THURROCK bade farewell this evening (Monday, 15 June) as the world's largest container ship, the HMM Algeciras, slipped its moorings and set off for the far east after a 36 hour stay at Corringham's London gateway port.

The ship arrived on Sunday amid a fanfare of publicity for her first UK visit.

And thousands lined the riverside at Canvey Island and Southend as she travelled down the Thames this evening.

Only a limited number of containers were unloaded but more were put on board by the port's huge cranes before she set sail for China via Singapore carrying UK exports.