ABP invests around £9 million in state-of-the-art pilot boat fleet
Associated British Ports (ABP) the UK’s largest and best-connected port operator, has commissioned a fleet of nine new state-of-the art pilot boats from Goodchild Marine Services, representing an investment of around £9 million to further enhance port operations across its network, ABP said in its release.
The faster and more fuel-efficient vessels will be constructed by the Norfolk-based boat builder and will be delivered over the course of the next five years.
Construction of the first vessel has already begun and it is expected to be delivered to ABP’s Humber region in 2021. In total, ABP has commissioned five vessels to serve its Humber ports, three for Southampton and one for Barry in South Wales.
ABP and Goodchild Marine Services have had a long history of productive collaboration. In July 2019, Goodchild Marine delivered its second pilot boat to ABP, the ‘Kingfisher’, which has been supporting operations at the Port of Lowestoft. This followed the delivery of their first pilot boat for ABP, the ‘Osprey’, more than 25 years ago.