DuroWipers chosen by Harwich Haven for four vessel refit

Of all commercial marine vessels, pilot boats can lay claim to leading the hardest lives. These hardy vessels can be expected to take to sea at any time of the day or night, 365 days per year.

Harwich Haven’s four pilot boats, Saint Brendan, Saint Christopher, Saint Cuthbert and Saint Edmund, all built at Holyhead Marine to a design by Camarc were delivered between 2010 and 2013, and so are entering their mid-life rolling refit stage.

As Harwich Haven Authority’s (HHA) Marine Engineering Manager Matthew Pearson says, choosing the correct wipers is critical for these kind of boats: “Our pilot vessels travel a total of 48,000 nautical miles each year, from the 01/05/23 to 01/05/2024 Distance travelled was 116,592 nm. Because they work in all weathers in significant wave heights of up to three metres they ship green water over their windscreens as a matter of course. Clearing this water with wipers that work effectively, are reliable long term, and easy to fix and service is a key consideration. Any wiper problem can keep a HHA pilot boat in port.”

HHA selected the DuroWipers Class 90 wipers, which are driven by a 24 Volt 80NM Bosch Motor. Class 90s also benefit from a compact transfer box for applications where space is limited.

DuroWipers is supplying four sets of three class 90 DuroWipers for each of the pilot boats. Matthew Pearson continues: “Our pilot boats were originally supplied with wipers of European manufacture that were not offering the level of reliability we require. We went through many sets of these wipers, which in some cases have failed in just 1-2 years. Apart from the cost and inconvenience of our pilot boats being off service, we were also becoming concerned about the carbon footprint of replacement wipers and parts coming from Europe. We trialled a set of DuroWipers over the harsh conditions of December and January on the Saint Brendan, and placed the order for the other vessels on the strength of their simplicity, strength and reliability. DuroWipers also custom built the control panels for us which was a useful addition.”

Many marine windscreen wipers are derived from crane or train wipers and are only engineered to deal with rain and occasional spray, lacking the torque, strength and longevity of DuroWipers’ 316 stainless steel dual powered spindle pantograph designs. Noel Gould, Managing Director at DuroWipers builds the wipers to a simple philosophy: “Our aim at DuroWipers is to offer a superior product design, built in the UK from superior materials and to a superior level of workmanship. This means we have very few warranty issues with these wipers, and with the very few issues we do get, we support our customers the way we would want to be treated ourselves. We proudly supply wiper systems to the Royal Navy and RNLI along with a number of port authorities for their pilot launches. It is always a pleasure to have DuroWipers selected by serious seagoing institutions such as Harwich Haven Authority.”