clippers
The company that runs London's river bus — branded Uber Boat by Thames Clippers since 2020 — operates a 20-strong fleet of high-speed catamarans on the Thames.
History
Thames Clippers was founded in 1999 by Sean Collins and Alan Woods as Collins River Enterprises. The first scheduled route ran between Greenland Pier and Savoy Pier with a single boat. Acquired by AEG in 2006 alongside The O2, the network grew rapidly with new piers and the addition of Hunt-class catamarans built by Wight Shipyard on the Isle of Wight.
Fleet
The current fleet of around 20 vessels includes the Galaxy, Sky, Storm, Tornado, Cyclone, Mercury, Meteor, Monsoon, Twin Star, Aurora, Sun, Moon, Jupiter, Earth, Mars, Neptune, Venus, Saturn, Mercurius and Celestial classes. Two hybrid-electric vessels (Mars Clipper, Earth Clipper) entered service in 2022 — the first hybrid passenger catamarans on the Thames.
The Uber Boat partnership
In 2020 Thames Clippers signed a multi-year branding partnership with Uber, becoming "Uber Boat by Thames Clippers". The deal also integrated river-bus tickets into the Uber app — but operations, ownership and crew remain with Thames Clippers.