Just been told that the reason for the glut of tugs was that BRITOIL 120 was disconnected at Jarrow Slake and the Tyne tugs then took the barge up to Smulders at Wallsend.
Slightly out of sequence, but this is BRITOIL 120 inwards a couple of hours before Dennis' photos 14/05/2018. She was bringing barge UR99 upriver to Bede Quay at Hebburn, where the barge will probably wait for a berth at Smulders to become available.