News - 21/06/17

Our Kingston Marine Services (KMS) team has been busy with a wide variety of marine operations in and around Cowes Harbour and locally in the Solent. 

Back in March, the KMS team found themselves on “night shift” work for Red Funnel when they teamed up with Red Funnel engineers, hydraulic work contractors and Island Crane Hire. The task involved changing one of the four, 3 tonne hydraulic rams, as part of a maintenance programme; these rams are used to adjust the height of the linkspan at the Red Funnel East Cowes car ferry terminal. KMS worked through the night as the window of opportunity was from the departure of the last ferry at 2355hrs until the arrival of the next ferry at 0715hrs the following day.

In May, the KMS afloat team carried out refurbishment works on the Watch House beacon light, which is located 100 metres to the south of Trinity Landing, by the Island Sailing Club. The beacon was fitted with a new LED lantern, surplus staging removed, signage upgraded and the pile painted. Following reinstatement of the Watch House beacon light, Local Notice to Mariners No. 08(T) of 2017 was issued giving relevant navigation information.

Also in May, Kingston Marine Services was called upon one weekend to assist MMC Diving Services with a salvage at Seaview (as reported by the IW County Press), after a boat owner had came back from lunch to find his vessel sunk on its mooring. A fresh northeasterly breeze and swells caused the Fairey Swordsman MV Seadart to sink off Seaview, with the only sign it had not slipped its mooring or broken loose, being the life raft floating where the vessel was once moored. MMC Diving Services, supported by KMS with its Multi-Cat vessel Seaclear used lift bags provided by fellow Island company Unique Seaflex Ltd to salvage the vessel.

Coming up soon, KMS will be laying the day class event moorings and finish line buoys for the Round the Island Race in association with Cloudy Bay, and carrying out refurbishment works on the Small Craft Channel buoys in the harbour.

• See more photos of KMS at work in our Flickr album: “Kingston Marine Services and Boatyard 2017“.

With the combined capabilities and facilities of Kingston Marine Services and Boatyard, we are proud to say, “from the seabed to the masthead – we’ve got it covered”!