Pilot and rescue conference a great success

摘要

First of the papers was delivered by Halmatic, UK, and looked at the company's novel arrangement with Associated British Ports to provide a fleet of pilot vessels for the port of Southampton under a contract hire arrangement. Purchase of new vessels can be a major capital expenditure for a port authority, and as the age of existing vessels increases then unscheduled maintenance costs can cause significant cash flow difficulties. With different marques of vessel and equipment, spares stock, maintenance training and supplier relations can also be problematic. Under VT Halmatic's 10 year agreement with ABP the company purchased ABP Southampton's existing pilot boat fleet, and agreed a programme for new build replacement vessels, based on the Halmatic Nelson 48/50 design. The paper looked into all of the financial aspects, for both company and customer, of such a deal, and reached the conclusion that the package can provide significant benefits. The key factor is to develop a simple, well-proven and reliable boat design, something which VT Halmatic feels well qualified to do.