Byron Marine Ltd. has announced that it has purchased the lighthouse tender “Pharos” from the Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouses in Scotland and this will be operated under a long-term charter with the GSGSSI.
The “Pharos” is a more modern vessel than “Sigma” and has a greatly increased logistical capability, including the ability to carry containers.
It was built in 1993, by Ferguson Shipbuilders on the river Clyde, as a multi-purpose lighthouse tender and is arranged with a 13.2m diameter helicopter deck with fire protection and fixed re-fuelling facilities, two cargo-holds and a 20-tonne crane forward. Propulsion is diesel-electric through two propellers aft and a gill-jet bow thruster. The power comes from a total of five Allen S12 medium speed engines – three of six cylinders and two of four cylinders – driving A van Kaick alternators.
The provision of a fully operational heli-deck and the vessel’s superb manoeuvrability, will enable it to complement the prime role of a fisheries patrol vessel with other important tasks.
Meanwhile, the “Sigma” will remain the property of Byron Marine Ltd but will no longer be on charter to the Government of South Georgia.
