The Port of Cork company has ordered a new pilot vessel from boat builders, Safehaven Marine based in Youghal.

The new vessel is expected to be delivered in March 2024, and will be both designed and manufactured in Co Cork by the company.

Safehaven Marine also built the port’s current vessels, Glean Mór (2005) and Fáilte (2011).

The new “all-weather capable” pilot vessel will be more economical than its predecessors and will be powered by modern, highly efficient engines that reduce fuel usage, the Port of Cork company says.

It will be capable of operating on hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), a type of biofuel that reduces emissions.

“The new pilot launch will have the latest technology that improves performance, economy and functionality - helping in turn to ensure the safety of our pilots and crew who often face inhospitable marine conditions as part of their daily routine,” Port of Cork company chief executive Eoin McGettigan said.

“We are also proud to be continuing our commitment to investing in more sustainable and economical equipment as part of our journey to a net zero future,”he said.

Safehaven Marine managing director Frank Kowalski recalled that his company first signed a contract with the Port of Cork for the Glean Mór in 2005.

He said it was the first pilot boat that the company ever built, having specialised in work boats previously.

“Today, some 18 years later, Safehaven is delighted to have signed contracts again with the Port of Cork to build a third pilot boat for the port, which will be our 60th pilot boat delivered globally,” he said.

The new pilot launch will have an overall length of 15 metres, and will accommodate seven pilots and crew during pilotage operations at a speed of 25kts.

It will be fitted with the latest navigation equipment and finished to the highest standards, ensuring the crew and pilot's comfort and safety, the company said.

Safehaven Marine was established in 1998 and currently employs 30 staff. The company has built over 150 commercial vessels, operating in over 30 different countries worldwide.

Cork’s Safehaven Marine have just launched a new Interceptor 48 pilot boat as the second of a two-boat contract with the MVD Pilots Association in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Ederra 7 follows Ederra 6 which was delivered to Uruguay this past July. The boat recently underwent rough sea weather trials off Roches Point during a gale, captured by drone in the video below.

As the performance boat builder says, this kind of testing against the elements is about “ensuring she’s well up to the task of an all-weather pilot boat” before shipping to South America in late November.

Safehaven Marine says it has signed contracts with P&O Maritime Logistics for an Interceptor 48 — its fifth pilot boat for the company.

“It’s always great to have a repeat order, especially a fifth as it’s a fine testimony to our pilot boats capabilities,” the Cork performance boat builders say on social media, adding that it will be built “to a very high specification”,

The new pilot boat will be tailored for hot-weather operations at P&O Maritime’s projects in Maputo, Mozambique and will be powered by 13-litre 500hp engines from MAN in Germany.

Delivery is estimated for early 2024.

Safehaven Marine’s latest deliveries this month include a second pilot boat for Scotland’s Port of Cromarty Firth and a specialised vessel for port operations in Southampton.

Williams Shipping have taken delivery of an Interceptor 48 for crew transfer operations and pilot transfers in the Port of Southampton on the south coast of England.

Willfreedom is the Youghal-based performance boat builder’s 51st pilot boat delivered thus far. It’s powered by a pair of Scania DI13 500hp engines for an operational speed of 25 knots and boats remarkable fuel economy, using as little as 50l/phr from each engine at 20 knots.

Willfreedom is Safehaven Marine’s 51st pilot boat delivered thus far | Credit: Safehaven Marine

Willfreedom’s central helm position is fitted with a full array of Raymarine navigation equipment | Credit: Safehaven Marine

Inside, the central helm position for optimal vessel control is fitted with a full array of Raymarine navigation equipment, while the Grammer shock mitigation seating ensures crew and passenger comfort, as does the full interior climate control.

Elsewhere, Safehaven’s 50th pilot vessel is Balblair, which joins Dalmore (delivered in 2019) as the second order from the Port of Cromarty Firth.

This variation is powered by twin Volvo D13 500hp engines with a “very economical” 25 knots operational speed, as well as a a full array of Furuno navigation equipment and full live-aboard facilities in the spacious lower forward cabin.

Balblair alongside sister pilot boat Dalmore at the Port of Cromarty Firth | Credit: Safehaven Marine

Safehaven Marine’s managing director Frank Kowalski said: “A repeat order from a port is always extremely satisfying as it demonstrates the client’s full satisfaction with the boat and his confidence in our company, especially as the contract for Balblair came in the middle of a global pandemic.”

Safehaven Marine’s 49th pilot boat is headed to Portugal this month following the completion of winter sea trials.

Celso Madeira has been commissioned for pilotage operations at the Port of Sines, south of Lisbon.

Powered by a pair of Volvo D13 500hp engines, the 26th Interceptor 48 produced by the Cork performance boat builders has an operational speed of 25 knots and a capacity of seven for pilots and crew.

Celso Madeira in sea trials off the South Coast in December | Credit: Safehaven Marine/Facebook

It’s the company’s second pilot boat for Portugal in three years, after the delivery of an Interceptor 48 to Leixoes in January 2019.

And it follows November’s delivery of another Interceptor 48 for pilotage at the Port of Waterford, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

Boatbuilder Frank Kowalski of Safehaven Marine Ltd in Youghal, Co Cork, could certainly give the makers of Deadliest Catch a run for their money with his cool videos set to stirring musical scores.

One of his latest is of sea trials on board the Port Láirge, the Port of Waterford’s new pilot boat, in 55-knot winds with swells reaching five metres.

While testing the vessel’s capabilities, Kowalski recounts how “we captured some great aerial drone footage of her punching through the breakers and some fabulous imagery of her offshore in very strong winds, although a drone did bite the dust and went for a swim in the getting of it!”

The Interceptor 48 was delivered to Waterford’s harbourmaster Capt Darren Doyle in mid-November, and he spoke to Wavelengths about the new vessel and how it was commissioned.

The Port Láirge is powered by a pair of Scania D13 500hp engines, has an operational speed of over 25 knots and can carry five pilots and two crew in comfort.

Capt Doyle also talked about other recent developments, including the re-introduction of rail freight between Ballina in Co Mayo and Belview - what transport minister Eamon Ryan describes as a “climate friendly option” which could take hundreds of trucks delivering goods between the west coast and south-east off the road.

And he spoke about the inevitable, but fairly limited, impact of Brexit...

Earlier today (Friday 19 November) the Port of Waterford received its new pilot vessel from Cork’s Safehaven Marine.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the port invested some €1 million in the 15m Interceptor 48 named Port Láirge, the Irish for Waterford and a name long associated with a steam-powered dredger that served the city for more than 70 years until the 1980s.

Powered by a pair of Scania DI 13 500hp engines through Twin Disc ‘Quickshift’ gearboxes, the vessel is self-righting, has an operational speed of 25 knots, can carry five pilots and two crew in comfort and ensures year-round capability in all weather conditions.

The Interceptor 48 pilot vessel Port Láirge at dockside in Waterford | Credit: Port of Waterford/Twitter

Safehaven says Port Láirge is the 48th pilot boat it has supplied to ports globally and the 23rd of its class, a statistic “demonstrating how well regarded the design has become in the specialised pilot boat market”.

Continuing their Arctic adventures, the crew of Safehaven Marine’s Thunder Child II followed Saturday’s 200nm cruise from Reykjavik to Ísafjörður in Iceland’s far north-west with a 400nm crossing of the Denmark Strait to East Greenland.

“We managed to get some 30nm from the Blosseville Coast, but running through very heavy fog for 40 miles and navigating through drift ice with zero visibility was extremely challenging and somewhat dangerous,” the team commented on social media.

“During the journey we found some wonderful icebergs off the Greenland waters and managed to fly the drone capturing some epic footage.”

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the state-of-the-art powerboat set a new record time (verification pending) for the crossing from Ireland to Iceland in under 32 hours at the weekend.

Safehaven Marine reports that Thunder Child II and crew have successfully achieved their world record attempt from Ireland to Iceland.

The XSV20’s sub-32-hour time over the 1,500km from Killybegs to Reykjavík is pending ratification by UIM but is already vindication of its state-of-the-art powerboat’s wave-piercing design.

The crew report today (Friday 9 July) that “the hardest leg was the North Atlantic where we were punching a head sea swell all the way”.

Tomorrow, Saturday 10 July, Thunder Child II will continue its voyage north, above the Arctic Circle, to the ultimate destination of East Greenland.

Safehaven Marine’s Frank Kowalski and the crew of Thunder Child II are setting off in the early hours tomorrow morning (Thursday 8 July) for their attempt to set a new speed record from Ireland to Iceland.

“It’s always a bit of a gamble with the weather, especially over a distance of 1,500 kilometres,” the team commented on social media. “We might get better if we wait, but then again we might not!”

“However as the forecast is also fair above the Arctic Circle and East Greenland, our ultimate destination, and sea ice is now clear south of Scoresby Sund, [so] we decided to have a go.”

The Thunder Child II crew, from left: engineer Robert Guzik, navigator Ciaran Monks, skipper Frank Kowalski, drone pilot Carl Randalls and Mary Power, logistics

Thunder Child II’s record-seeking ambitions were first mooted nearly three years ago, months before the launch of the XSV20 powerboat with its specially designed wave-piercing hull.

Follow the team on their voyage from 3am tomorrow at the dedicated SafeTrx tracking page HERE.