At the A&R shipyard in Germany, the successful principle of SWATH boats was further developed in 2013: The SWASH principle allows sea-going, smaller and more economical boats.

SWATH and SWASH are interesting technologies that allow a vessel to sail much more calmly in high waves. A stable and calm position of the ship is especially important for pilot boarding.

17 m wavepiercing pilot boat

Video by Safehaven Marine / Frank Kowalski
Here’s a cool video of the latest Interceptor 48 pilot boat we’ve launched for the Gdynia Pilots in Poland. We captured some nice alongside ship footage during the sea trials and had a chance to test out our new drone ‘catch net’ on Thunder Child.

Safehaven Marine have signed contracts with the Faroe Islands Rescue Service for an Interceptor 48
‘self-righting’ S.A.R. (Search and Rescue craft.) This is the second S.A.R. Interceptor 48 we have
supplied to the Faroe Islands following ‘Sverri’ in 2013, which has worked very well in the
challenging North Atlantic seas they face off the Islands, with her crew being totally confident with
her seakeeping abilities, performance and reliability during rescue operations over the last 7 years.

Med Marine and IBK Ltd. signed a two-vessel contract for MED-P16 series last November for Nigerian Ports Authority’s operations in Lagos, Nigeria. A year after that, Nigerian Ports Authority takes the delivery of the two high- quality pilot boats. Both units have been despatched on a specialised transport vessel to Nigeria from Turkey.

M/V PILOT 68 (CHEOY LEE shipyards 17m Self-righting Pilot Boat)

With the theme, "The Next Wave – Navigating Towards the Digital Future, the 12th biennial Congress will be delivered virtually from 5 - 10 October, 2020.

Article and pictures by Captain W J M Hargreaves, Retired Southampton Pilot