Press Releases - back to Press                           3 February 2006

NORTHERN LIGHTHOUSE BOARD NEW SHIP LAUNCH

On Friday 3 February 2006, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal named and launched the Northern Lighthouse Board’s new Multi Function Tender at the Gdansk Stocznia Remontowa S.A. yard, Poland.

The vessel is the 10th Northern Lighthouse Board vessel to be named NLV PHAROS continuing a long line of vessels dating back to 1799. On completion, later this year, the new vessel will make the 1200 mile passage from Gdansk to the Board’s base at Oban, on the West Coast of Scotland, where she will be based.

The ship will be equipped with dynamic positioning, a large aft working deck area, integrated bridge management system and forward helicopter flight deck. As well as undertaking the full range of tasks such as buoy maintenance and lighthouse support she will be able to carry out additional tasks such as hydrographic surveying and wreck finding. She will have additional accommodation for other staff and passengers and will be built to the latest environmental standards.

The ship will work mainly in Scottish and Manx waters (the area covered by the Board) servicing over 200 automatic lighthouses, buoys, beacons and will act as a working platform for aids to navigation project work as well as carrying out commercial work under contract. On occasion she will travel south to assist the other General Lighthouse Authorities, Trinity House and Commissioners of Irish Lights, in their waters through long-standing co-operation and exchange arrangements.

James Taylor, Chief Executive of the Northern Lighthouse Board said “this is a very special day and occasion for the Northern Lighthouse Board and we are honoured that our Patron, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, has launched the new PHAROS. The Board has been in existence since 1786 and sea trade and safety at sea is as important now as it was then, in fact more so due to increased maritime traffic. The UK boasts the largest maritime sector in Europe, with a turnover of £37 billion and employing more than a quarter of a million people. Maritime safety is crucial to this sector and the Board’s principal concern is to help protect life at sea by providing a mix of marine aids to navigation for the mariner to safely navigate but we also have a duty to protect the environment in which we, and those who come after us, must live and work. The level of sophisticated equipment this new ship will boast will add greatly to the NLB ‘s existing expertise and will be a tremendous asset to help us do our job.”

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New Ship Specification
Class Lloyd’s Register of Shipping (LRS) with Notations +100A1, +LMC, +UMS, CAC, DP(AA), MCM, NAV, IBS, LA, EP

Principle Dimensions

Length Overall (LOA)	84.20m
Breadth Moulded	16.50m
Design Draft	4.25m
Accommodation	30 cabins
Proposed Manning	7 Officers & 11 PO/Crew
Propulsion 2 x 1500kw Rolls Royce Azimuthing Units
Generation Wartsila Engines 3 x 1370ekw – 2 x 685ekw

Equipped with
• dynamic positioning
• large aft working deck area
• integrated bridge management system
• 30 Tonne Crane
• forward helicopter flight deck
• hydrographic surveying
• wreck finding
• latest environmental standards
• better and safer working environment

Notes to Editors

PHOTOGRAPHS
Photographs are available from the Northern Lighthouse Board website www.nlb.org.uk NEWS section.

· Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal became Patron of the Northern Lighthouse Board in 1993 and routinely spends time on the Board's vessels seeing the work that they do.

· The ship is being financed by the Royal Bank of Scotland with leasing costs being met by the General Lighthouse Fund. This fund, which is under the trusteeship of the UK Secretary of State for Transport who has approved the order, is financed by Light Dues paid by vessels visiting UK and Irish ports. It is not financed by general taxation.

· The Contract with the Gdansk Stocznia Remontowa S.A. is to build two 82m Multi-Function Tenders (MFTs), one for each GLA, and one 35m Rapid Intervention Vessel (RIV) for Trinity House. The ships are being built to the high technical standards demanded by the GLAs for the exacting operations they conduct around our coast. The tendering process to select the shipyard to build the vessels followed the requirements of the EU Procurement Directives.

· The Northern Lighthouse Board operates under statute - the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 - and is the General Lighthouse Authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man.

· The Board currently operates: 212 Lighthouses, 154 Buoys, 47 Beacons, 4 Differential Global Positioning System Stations and 1 Loran-C Station on trial.

· The Northern Lighthouse Board is funded entirely from the General Lighthouse Fund, sourced by "Light Dues", a levy paid by shipping. The Board receives no direct funding from the Exchequer or taxpayer.

· The other General Lighthouse Authorities are the Commissioners of Irish Lights (Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) and Trinity House Lighthouse Service (England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar).

· The Northern Lighthouse Board is certificated to ISO9001:2000 standard for the provision of navigational aid services to seafarers and other organisations around the coast of Scotland and Isle of Man. Certification covers the design and maintenance of navigational aids and systems, logistical support and associated technical services including consultancy. The Board is also certified to The International Safety Management Code, (ISM Code) in respect of our ships and marine management systems and OHSAS 18001.

For further information, please contact:

Northern Lighthouse Board
Karen Charleson
Tel 0131 473 3100
Fax 0131 220 2093
Email: enquiries@nlb.org.uk
www.nlb.org.uk