Falmouth Harbour (FH) is inviting boat builders around the UK to tender for the construction of a new clean, green, fuel-efficient pilot vessel.
In a tender process which goes live today (Jul 26), FH aims to appoint a builder in October with a view to having the new, 16–18m dedicated coded pilot vessel operational in 2024.
The value of the project is expected to be between £1.1 to £1.4 million and will take up to three years to complete. When in commission the new vessel will be one of the UK’s greenest and most efficient vessels of its type.
“This long-awaited procurement represents a very exciting time for us as an organisation,” said FH CEO Miles Carden. “The new vessel will be a significant step forward in technology, fuel efficiency and sustainability and will modernise Falmouth Harbour’s Pilotage service, securing safe and efficient operations for the future benefit of the Port and its many stakeholders.
“This is a considerable investment in the future of our harbour and potentially allows us to modernise our operations so we are absolutely fit for purpose and can realise future opportunities around technologies such as Floating Offshore Wind (FLOW). This is a generational investment of over £1 million in our future sustainable operations.”
The new vessel will replace the LK Mitchell which was built in 1978 and has been operating as a Falmouth pilot boat ever since.
Organisations interested in building the new vessel should send a simple confirmation of their intention to respond by August 2. For full details, click here.
