Bristol Channel News

UK towage company SMS Towage has purchased two tugs from Damen Shipyards. The first vessel, called Manxman, was handed over on April 12, just seven days after contract signing. The contract for the second vessel, to be called Marksman, was signed on May 1 with a delivery date scheduled for June 7th. Both vessels are Damen ASD Tugs 2411, and mark the first Damen tugs for SMS Towage.Established in 2002, SMS Towage started towage activities on and around the Humber Estuary on the UK’s east coast.

One hundred years ago tomorrow (January 4) the sinking of a hospital ship by an infamous German U-boat commander caused outrage across Britain. Wilhelm Werner broke international law when he fired on HMHS Rewa, killing four seafarers and causing the vessel to sink into the Bristol Channel, 19 miles off Hartland Point. The Rewa - which had served in the Gallipoli campaign - was transporting walking wounded from Malta to Wales when it was torpedoed. The ship took two hours to sink, which gave those on board time to get into lifeboats. The survivors arrived in Swansea, where they received support from international maritime charity the British and Foreign Sailors’ Society. Reverend R.G.

Mainstay Marine Solutions, a workboat builder and servicing specialists in South West Wales, said it has completed an overhaul of its existing marine servicing facilities, nearly doubling its slipping capability from 350 tons to 650 tons with the introduction of a new trolley recovery system. Fabricated in-house, the trolleys will be capable of slipping 45m long vessels up to 650 tons with a maximum 12 meter beam and 4 meter draft directly into one of its undercover sheds. Stewart Graves…

Welsh workboat builders and servicing specialists Mainstay Marine Solutions said it has secured funding to support the purchase of a 150/200 ton boat lift. Mainstay Marine Solutions, marine engineers located in the deep-water port at Pembroke Dock on the Milford Haven Waterway, are set to purchase an amphibian boat hoist with the assistance of Coastal Communities Fund (CFF) funding. The 150/200 ton hoist will be capable of lifting vessels out of the water and moving around their 4.6 hectare site and into the company’s’ 4,000 m2 of covered workshop space.

The first comprehensive study of the impact of global sea-level rise on tides has implications for future coastal flood risk, harbour management, and the long term planning of tidal energy sites. This research, published in Continental Shelf Research by scientists at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), University of Southampton and Deltares, shows that sea-level rise can significantly alter tides across the world in many different ways in both space and time. The change will be most pronounced in shelf seas on the east coast of the Americas, northwest Europe, north coast of Russia, across Asia and Australasia. This study was conducted by feeding a range of ‘plausible’ estimates of global sea level rise…

Haven Marine Services informs it has signed a five year contract with Svitzer which will see the yard service the requirements of Svitzer’s vessels within the Bristol Channel and Irish Sea areas. Haven Marine Services’ Managing Director, Steven Arnold, stated, “This commitment reinforces Svitzer’s faith in the capabilities of the facility, based on exemplary service during the past two years. In addition to the Svitzer fleet, further confirmed dockings, include Hanson Aggregates vessels, the Arco Dee and the Arco Dart, and P&O Maritime’s research vessel the Prince Madog.

Humber tugboat operator SMS Towage has drawn on an old name for the latest addition to its fleet. The new Englishman is the 11th Humber tug to bear the title, in a tradition stretching back to the 19th century. Built at the Sanmar yard on the edge of Istanbul to a Canadian design, she produces 3,500bhp and can bring in 270m long ships of more than 170,000 metric tons dead weight. The 25m £3.5m vessel is capable of 13 knots and is among the most maneuverable on the estuary. She is one of 13 owned by Hull-based SMS Towage…

The latest offshore wind support vessel to leave the CTruk production line in Essex made straight for Southampton and is currently on show at berth V25 at annual commercial marine exhibition and forum, Seawork. Ocean Warrior, a brand new 18.5m advanced composite twin-hull CTruk 20T MPC was officially named during an informal ceremony at the event yesterday. Ocean Warrior is the second CTruk 20T MPC for owner Scott Wharton of Ocean Transit Services. He signed the agreement for his first workboat…

CTruk delivered its 12th 20T multi-purpose catamaran, CWind Challenger. As well as being the first of these popular offshore wind support vessels to be designed, built and classed to Bureau Veritas (BV) rules, the 18.5m multi-role workboat is also the first Category 1 vessel built by the company under the MCA MGN 280(M) rules. To top off the CTruk team’s achievements, CWind Challenger is the first craft to be classed by Bureau Veritas under their Wind Farms Service Ship class notation. CWind Challenger is part-owned by Scott Wharton of North Devon-based S&P Fish.

Scott Wharton, a North Devon skipper with 29 years’ experience fishing in the Bristol Channel, has joined the CWind boat share scheme taking on a new CTruk 20T vessel due for launch in mid-July. The vessel will join the CWind fleet working on offshore wind farms around the U.K. soon after. Under CWind’s boat share scheme, the company and the skipper both invest in the vessel and agree the sharing of costs and profits. While the skipper contributes the experience and manpower to run the vessel, CWind contributes contracts and contacts within the offshore wind industry as well as fleet management and their proven health and safety operating system.

Boat Beacon App, for smartphones & tablets now on Android following its success on iPhone; improves safety at sea for boaters. Mariners can now use their Android devices to keep a watch on nearby boats along busy coastlines while enabling other boatsto follow their current location using Boat Beacon Maps and Global Marine AIS systems. The Boat Beacon app, developed by a skipper for other skippers, does not require an external AIS receiver or transponder equipment and provides location tracking at a fraction of the cost of an AIS system.

When the cold September sea reached out her icy fingers to claim fisherman John Roberts, a plastic boat in a cozy British pub came to his rescue. Just as Roberts began to think he would succumb to the Atlantic's numbing clutches, his spirits were buoyed by the sound of flares going off above the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) station in his home port of Sennen Cove. "When I heard those two bangs and knew what they were, then I knew somebody was coming for me," said the 53-year-old veteran of England's treacherous southwestern coastal waters. Roberts insists he owes a debt of gratitude to the RNLI and the Royal Navy helicopter that plucked him from the sea.

Swansea Coastguard are currently coordinating the evacuation of 15 crew from the passenger vessel Balmoral which has hit an underwater object and is taking water. The vessel is currently alongside by the Superferry in Swansea Harbour. It is reported that there is two foot of water in the engine room. No injuries have been reported. Mumbles Coastguard Rescue Team has been sent straight to the area. All the crew are on the upper decks and are wearing lifejackets. The Mumbles inshore lifeboat has also been requested to launch to the vessel and the fire service are requesting all non essential personnel be evacuated. The Welsh Ambulance Service has been contacted and the local fire service rigid inflatable vessel is also on scene and on the shoreline and has pumps available to assist.