Press Releases - back to Press 10 August 2006
PHAROS to depart Northern Lighthouse Board service
The Northern Lighthouse Board have sold their ship NLV PHAROS and she will depart her base port of Oban for the last time around 3 September 2006. The ship has been sold to a company based in the Falkland Islands and will be used as a fishery patrol and logistic support vessel, carrying passengers and stores at times in the South Atlantic on a long term charter to the South Georgia Government.
PHAROS was launched by Her Majesty The Queen in 1992 and has sailed out of Oban since she was brought into service in 1993. She was the 9th vessel to bear the name PHAROS, a tradition that will be carried on when the Board’s replacement vessel PHAROS (10th) arrives later this year. Over the 13 years of service the PHAROS has clocked up over 250,000 nautical miles servicing Scotland’s lighthouses and buoys as well as trips south to the Isle of Man, which is also served by the Northern Lighthouse Board. In her early days she delivered stores to the last few remaining manned lighthouses and would have been a welcomed sight for the keepers, however this aspect of her duties changed in 1998 when Fair Isle South was the last Scottish lighthouse to be automated and the keepers left for the last time. The ship has been used as a working platform for the automation of lighthouses and for project work undertaken by the Board at its many lights; this has mainly been the solarisation of lighthouses. Working in conjunction with the Board’s contract helicopter materials are landed at these remote and dangerous locations with a high degree of accuracy and skill.
PHAROS will travel from Oban and visit Leith, where she is registered, for the last time mid August for the Edinburgh based staff and Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouse Board to say their fond farewells before she is delivered to her new owners on 6 September 2006, at the Garval Clyde Drydock, Port Glasgow, were she will go into dry dock for minor alteration before heading for the South Atlantic.
Roger Lockwood, Chief Executive of the Northern Lighthouse Board said “we are delighted that this sale has proceeded and that PHAROs will remain as working vessel. We will be sad to see her go as she has served the Board well over the years, however our new replacement ship, which is being built at Remontowa ship yard in Gdansk, Poland, offers the high technical standards required by the Northern Lighthouse Board to carry out its statutory duties around the coasts of Scotland and the Isle of Man. The ship will also be a tremendous asset for undertaking commercial work, which is something the Board are keen to develop, this helps us keep our running costs down and helps reduce the cost of light dues for the mariner.”
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Transfer of Ship and Photo Opportunities
The new Captain and Chief Engineer (Designate) of the ship will be joining her mid August for familiarisation training. The handover of the ship will take place at Garval Clyde Drydock, Port Glasgow at which time the Northern Lighthouse Board Flag will be lowered and the Falkland Island Flag raised. The PHAROS was built at Ferguson Shipbuilders Ltd, Port Glasgow, so it is fitting that she returns to Port Glasgow for handover, she was also registered in Leith, Edinburgh and will in her new capacity call at Leith Harbour, South Georgia.
Photo Opportunities – The PHAROS is scheduled to leave Oban for the last time on or around 3 September 2006, please contact Lorna Hunter (details below) nearer the time for exact timings.
There should also be an opportunity for a photograph of the lowering/raising of the flags at the Garval Clyde Drydock, Port Glasgow, please contact Lorna Hunter for detials.NEW PHAROS Details
The new PHAROS will be delivered into service in December 2006. She was launched on 2 February in Gdansk, Poland by the Board’s Patron Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal.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 685ekwEquipped 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 environmentNorthern Lighthouse Board
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:-
Lorna Hunter, Information Officer
Northern Lighthouse Board
Tel 0131 473 3100
Fax 0131 220 2093
Email: enquiries@nlb.org.uk
www.nlb.org.uk