Blog

Operating an amphibious vessel is unlike any other role on the water. It demands constant awareness, technical knowledge, and the ability to make confident decisions across two very different environments. To give a genuine insight into what this involves, we spoke with Sam Goldfinch, skipper of CRC Walrus, one of our specialist amphibious vessels, about whatContinue reading "A day in the life: Amphibious vessel skipper"

The commercial workboat and Rib charter sector has long been viewed as a male dominated environment. Long days, demanding conditions, heavy equipment, and high pressure decision making have traditionally shaped perceptions of who belongs on deck. But the reality on the water is changing, not because standards have shifted, but because more women are meetingContinue reading "Women at the helm: Breaking stereotypes in the commercial workboat industry"

The UK’s marine sector relies on an enormous amount of specialist work that rarely makes the headlines. Offshore wind maintenance, scientific research, coastal engineering, commercial diving and film production all depend on reliable vessels and experienced crews to keep operations running smoothly. CRC supports this infrastructure by providing fast RIBs, versatile workboats, stable catamarans andContinue reading "Behind the scenes: How Commercial Rib Charter supports the UK’s marine infrastructure"

As winter settles in at CRC headquarters, our vessels return from projects, and it’s time to prepare them for the next busy season. This quieter period allows us to carry out scheduled maintenance, machinery servicing, and necessary repairs, as well as more extensive refit work, including engine rebuilds. All maintenance and repair activities are loggedContinue reading "Winter maintenance at CRC: getting our fleet ready for the season ahead"

The maritime industry is no stranger to evolving safety standards, and the recent introduction of the MCA’s Workboat Code Edition 3 marks a significant milestone for operators of small workboats. Officially in force since 13 December 2023, this updated code replaces Edition 2 and brings a host of changes aimed at enhancing safety, environmental compliance,Continue reading "Navigating the Shift: Transitioning from MCA Workboat Code 2 to Code 3"

In 2023 Commercial Rib Charter designed and built the world’s first amphibious, crew transfer vessel CRC Walrus, which is currently working on RWE’s Scroby Sands Windfarm. However, over the last few years we have added an additional three 7.7m Sealegs amphibious open rib’s, CRC Gannet, CRC Cygnet and CRC Snipe to our fleet. With aContinue reading "Amphibious services"

A Jack up barge (JUB) is a stable, overwater platform used for offshore constructions and servicing. These self-elevating platforms are equipped with extendable legs that anchor into the seabed, lifting the barge above the water’s surface providing a stable, working platform for technicians to be able to operate from. Commercial Rib Charter operate specialist, lightweightContinue reading "Jack Up Barge Crew Transfers"

CRC specialise in supplying vessels to support the shore end landing during the installation of subsea cables. CRC have assisted with numerous shore end cable landings, including the landmark Viking Link between the UK and Denmark, and have a fleet of multi-role vessels that can support all requirements during operations. There are many factors toContinue reading "Subsea cable shore end landing"

We are frequently asked about what job opportunities are available with CRC so, with this in mind we wanted to put together a brief overview of what is required to join the team.  Full time jobs with CRC CRC are currently recruiting a full-time vessel master to be based in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, working atContinue reading "Careers with Commercial Rib Charter"

Commercial Rib Charter operate a fleet of vessels ranging from 3m up to 20m in length, many of which are equipped with survey poles or A frames. We also have a purpose built Dive Support Vessels which enable us to assist with any underwater surveys or UXO clearance operations.  Our Cabin Ribs and Catamarans are ableContinue reading "Survey Set up"

After many years of hands on experience Luis Whalley has stepped into a new role at Commercial Rib Charter as our crew superintendent. Luis is responsible for overseeing and managing the daily operations of the crew, ensuring the highest standards of safety, efficiency, and professionalism are maintained at all times. His role is critical toContinue reading "Crew Superintendent & Crew Training"

As the world makes strides toward sustainable energy, offshore wind farms have emerged as one of the most promising sources of clean power. The UK, with its vast coastline and favourable wind conditions, has become a global leader in offshore wind energy generation. But behind the scenes, a crucial component that keeps these wind farmsContinue reading "Wind Farm Support Boats"

Frequently in the marine industry, when you think of Safety Boat Services, you tend to think of open RIBs which are given the task of ensuring the safety and wellbeing of individuals attempting things such world records, sailors competing in sailing events or even on the world stage at events like the Olympics. All of which CommercialContinue reading "Safety Boat Services"

MCA Workboat Code edition 3 came into force from the 13th December 2023 for all newly built workboats and pilot boats. Existing vessels that are certificated under the Brown Code, its equivalent MGN 280(M), Workboat Code Edition 2 or Amendment 1 shall meet the requirements of Workboat Code edition 3 by the vessel’s next renewalContinue reading "Workboat Code 3"

As winter sets in and projects slow down, our focus shifts to a critical aspect of our business—maintenance. The colder months offer us the perfect opportunity to carry out essential and preventative maintenance on our fleet. This ensures that our vessels are not only ready for the challenges of the approaching busy season but alsoContinue reading "Winter Maintenance"

It’s been another successful and busy year for CRC, here’s a brief overview of whats been going on: CRC Voyager has had a busy year, after receiving a P5 Irish passenger licence we assisted with the installation of the Greenlink subsea cable in southern Ireland before transiting back to Wales to meet up with someContinue reading "End of season project overview"

The SRP is a portable, fully equipped surface supply system for two divers, enabling any of our larger Cabin RIBs CRC Galaxy, CRC Voyager or Catamarans CRC Vulvan and CRC Gladiator to incorporate dive support into their multi-role capabilities. As a recent addition to Commercial Rib Charter’s dive support services, the SRP is equipped with:Continue reading "Introducing the Scuba Replacement Pack (SRP)"

It’s often assumed that once an offshore wind farm is built, there’s nothing more to do until it is decommissioned in 20 or 30 years time. In realty, this is far from the truth! Wind turbines, especially those in the harsh sea environment, are actually incredibly sensitive machines and require constant maintenance and inspections. HereContinue reading "What does it cost to run a wind farm?"

Around half of all the vessels in our fleet have waterjet propulsion drives which has helped us to become known in the industry as ‘shallow draft specialists’. In this blog we’re going to look deeper into how they work and what makes them so unique in the market. The waterjet is essentially a pump thatContinue reading "Technical Deep Dive: Waterjets"

It will come as no surprise that drills and training are a cornerstone of the professional and competent operation of commercial vessels. All of our masters and crew are qualified and commercially endorsed to work on passenger carrying workboats, but regular exercises still need to be carried out to keep skills honed and to checkContinue reading "The importance of regular drills and training"

Did you know that CRC have vessels which are certified to carry ‘dangerous goods’ when at sea? This is a very strict and highly controlled area of vessel coding permitted by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and is part of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) code. What you may not realise is that manyContinue reading "Carrying dangerous goods and certificates"

A common question we are asked by potential clients is ‘how many passengers can your vessels carry’? This is a fairly critical criteria and for us at CRC, passenger capacity sometimes solely dictates which vessels in our fleet are suitable for each enquiry. Sometimes customers will require the highest passenger capacity we can provide butContinue reading "How many passengers can we carry?"

Lifting and haulage is a crucial part of our operations. One of the big advantages CRC have over other commercial workboat suppliers is that the vast majority of our fleet can be mobilised by road, dramatically reducing time and costs in getting a vessel started on a project. We’re lucky to hold excellent relationships withContinue reading "Behind the Scenes: Haulage Operations"

As our fleet grows, so has the CRC team. With this in mind we thought it might be nice to put faces to names for those of you we haven’t had the opportunity to meet in person yet. Director – Stuart Hedges Stuart is our Opertions Director and the CRC mastermind. Stuart is responsible forContinue reading "As our fleet grows, so has the CRC team."