Carmet 25th Anniversary

To mark the occasion, the ship canal tugs were dressed overall and the owners of the Carmet Tug Company, the Metcalfe family, hosted a lunch for representatives of The Manchester Ship Canal Company, customers, local agents, past and present members of the staff and crews.

Carmet has been the sole towage contractor for the Manchester Ship Canal since 1989, when The Manchester Ship Canal Company Ltd handed over the management and operation of its four purpose built twin-screw tugs to the well established family firm. The fourtug fleet, MSC Viking, MSC Victory, MSC Volant and MSC Viceroy, are based at Eastham and regularly assist ships to and from the locks at Eastham to Ellesmere Port, Stanlow and Runcorn. The tugs are operated on a rota system that ensures that two tugs are available at short notice 24/7, with at least one other tug on standby.

All four tugs were built by J.W.Cook & Co Ltd at Wivenhoe, Essex (no longer in existence) between 1974 and 1976. Virtually identical twin-screw vessels of 28.63m in length, they are each powered by 8 cylinder Allen diesels generating a total of 1,280 bhp for a bollard pull of 16 tonnes. Their design follows closely what was established in earlier ship canal tugs that have proved highly successful, towing over the bow or stern as appropriate. As the photograph depicts, the little fleet are meticulously maintained by Carmet and are a credit to the Carmet crews.

The Carmet Tug Company Ltd is a small and successful family run company founded in 1971 and well known as operators of workboats, tugs, launches and a variety of other craft supporting civil engineering projects on the Manchester Ship Canal, Liverpool Docks, River Mersey and elsewhere in the locality. Carmet is a proud family firm managed from its offices adjacent to the locks at Eastham by three generations of the family. Captain Ian Metcalf is chairman, Captain Brett Metcalf is managing director and Joshua Metcalf is operations manager.

In addition to the four Manchester Ship Canal tugs, the company operates a fleet of eight other vessels. These include the two multi-purpose workvessels Vital and Vixen, the tugs Vigour and Audrey, crew transfer and safety launch Venom, a hopper barge, a small safety workboat and a floating work platform. The most recent addition to the fleet is the 17m multi-purpose work vessel Vital, built locally at the yard of McTay Marine Services. Vital is powered by twin Doosan engines with a total of 640 bhp and is fitted with an Atlas 62 t/m crane.

Carmet now also offers the services of a team of dedicated shipwrights led by a time served, highly experienced shipwright well versed in quay repairs, fender renewal and replacement, timber decking and dolphin repairs. Any size of timber, treated or untreated, can be sourced at very competitive prices. The fabrication of any metal work, including hand rails and ladders, can also be arranged.