McTay Marine

McTay Marine was a shipbuilder in Bromborough, Merseyside from 1974 to 2016.

McTay Marine Ltd

Type	Private Company (dissolved)
Industry	Shipbuilding
Founded	1974
Founder	James McBurney, Jim Taylor
Defunct	2016
Headquarters	Bromborough, Merseyside , England
Area served	United Kingdom South Africa
Website	(http://www.mctaymarineservices.com)

History

McTay Marine Ltd was founded in 1974 as a subsidiary of McTay Engineering Ltd, of Bromborough, Wirral, with the intention to build small ships. Over the following 39 years the company went on to build over 120 vessels, many of them being complex and innovative designs. Among the company's successes is the building of the first beam trawler in the United Kingdom, which was also the largest built up till that time. The first tug built by the company was the United Kingdom's first "Voith" tug, and the second built was the UK's first "Azimuth" fitted tug to be built. The McTay built tug Trafalgar became the world's most powerful "Voith" tug on its completion and delivery in 1998.

McTay Engineering had been set up in 1963 by James McBurney and Jim Taylor. McTay Engineering specialised in the construction of storage tanks and associated plant. Taylor and McBurney had, prior to the formation of McTay Engineering been employed by another shipbuilding company, and in 1973 they began to consider the building of small workboats and launches, which led to the formation of the subsidiary McTay Marine Ltd in 1974.

The company went into liquidation in 2015 and the shipyard was taken over by Carmet Marine Ltd.[1]

Facilities

McTay Marine Limited was a world-renowned reputation in the design, build and delivery of specialised ships and workboats since its inception back in 1974. Located at its 6-acre site at Bromborough on the banks of the River Mersey this longstanding icon in small ship construction built over 120 complex vessels over a period spanning well over thirty-years. The shipyard is now owned by Carmet Marine Ltd.

The shipyard has a fully equipped build hall and engineering workshop; build hall is 80 metres in length by 25 metres in height with 10.4-metre-high doors opening directly onto the slipway. Engineering shop is 50 metres in length and is directly adjacent. Overhead cranage is available in the form of one 25- and two 5-ton travelling cranes; engineering shop has similar capacities to hand.

The slipway is again fully equipped and has a maximum 300-tonne capacity, and can be used for both vessel repairs and also launch activities.

Mobile cranes, elevating work platforms and forklifts are also available to support both build and repair activities.

The build hall can comfortably accommodate a new build in either steel or aluminium to 80 metres LOA and 20 metres in beam; modifications in build methodology are such that these constraints can also be flexed to suit the individual project requirements.

In summary the following is available;

• Six-acre shipyard site with direct river access
• Fully equipped slipway (+100 m) and launch/recovery facility
• 80 m × 25 m build hall with overhead cranage
• 50 m × 15 m engineering shop with overhead cranage
• Undercover fabrication areas
• Steelwork shop
• Pipework shop
• Undercover general engineering areas
• Machine shop
• Fitting workshop
• Engine rebuild shop
• Electrical workshop
• Carpenters workshop
• UHP/surface preparation and painting areas
• Large secure stores facility
• Fully mobile welding equipment (TIG/MIG/SMAW)
• Supporting equipment – Guillotines/plate rolls/frame benders
• Forklifts and cranes
• Floating plant – flat top barge
• Secure 100 m berthing and outfit facility
• Client offices and administrative services

Ships built

Shannon is a harbour and coastal tug, originally built in 1981 as the Eldergarth. The tug is noteworthy as the first British-built Azimuthing Stern Drive tug.[2] Shannon has been acquired by Emu Limited and re-equipped in Southampton with a suite of specialist winches and a stern mounted 'A' frame.[2]

During heavy rain, London's sewage storm pipes overflow into the River Thames, sending dissolved oxygen levels plummeting and threatening the species it supports.[3] Two dedicated McTay vessels, oxygenation barges Thames Bubbler and Thames Vitality are used to replenish oxygen levels, as part of an ongoing battle to clean up the river, which now supports 115 species of fish and hundreds more invertebrates, plants and birds.[3]

The £6.5M contract, to build the superstructure and assemble CRV Leonardo for NATO, safeguarded the jobs of McTay's 60-strong workforce.[4] The Coastal Research Vessel now monitors submarine activity in the Mediterranean.[5]

Yard No	Name	Date	Type	Owner
1	Unknown	1973	Launch	TImbacraft Ltd.
2	Quintail	1973	Workboat	Tarbert Boatyard
3	Unknown	1974	Survey Launch	Scott Watson
4	Sterling Steel	1974	Yacht	R Talbot-Smith
5	Sue Anne	1974	Workboat	T H Jones
6	Sharon Vale	1974	Fishing Vessel	Geo Moody
7	Unknown	1974	Workboat	Grangemouth Boatmen
38	Canada[6]	1981	Tug	Currently Svitzer
40	Eldergarth/Shannon[7]	1981	ASD Tug	Currently Emu
41	Rowangarth[8]	1981	ASD Tug	Currently Svitzer
45	Hendra	1982	Ferry	Shetland Islands Council
46	Bon Marin de Serk	1983	Ferry	Isle of Sark Shipping Co.
49	Stirling Elf	1983	Offshore Supply Vessel	Stirling Shipping Co. Ltd
52	Deft	1984	Voith Tug	Dover Harbour Board
53	Dextrous	1984	Voith Tug	Dover Harbou Board
54	Bramley Moore	1984	Tug	now Smit Liverpool[9]
58	Hamtun	1985	Tractor Tug	Since 2006 operated by Multraship Towage & Salvage in the Netherlands under the name Multratug 16
68	Point Halifax	1986	ASD Tug	now Leonard M owned by McKeil Marine Ltd. https://mckeil.com/our-fleet/leonard-m[10]
75	Cathy M	1986	Ferry	James Molinary Ltd, Gibraltar
79	Thames Bubbler II	1988	Oxygenation barge	Thames Water Utilities
82	Moorhen	1989		Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service
83	Moorfowl	1989		Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service
84	Chartwell	1989	Survey Vessel	Osiris Hydrographic
87	MV Earl Sigurd	1990	45m ro-ro ferry	Orkney Ferries
88	MV Earl Thorfinn	1990	45m ro-ro ferry	Orkney Ferries
115	Fidra	1995	Firefighting tug
116	MV Loch Bhrusda	1996	35m ro-ro ferry	Caledonian MacBrayne
117	Lyndhurst[11]	1996	Tug
118	Lady Alma	1996	Tug	now Svitzer Alma [Svitzer Marine]
119	Trafalgar	1998	Tug	now Smit Trafalgar[9]
120	Thames Vitality[3]	1997	Oxygenation barge	Thames Water Utilities
121	MV Eilean Dhiura	1998	Ferry	Argyll and Bute Council
122	Marigold	1998	Trawler
123	Oban	2000	Tender	Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service
124	Oronsay	2000	Tender	Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service
125	Omagh[12]	2000	Tender	Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service
127[13]	MV Portaferry II[14]	2001	Ferry	Strangford Lough ferry
128	CRV Leonardo	2002	30m coastal research vessel	NATO
129	MV Loch Portain	2003	50m ro-ro ferry	Caledonian MacBrayne
130	Vital	Multi-Role Vessel 17m	2013	CARMET TUG Company Limited

References

1. Neil Hodgson (5 November 2015). "Bromborough shipyard revived by maritime family firm Carmet". Liverpool Echo Online. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
2. Jack Gaston (8 September 2009). "A new lease of life for Shannon". Maritime Journal Online. Archived from the original on 22 October 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
3. "A tale of two rivers". BBC News. 20 April 2001. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
4. "Submarine Hunter A Challenge For McTay Marine". Daily Post. Liverpool. 25 January 2002. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
5. "CRV Leonardo". NATO Undersea Research Centre. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
6. "Picture Gallery 4 - Mersey Tugs 1966–2008". Philip B. Parker. Archived from the original on 21 June 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
7. "Shannon (formerly Eldergarth)". Classic Tugs. Archived from the original on 16 September 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
8. "Rowangarth". Classic Tugs. Archived from the original on 16 September 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
9. "Smit Invest Heavily in Liverpool". Maritime Journal. 1 August 2007. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
10. http://www.eyemarine.com/vessel/point-halifax/
11. "Lyndhurst". Maritime Info UK Ltd. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
12. "Shipyard search results for "1613"". Miramar. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
13. "9237436". Miramar Ship Index.
14. "A History of Roads Service 1973–2005" (PDF). Department for Regional Development. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2009. Retrieved 13 May 2012.

External links

• Merchant Navy