A&P Falmouth, part of the APCL Group, has entered into a new five-year framework agreement to provide annual ship repair services to Red Funnel Ferries, the ferry company which operates services between Southampton and the Isle of Wight.
The agreement will cover Red Funnel’s Raptor Class vehicle ferries which includes Red Falcon, Red Eagle, Red Osprey and Red Kestrel. The agreement will see all four ferries dry dock at A&P Falmouth annually for five years.
A&P Falmouth and the wider APCL Group have an in-depth understanding of the Raptor Class. This is the second framework agreement to have been signed between both A&P Falmouth and Red Funnel. APCL company Cammell Laird also built the Red Kestrel – the newest member of the Raptor Class, which entered into service in 2019.
The new agreement was signed by Giles Francis, Commercial Director at A&P Falmouth, and Sean Collins, Head of Technical at Red Funnel. It is based on the principals of the original framework agreement and will see A&P and Red Funnel continuing to work collaboratively to develop upfront specifications on each vessel to minimise emergent work during dry docking periods, minimising the amount of time each vessel spends in dock.
The agreement will provide each vessel with a comprehensive pre-planning phase which includes assigning an APCL Programme Engineer to each project and a vessel visit from the engineer and specialist subcontractors prior to the vessel refit period. By spending time onboard to clarify the full scope of work with Red Funnel’s superintendents, APCL will be able to schedule works, procure equipment and communicate with nominated sub-contractors well ahead of time to minimise the refit period.
A&P’s pioneering framework agreements were launched in 2015 following the Group’s ongoing successful delivery of the Cluster Support Contracts with the Ministry of Defence for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s Argus and Bay Class. The contracts resulted in collaborative, joint working and seamless integration between the MoD and A&P Group, resulting in A&P Falmouth maintaining the highest level of vessel availability and increased real efficiencies for the fleet.
David McGinley, Chief Executive Officer of APCL Group said: “The ongoing success of our business is based on collaboration with all our customers and working in partnership with them.
“APCL’s commercial framework agreements have a proven track record of completing projects on time and to budget and eliminating down time for our customers.”
Mike Spicer, Managing Director at A&P Falmouth, added: “Our commercial partnership agreement scheme is proving very successful and our now being rolled out across the wider APCL Group. These agreements enable APCL to plan ahead and ensure our customers are getting the best possible service as efficiently as possible.”
Fran Collins, Chief Executive Officer at Red Funnel, added: “We are delighted to be extending our framework agreements with A&P Falmouth. We have an excellent relationship with A&P Falmouth and indeed the wider APCL Group and they continue to provide us with an exceptional level of service for our four Raptor Class ferries – Red Falcon, Red Eagle, Red Osprey and Red Kestrel.
“As a long-standing ferry company, that runs 365 days a year, in all weather conditions, the maintenance carried out on our ferries are crucial to the operation of our business to ensure their longevity, reliability and safe service for our customers.”
