Clipper Ventures has acquired the Hamble School of Yachting. The announcement follows the setting up of Clipper China, Clipper Ventures’ Chinese sail training division aimed to meet the country’s growing participation in offshore sailing.
“The decision to buy the Hamble School of Yachting is part of a wider strategy to develop our offering within the offshore sailing industry,” said Clipper Race chairman and co-founder Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.
A new code came into force on 1 January 2019 allowing pleasure craft to be in temporary commercial use at sea for a number of defined purposes.
The Intended Pleasure Vessels (IPV) Code, which permits the temporary use of pleasure craft in temporary commercial use such as businesses purposes and as race support without the current requirement for inspection, marks a huge step forward for the UK’s leisure marine sector.
Testing, trialling and delivery of sea-going vessels legally will now be cheaper and easier for boatbuilders, brokers, surveyors, repairers, delivery companies and equipment service providers under the exemptions laid out in Part 1 of the new Code. It delivers an easier and clearer way for businesses to comply with regulation and will have resulting, long-term benefits for the end-user.
LDC is the UK’s leading mid-market private equity investor
The Canal & River Trust has finalised the sale of its wholly-owned marina subsidiary, BWML, in a transaction that sees Lloyds Development Capital (LDC) invest in the business, supporting the existing management team.
Stuart Mills, Chief Investment Officer at the Canal & River Trust, says: “We are delighted to have completed the sale of BWML and will be investing the proceeds into other income-generating assets to support our core work of caring for the nation’s canals and rivers.
“BWML is performing well and we believe its prospects for future growth are good. Coupled with the expertise of LDC we believe the business will benefit and, by extension, its boating customers will Continue reading “Canal & River Trust finalises sale of BWML”
Strong support for the changes was demonstrated in the responses to the consultation with 84 per cent in favour of introducing a requirement for suitable working CO alarms.
Representatives from the Boat Safety Scheme (BSS), a public safety initiative owned by the Canal & River Trust and the Environment Agency, are urging the industry to take onboard safety seriously following the deaths of three inland boaters. Ahead of issuing the latest advice on carbon monoxide (CO) detection, communications manager Rob McLean has shared that three boaters died in 2018 as a result of onboard fires whilst several more were taken to hospital following fires, explosions and carbon monoxide poisoning. In light of this and following a public consultation in the autumn, the BSS management committee has decided to introduce new CO alarm requirements from next April.
At 1938 on 26 September 2017, the 9.9m fishing vessel Solstice capsized in calm weather conditions about 7 miles south of Plymouth. The skipper and crewman were rescued from the vessel’s upturned hull about 5½ hours later, but the vessel’s owner was trapped and drowned in the wheelhouse. Solstice later sank.
The scallop dredger had recently been modified to operate as a stern trawler and its owner, skipper and crewman were in the process of hauling a heavy catch on board when the capsize occurred. The net’s cod-end was full of fish, moss and sand, and started to roll uncontrollably along the transom as the vessel heeled in the light swell.
The crew did not have time to raise the alarm before they entered the water. As the vessel was not equipped with an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) and the crew did not carry Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs), they were wholly reliant on family and friends realising they were overdue and alerting the coastguard. Continue reading “Report published by MAIB on the sinking of fishing vessel Solstice”
Cargoes on the Trent, the Aire & Calder Navigation and the Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation included coal, stone, oil, gravel and sand. But one by one these traffics disappeared
Four years ago the Canal & River Trust launched a last-ditch attempt to revive commercial freight carrying on the larger waterways before it died out completely. How has it fared since then?
Back in the 1990s, any guide describing the canals and rivers of Yorkshire and the north eastern part of the network would make a point of emphasising how these large-scale waterways were still busy with freight barges loading several hundred tonnes each and helping to satisfy the nation’s transport needs – unlike the small-scale canals of the Midlands and most of the rest of the system, where regular commercial freight had died out a quarter of a century earlier.
Cargoes on the Trent, the Aire & Calder Navigation and the Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation included coal, stone, oil, gravel and sand. But one by one these traffics disappeared, not necessarily for Continue reading “What future for freight on the UK canal network?”
MCA releases a notice on the transport of marine pollutants
The UK MCA has released a Merchant Shipping Notice regarding the transport of dangerous goods and marine pollutants in packaged form by sea on ships within UK waters and on UK ships.
The IMO has adopted the amendment 39-18 to the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code. It will enter into force globally on 1 January 2019, with a twelve month “transitional period” until 31 December 2019.
Canal & River Trust will move resource from its centrally based roles into its six regional customer-facing teams to improve customer service and engage with local communities.
The changes will be made as part of the trust’s waterways and well being strategy and will see operational management roles adapted to meet the requirements of the new regions.
Richard Parry, CEO, commented: “The Canal & River Trust has been repositioning as a charity for the waterways and well being, with a new structure that has seen us move from ten waterways to six larger regions, with some activities previously managed centrally now devolved to these regional teams, and a reduction in senior manager numbers overall.
Norfolk’s Cley Harbour has received its largest traditional working sailing vessel for more than 60 years, marking its return to activity after falling into disuse.
The Coastal Exploration Company owned 30ft open wooden gaff rigged whelk boat Salford came into the harbour to deliver a cargo of North Norfolk beer from Barsham Brewery to the Cley Windmill.
Simon Read, chairman of Cley Harbour committee said: “This is the largest traditional working sailing vessel to visit Cley in over 60 years and will be mark a key moment in the rejuvenation of Cley Harbour.”
A number of safe bunkering measures are required for each bunkering operation. These can be divided into four stages and checks
The UK P&I Club has published helpful guidance to ensure safe bunkering operations. The Club said that bunkering operations are routine and critical, high risk operations which require to be carefully planned and performed.
Causes of bunker spills
Although the most of the bunker transfers are carried out without incident, very occasionally, things can and do go wrong. The UK Club notes that only a minority of cases do bunker spills occur because of failure of the hoses or pipelines, while the majority of spills result from a tank overflowing.
But these are not the only causes. Common causes of bunker spills can be summarised as follows:
– Improper set up of pipeline system valves: Potentially causing either overpressure, or flow of bunkers to an unintended location;
– Insufficient monitoring of tank levels during bunkering: All tanks, not only those Continue reading “How to conduct a safe bunkering operation”
The future development of Bavaria is taking clear shape: The yacht builder, respected worldwide for its good price/performance ratio, will once again build its boats one hundred percent in Germany. Bearing the seal of quality “Made in Giebelstadt”, both sailing and motor yachts will be manufactured and handed over to customers in Franconia. The R55 motor yacht, previously produced in Croatia, will for the first time be hand-built at the company’s headquarters in the first half of 2019. The moulds and tools are currently being transported from Croatia to Germany and installed in Giebelstadt.
“We want our outstandingly well trained and committed employees to develop and build all our yachts primarily under own management. The workforce identifies strongly with Bavaria Yachts; it is the key feature of our company,” explains Managing Director Erik Appel, who has been Chief Operating Officer of Bavaria Yachts since December 2017. “This is why we intend to further increase our permanent staff and simultaneously reduce the proportion of temporary workers. This will help considerably to bring down Continue reading “Bavaria Yachts is relying on 100 percent Made in Giebelstadt”
This urgent bulletin has been issued after working in a refrigerated saltwater tank resulted in a fatal accident on board fv Sunbeam (FR487) at Fraserburgh, Scotland.
Initial findings
At about 0900 on 14 August, FV Sunbeam crew arrived at the vessel’s berth ready to begin work. The vessel’s refrigeration plant had been shut down after landing the final catch at Lerwick, and its RSW tanks had been pumped out and tank lids opened in preparation for deep cleaning. At some time between 1200 and 1350, Sunbeam’s second engineer entered the aft centre RSW tank and collapsed.
