Clyde boat builder delivers 'fully recyclable' vessel to Scots tidal pioneer

A Clydebank boat building business has delivered what is being billed as a “fully recyclable” support vessel to tidal turbine pioneer Orbital Marine Power.

The 11-metre rigid hull inflatable boat can carry eight people and is adapted for the challenging sea conditions around Orkney.

ExoTechnologies, the Isle of Man-based owner of boat builder Ultimate Boats, said the new vessel would be used to transport engineers to Orbital’s O2, the world’s most powerful tidal turbine, off Orkney. The workboat has been built at Ultimate Boats and is part of a high-performance range that the firm launched earlier this year. The 11-metre rigid hull inflatable boat can carry eight people and is adapted for the challenging sea conditions around Orkney. It has an operating range of 450 nautical miles.

Manufactured and launched in Dundee before being towed up to Orkney, the 74-metre O2 floating tidal turbine represents the culmination of more than 15 years of product development. It is capable of generating enough renewable electricity to meet the needs of around 2,000 UK homes every year, for 15 years, saving more than 30,000 tonnes of carbon.

In 2022, ExoTechnologies delivered its first commercial vessel to Police Scotland. That breakthrough deal represented the culmination of a £7 million investment in research and development. ExoTechnologies chief executive Shane Mugan said: “We are very proud to be working with Orbital Marine Power to support its pioneering work in the field of green energy. Innovation and making a positive difference through the development of a renewable marine industry is at the heart of the work of both our operations.

“Our fully recyclable composite material technology can tackle the ecological time bomb which sees 250 million kilos of fibreglass and thousands of boats dumped into landfill across Europe each year. That shows the potential of our market leading technologies, which we believe are capable of accelerating the green transition to a circular economy across all industries and markets.”

He added: “We are seeing strong interest in our range of innovative and high-performance vessels from commercial and leisure operators. The boat we are delivering for Orbital Marine Power will be a real workhorse, designed and built to operate in challenging waters.”

Ultimate Boats’ range includes a 13-metre crew transfer vessel and an 11.5-metre “multi-mission” workboat.