Parker RIBs expanding
Seawork exhibitor Parker RIBs has a major expansion of its production facilities under way. A new construction hall is being built in Poland close to the existing plant which will provide a major boost in the space available for construction. Although the RIB side of the business is only a modest part of the Parker production it is a significant and expanding sector.
Parker Poland is a subsidiary of A.H.Parker & Sons (GB) Ltd which was founded in 1886 and they became involved in Poland in the 1970s, moving production there later. The company was one of the early builders of RIBs for both the commercial and the leisure sectors and today the company produces between 20 and 30 RIBs for the commercial sector of the market each year. This is a small but important part of the overall production which is focused on the leisure sector building motor boats of between 6 and 8 metres in length.
The building of RIBs in Poland began when Parker developed a link with Model Art in that country in 1999 when Model Art was a small boat builder. With the Parker involvement the company expanded its production facilities with Plant No.1 and now the expansion continues with the building of Plant No.2 which will offer greatly expanded space.
Andre Scott of Parker UK commented, “We are not a high volume RIB manufacturer and cater mainly for the commercial market with certain exceptions when we have to produce a special RIB for a private individual. Generally speaking we may produce between 20 and 30 commercial ribs in a year. In total the factory produces over 500 hard boats a year these being both open and cabin versions.”
The largest RIB built so far is the Parker 1600 Interceptor, two of which have been built for the SAR operators in Bulgaria. These 16 metre designs are fully equipped cabin search and rescue vessels. The latest design being developed by Parker is a 1200 Enforcer which will be available in both open and wheelhouse versions and is primarily aimed at the military and para-military sectors.
One of the latest deliveries from Parker is a 900 Baltic Safety Rescue Vessel which was purchased by the contracting company building a huge oil terminal and sea port in the Middle East. At the handover of this RIB Andre Scott concluded an order for a Parker 900 Baltic Cabin RIB from the same company which is scheduled for delivery this summer. The Baltic Cruiser RIBs are the most popular RIBs in the range these days.
“We will be showing two RIBs at Seawork this year,” commented Scott. “One is our new UK demo RIB which is a Parker 800 Baltic with twin Mercury diesels of 170hp and the second is a Parker 650 with a Mercury 175hp diesel outboard.
Visit AH Parker and Sons in the Seawork marina on berths VB03 and VB04.
By Dag Pike
