Boatmen & Mooring Services

The safe mooring and unmooring of vessels is impossible without the services of professional, fully trained and experienced boatmen. The role and service of mooring crews for the efficient and safe operation of a modern port is sometimes overlooked, but mooring, moving and unmooring of vessels is one of the most dangerous and at times complex operations within a modern port and as such is a controlled activity, without a fully trained mooring crew standing by a vessel in what in most cases is a very exposed location or difficult berthing operation, this “controlled activity” could not be done safely. By employing mooring crews and lines men or the services of a mooring boat crew from BLYTH BOATMEN, a captain is choosing quality, safety and efficiency.

BLYTH BOATMEN have provided mooring and unmooring services within the Port Of Blyth for over 80 years. All vessels from 500 DWT dredges to 40000 DWT bulk carriers have been moored, moved and unmoored safely by BLYTH BOATMEN “mooring crews”. All BLYTH BOATMEN mooring crews and helmsmen are fully licensed to MCA standard and have extensive and unrivalled local marine knowledge of all berths within the Port, local weather and tidal conditions and have vast unrivalled knowledge of mooring operations on all types and sizes of vessels in all weather conditions day and night within the Port Of Blyth.

Our boatmen/mooring crew’s attend all vessels entering the Port and work on all the main jetties on both the south side of the port and the new deep water berths at the north side of the port, using mooring boats to run mooring lines ashore to “mooring dolphins” and buoys at the more exposed berths.

Our boatmen are available (subject to notice), normally with 1 hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They are in the port around the clock, ready to assist any vessel. Our office is located centrally within the port area, which means that we can reach, either by road or mooring launch, any vessel at any of the north or south berths quickly.

BLYTH BOATMEN were among the founding members of the UK Boatmen’s Association and also the European Boatmen’s Association, which purpose is to “exchange technical-nautical information in order to improve and enhance the sector’s professional standards”, with these standards in mind BLYTH BOATMEN, have continually looked to improve the quality and reliability of our services to our customers, ensuring we meet and in most cases exceed the industry standard.

SMOS Reports

BLYTH BOATMEN have also implemented its own health and safety structure and management policies which are externally audited, these policies includes our “SMOS” (Safer Mooring Of Ships) monthly report, which is e-mailed to the Port Authority, Harbour Master and all port and terminal operators.

BLYTH BOATMEN continually monitor its working practices and service along with its health and safety management policies, with the aim of improving our performance and the service that we provide, to ensure a high quality, reliable, cost efficient service to the Port Of Blyth and its customers.

Mooring Launches

Blyth Boatmen operate a number of mooring launches, which are designed to operate in open water and within the tight confined spaces between the vessel and mooring points. All our mooring launches have wire clamps which can be released by the helmsmen.