Goodchild Marine receives order for two ORCs for Port of Liverpool

Boat builders Goodchild Marine Services Limited have won a contract to construct a further two pilot boats for Briggs Marine.

The company has already built and delivered three 17-metre ORC pilot vessels to the Port of Liverpool, as part of a £3m deal with the marine services company.

Now Briggs Marine have ordered two 13.6-metre ORC pilot vessels – which will be only the second and third of their kind in the UK.

The boats will be built using the same design as the 17-metre vessels, by naval architects Pantocarene, adapted by Goodchild Marine for the UK market.

The entire building operation will take place in house at the yard in Burgh Castle, near Great Yarmouth, with the Volvo engines provided by Volspec Limited, based in Essex.

As expected, the vessels will include all the latest electronics, safety features and engineering, including an iRAMS vessel engine and asset management system, with a real-time monitor and satellite feed.

The ORCs will complete river and sea trials with Goodchild Marine before they are released.

Steve Pierce, General Manager of Goodchild Marine, said the company was delighted to continue its partnership with Briggs Marine.

“Briggs Marine have just officially unveiled the three 17-metre pilot boats they have received from Goodchild Marine, so we are extremely pleased to be able to build on our working relationship with them by constructing two 13.6-metre ORCs for use at Liverpool’s port.

“The ORC 136 represents a huge interest for even greater fuel savings. The hull shape allows them to be extremely economical, light to handle and faster, which is perfect for pilot transferring.”

Iain Ross, Marine Operations Director at Briggs Marine said: “We are delighted with the first three ORC171 pilot launches. These have been successfully introduced into service in Liverpool.

“We chose Goodchild Marine, as they are renowned for building high quality, reliable and efficient vessels and their cooperation and support have been superb.

“The vessels’ quality and capability bring a further significant improvement in the Liverpool pilot boat service and we’re pleased to announce that we have ordered a further two pilot boats.

“These will be of the smaller ORC136 design and will give us total flexibility to service all boarding requirements in the Port of Liverpool.”

The first 136 ORC to enter service in the UK and built by Goodchild Marine for Estuary Services Limited, is currently on show at Seawork 2018 until Thursday.

Tony Birr, Goodchild Marine’s Business Development Manager, will also be taking a speaker slot at the conference and exhibition in Southampton tomorrow afternoon, (July 4), to talk about the company’s contract to build the UK’s first ORC 136 hybrid pilot boat for The Port of London.

The groundbreaking news, announced last week, will see the company, which is in its 40th year, work with EP Barrus, Pantocarene and Marine and Industrial Transmissions (MIT) to build the vessel, which will be emission free in electric mode.

It is due for delivery next spring.