Princess Royal to commission new NLB vessel
NLV PHAROS commissioning ceremony in Leith on Wednesday


The Commissioning Ceremony of the Northern Lighthouse Board’s new ship NLV PHAROS by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal will take place at 12 noon on Wednesday 9 May 2007 at the Cruise Liner Terminal, Leith, Edinburgh, where NLV PHAROS will be alongside. The ship will be blessed by the Reverend James MacDonald of Crieff Parish Church, and previous Principal Chaplain to the British and International Sailor's Society.

NLV PHAROS was built by Gdansk Stocznia Remontowa S.A. yard in Gdansk, Poland and was specifically designed and built for the unique work carried out by the Northern Lighthouse Board. The ship was officially named and launched in February 2006, by HRH The Princess Royal and the Board accepted the ship from the shipyard in March 2007.

This is the tenth vessel operated by the Northern Lighthouse Board to be named PHAROS, the first being in 1799. The ship has an overall length of 84.20 metres and breadth of 16.50 metres. The level of sophistication in its equipment is second to none and boasts dynamic positioning, a large aft working deck area, integrated bridge management system and forward helicopter flight deck as PHAROS also supports land-based operations by helicopter or small high speed water craft for operations in remote areas. All of which will meet the high technical standards demanded by the Lighthouse Board for the exacting operations conducted around our coast.

The ship will work mainly in Scottish and Manx waters (the area covered by the Board) servicing over 200 automatic lighthouses, 157 buoys and 40 beacons. Both PHAROS and the Board’s smaller buoy tender NLV POLE STAR are equipped to the highest standard with the latest electronic and communications technology. In addition to their statutory roles the ships support commercial projects, ranging from the provision and maintenance of local Aids to Navigation, through hydrographic surveying to the development of new Aids to Navigation programmes for the decommissioning of oil and gas platforms. The ship will operate out of the Board’s operational base in Oban.

Guests, staff and Commissioners of the Northern Lighthouse Board will gather on the quayside for the official ceremony. Following the Commissioning ceremony PHAROS will stay in Leith until 11 May when she will set sail for her home port of Oban before heading to work at Dubh Artach Lighthouse on the west coast of Scotland.