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Displaying items by tag: Crew & People

A new BBC documentary series will go behind the scenes to report on the working lives of the crew and staff who serve the Scottish west coast communities across the CalMac ferry network.

It will also focus on many of the people and communities which depend on CalMac, exploring their way of life and livelihoods.

The series is being created by IWC Media, the production company behind Susan Calman's Secret Scotland (Channel 5), Scotland's Home of The Year (BBC One) and Location, Location, Location (Channel 4).

Filming will be observational - capturing normal jobs and duties as they happen to represent what goes on behind the scenes at CalMac. Staff are not under any obligation to be filmed and the documentary production company will ensure that operational procedures are not affected.

Robbie Drummond, Managing Director of CalMac, said: "Communities have faced an awful lot of upheaval recently and we understand just how deeply this has affected them. This documentary will not gloss over these problems but is an opportunity to highlight the importance of the ferry service to people's lives.

"This is a chance for us to show who we really are and the lengths our people go to every day to deliver our services.

"It will showcase the people who regularly use the ferry service and to promote the unique local businesses operating within the islands, all of whom rely on CalMac."

Published in Maritime TV

Shipyards

Afloat will be focusing on news and developments of shipyards with newbuilds taking shape on either slipways and building halls.

The common practice of shipbuilding using modular construction, requires several yards make specific block sections that are towed to a single designated yard and joined together to complete the ship before been launched or floated out.

In addition, outfitting quays is where internal work on electrical and passenger facilities is installed (or upgraded if the ship is already in service). This work may involve newbuilds towed to another specialist yard, before the newbuild is completed as a new ship or of the same class, designed from the shipyard 'in-house' or from a naval architect consultancy. Shipyards also carry out repair and maintenance, overhaul, refit, survey, and conversion, for example, the addition or removal of cabins within a superstructure. All this requires ships to enter graving /dry-docks or floating drydocks, to enable access to the entire vessel out of the water.

Asides from shipbuilding, marine engineering projects such as offshore installations take place and others have diversified in the construction of offshore renewable projects, from wind-turbines and related tower structures. When ships are decommissioned and need to be disposed of, some yards have recycling facilities to segregate materials, though other vessels are run ashore, i.e. 'beached' and broken up there on site. The scrapped metal can be sold and made into other items.