Newbuild for Northern Lighthouse Board Is Launched Marking Major Milestone

16th January 2025

Jehan Ashmore

The Northern Lighthouse Board, responsible for the waters surrounding Scotland and the Isle of Man, has seen their new-build buoy tender, Pole Star, being built in Spain, launched from the shipyard, marking a major milestone. The £51.8m new vessel will for around 9 months remain at the shipyard before completion. Credit: Northern Lighthouse Board / Gondan Shipbuilders

The Northern Lighthouse Board’s (NLB) new-build aids to navigation buoy tender Pole Star was launched by a Spanish shipyard for the General Lighthouse Authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man.

As Afloat previously reported, the £51.8m contract for the newbuild Pole Star, currently under construction by Gondon Shipbuilders, Castropol, in Asturias, was launched on 14 January and entered the Ria del Eo before being towed to a berth at the shipyard.

Phil Day, Director of Operations with the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) said: “This is a momentous occasion for the shipyard and for NLB. To see the vessel successfully launch into the water is a major milestone and means we are well on our way to taking delivery of a new state-of-the-art hybrid powered ship to support our vital safety service to mariners.”

Alvaro Platero Díaz, President of GONDAN Shipbuilders. “As the shipyard honoured to build the NLV Pole Star—the fifth vessel of this name under the Northern Lighthouse Board’s command since 1892—the launching ceremony is an exciting milestone. It marks the moment when the structural elements of a complex engineering project come together to finally become a ship.

“We deeply appreciate NLB’s commitment to excellence from day one, which has driven the yard to deliver a highly sophisticated and durable vessel that will enable NLB to fulfil its mission for many years to come.”

The ship will now require around nine months of fitting-out work before it is ready for delivery.

The new vessel, which replaces the current NLV Pole Star, will incorporate the latest technology to minimise the impact on the environment. The ship will have enhanced capability to help deal with the effects of Climate Change, and will contribute to the ambitious environmental targets set out in the UK Government Clean Maritime Plan.

NLB representatives Phil Day Director of Operations; Chris Somerville Ship’s Master; Jonathan Stewart 2nd Engineer; Adrian Abraham ETO; Donald Lawrie Chief Engineer; and Morgan Dennison, Mechanical Engineering Apprentice, were present at the event to celebrate this important milestone.

Nelson Piçarra from Team Electric and Alvydas Pilibaitis from OSK Design, who form part of the NLB site team, were also at the launch.

Published in Lighthouses

Tagged under

About The Author

Jehan Ashmore

Email The Author

Jehan Ashmore is a marine correspondent, researcher and photographer, specialising in Irish ports, shipping and the ferry sector serving the UK and directly to mainland Europe. Jehan also occasionally writes a column, 'Maritime' Dalkey for the (Dalkey Community Council Newsletter) in addition to contributing to UK marine periodicals.

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven't put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full-time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.