Multiple order is big boost for boat firm
An Arran boat firm has built a brand new model of boat for a major customer as part of a six-figure contract bringing a big boost to the yard.
Arran Workboats has produced a total of 10 of the high density polyethylene personnel boats. Named the C-Otter range, they have been commissioned and designed in close consultation with Marine Harvest (Scotland ) Ltd to suit their working requirements.
Two of the boats are the nine metre by three metre C-Otter 900s, while the remaining eight are the 7.85 metre by three metre C-Otter 785. Both models are extremely robust and were developed from Arran Workboats’ original hull design but with a raised bow and three-metre beam.
All the boats, built at their Whiting Bay yard, also include the company’s unique man overboard recovery system, which includes a retractable boarding ladder which can be deployed from the water and enables quick and safe re-boarding away from propellers or trailing ropes. There is also a recovery chute which allows a single operator to easily recover an unconscious casualty from the water.
The material used in the construction of the boats is 100 per cent recyclable and Arran Workboats’ waste management policy means all scrap and machine scalpings are collected and recycled.
Gordon McInnes, of Kiscadale Engineering, home of Arran Workboats, said the team were delighted to work with Marine Harvest and hoped to work with them again on future projects.
He added: ‘This type of multiple order helps to ensure the continuity of the business which consists of a dedicated team, all local to Arran, committed to building the best boats of this class. All training is inhouse which allows youngsters the opportunity of obtaining employment in worthwhile skills without leaving the island.
‘We at Arran Workboats are proud that a product produced on Arran will be in use daily throughout the west coast of Scotland by Marine Harvest.’
Steve Bracken, business support manager with Marine Harvest, said the new boats were a significant investment of a six-figure sum for the company: ‘We are delighted to have taken delivery of these new boats which will be a great addition to our fleet in the West Coast.
‘Working with a quality local business like Arran Workboats is important to us. We are committed to using local suppliers wherever possible, which is just one way we support the communities in which we operate.’
Marine Harvest (Scotland) Ltd is the largest salmon farming company in Scotland, producing more than 60,000 tonnes in 2016. It was the first company in Scotland to farm Atlantic salmon and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015. The company has four hatcheries, five freshwater loch sites and 49 sea farms, situated in the Western Isles, Skye, Argyll, Wester Ross and Lochaber. Live fish are harvested at Mallaig and processed at the Blar Mhor processing plant in Fort William. In total more than 640 people are employed at these locations.