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86 Parkol Marine Engineering PARKOL MARINE ENGINEERING I PROFILE
Parkol Marine Engineering Ltd builds and maintains innovative fishing vessels and other craft at Whitby and Middlesborough in the north of England. SallyAtkinson, Director and Project Manager, discussed the company’s history and projects with Phil Nicholls.
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“The different types of fishing boat tend to come in peaks and t roughs,” explained Sally Atkinson, Director and Project Manager: “A couple of years ago, we were building vivier crabbers. Then, for whatever reason, the market changes and we’ve not had many enquiries in that respect. At the minute, it’s mainly twin-rig trawlers we’re getting enquiries for.” At the time of writing, Parkol recently completed a trawler, and the ships under construction include a vivier crabber, a twin-rig trawler, a beam trawler and a pelagic boat. Parkol also provides an after-sales service for its boats, along with re-fits and assorted maintenance services for local fishing boats.
Parkol’s flexibility is also present in the range of vessels built in the yard. Back in 2002, Parkol built a 40%-sized replica of HMS Endeavour, complete with oak frames, larch planking and Douglas fir decking. This new Endeavour measures nearly 14m long with 12m-high masts carved from Douglas fir. She works most days in Whitby harbour taking visitors for a tour. Other unusual Parkol projects include Havilah, a small cargo ship for a Shetland salmon
The North Yorkshire port of Whitby has a long maritime his tory, but in naval circles it is most famous for being where t he young James Cook learned his trade. When Captain Cook embarked on his exploration of the Pacific he sailed on HMS Endeavour, herself built in Whitby. Parkol Marine Engineering is keeping Whitby’s shipbuilding heritage alive. Parkol was established in 1971 by Ken Parker and John Oliver, combing their surnames to form the company name. Initially based in Spital Bridge in Whitby, the company moved to its cur rent home on the town’s Eskside Wharf in 1992. The company grew steadily but remains a family business. I n 2017, Parkol expanded to a second yard, this one at Middlesborough, about 50km north of Whitby. Across these two sites, the company has 80 employees and posts a turnover of £12 million. Parkol is one of only three companies building fishing boats in the UK in the under 24m registered size. While boats of this size are Parkol’s main area of activity, the company has a broad range of vessels on its books.
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“One of the selling points of Parkol is that the vessel designs are quite bespoke in terms of the customer requirements and how the final layout is customer-led.”
Efficient designs Ms Atkinson was clear on what distinguishes Parkol from the competition: “The difference compared to competitors is that we offer greater benefits in terms of vessel fuel efficiency, arising from the hydrodynamic design of the hull. Parkol builds round bilge hulls, and the steel kit parts for these hulls feature 3D forming of the steel plates, where we might have curves in threeThisdimensions.”workontheshape of hulls is part of Ian Paton’s drive to improve the fuel efficiency of Parkol’s vessels. “Over the last seven,
Another first for Parkol was the Ambitious II, the company’s first export to the Republic of Ireland. This multi-rig prawn trawler was built for David and Niall Kirwan of Clogherhead, County Louth. Ambitious II was constructed in accordance with the differing demands of the Irish regulations, further expanding Parkol’s repertoire.
“She’s the first scallop trawler of that size built in UK for over 20 years,” Ms Atkinson said, “Alcedo was a step up in terms of her requirements, such as quality assurance and materials testing, different grades of material required and basically higher spec machinery and hull. This was a good experience for Parkol in terms of learning those new skills and specifications.”
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The process of building a boat can take from 20,000 to 40,000 hours, depending upon the size of the vessel. It is thus no surprise that Ms Atkinson cited the most rewarding part of her job was “the sense of satisfaction on the completion of a vessel.”
farm; Able One, a 26.75m motor yacht; and a Foyboat to assist with mooring on the river Tees.
Yet the bulk of Parkol builds are fishing boats, built as bespoke designs for clients, as Ms Atkinson outlined: “It’s defi nitely a two-way process with the designer Ian Paton, our Technical Director and naval architect. After an initial enquiry, Ian produces an outline general arrangement drawing for the vessel. From this point, a back-and-forth discussion takes place where tweaks are made and bulkheads get moved to suit, depending upon how much space the client wants for rooms such as the galley, cabins, wash rooms, wheelhouse, engine room, and fish handling area.
Two ambitious examples Examples of Parkol’s bespoke design process and build capabilities are evident in vessels such as Alcedo. Launched in January 2020, the 33.95m Alcedo is a beam scalloper rigged to fish both king and queen scallops and became the largest vessel built by Parkol when delivered. She is a steel-hulled motor fishing vessel with round bilge, transom stern, bulbous bow, soft nose stem, dredge tipping doors and catch handling conveyors for 18 dredges each side.
Ms Atkinson admitted she sees the impact of global supply issues “almost on a daily basis. This affects the new build side more than the repair side, because for the repairs we work on shorter-term contracts. For new builds, we have to be really pru
Parkol celebrated 50 years of Whitby ship building in 2021 and sails onwards into the future. In the future, the company hopes to expand its drydock capabilities. A larger floating drydock would help the company to slip larger vessels as this Whitby endeavour keeps the history of the port alive n “Parkol celebrated 50 years of Whitby ship building in 2021 and sails onwards into the future.In the future, the company hopes to expand its drydock capabilities. A larger floating drydock would helpthe company to slip larger vessels as this Whitby endeavour keeps the history of the port alive”
Parkol Marine Engineering 91 eight years,” Ms Atkinson said, “our Naval Architect has put a lot of r esearch into computerised fluid dynamics, modelling the hull in computer software and then running different scenarios/speeds of the vessel through the water. This enables the hull lines to be tweaked to make it more efficient.”
Yet, the specifics for each vessel are another customer-led aspect of the build, as Ms Atkinson highlighted: “Engineering Manager and Director Andrew Oliver advises and guides the customers on their machinery options, but ultimately it’s got to be their decision because they have to work and maintain the equipment over the vessel’s lifetime.”
Ian Paton also worked on the propeller design and nozzles to improve efficiency. Parkol is now seeing an increased number of enquiries relating to alternative fuels and diesel electric hybrid engines. The result of this research is an improvement in the effi ciency of the client’s vessel. A refit of the propulsion system can save a client 15-25% of fuel costs. A brand-new boat offers greater savings on an older vessel, delivering 20-25% savings.
Supply choices
Parkol thus works closely with its extensive selection of suppliers.
dent before agreeing a build price, being aware of what prices could change and working with suppliers to fix quotes.”
“Parkol has an approved supplier database and we are fortunate to have long-standing relationships with suppliers,” Ms Atkinson said. “In terms of the new build contracts, there are large sub-contracts for items like deck machinery and engine packages.”
