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ABP Southampton launches Meercat workboat

ABP Southampton launched its new Meercat M15 with a naming ceremony at Seawork 2017.

The 15m long Spartina will be used for small towing operations around the Port of Southampton, undertaking key repairs and land and sea defences work.

Martin Phipps, harbourmaster for ABP Southampton, said: We’ve been trying to buy a workboat for a while as our old one was really unsuitable for the type of work we were doing. We went out to lots of different companies and Meercat had the winning tender.”

The vessel has a five-tonne crane on it which lifts its navigation buoy so the boat’s team can undertake key repairs and maintenance and servicing.

Meercat began building the M15 at the beginning of January and Mr Phipps said now that it has been completed, it will consider a maintenance and refit contract with the company.

“This is the first contract with Meercat. But we’ve got a good relationship with them so we’ll try and keep that relationship going now,” he stated.

The workboat will occasionally go further afield for third party work.

Mr Phipps confirmed that ABP Southampton is in the process of looking at pilot boats ahead of the end of its contract for its existing vessels. He added that incorporating hybrid elements into the boats is a serious consideration.

ABP Southampton are also considering electric vehicles for its engineers to use at the Port of Southampton and the installation of wind turbines.

Details

  • ABP City Cruise Terminal, Solent Road, Western Docks, Southampton SO15 1BS, UK
  • ABP Southampton