Parkol Marine Engineering is a shipbuilding and engineering company based in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England. The company was founded in 1971 and, since 1997, has built an average of two ships per year: orders increased, however, between 2015 and 2018, which led to the company opening a second site on Teesside.
History
Originally formed in 1971, during the 1970s and 1980s the business was a marine repair yard which employed 40 people. Prior to Parkol Marine Engineering (PME) constructing boats in 1997, the last recorded boat to be built in Whitby was in the early 1970s. The Parkol company was formed by Ken Parker and John Oliver, with the new venture being a portmanteau of the first parts of their surnames. In 1997, after acquiring a dry dock from the Netherlands, Parkol Marine Engineering ventured into the boat-building business, launching a scalloper in 1997, though the first trawler they built was the Rebecca in 1999. Originally located at Spital Bridge in the town, they moved to a new site closer to the riverside on Church Street.
In their Church Street site, the company have a fabrication, shot blasting and painting hall. The yard adjoins the eastern bank of the River Esk, and has two newbuild berths for vessels up to long and a dry dock capable of taking vessels up to . Every newbuild boat at Parkol Marine has been created on paper by the ship designer Ian Paton.
In 2017, Parkol opened a second site in Middlesbrough that measured long by wide and tall. The larger site was created so that Parkol could build bigger boats and tailor bespoke boat building to the fishing industry's needs. Combined with the site on Teesside, the company employed 80 tradesmen and staff, dropping to around 70 in 2020.
In October 2018, the first boat to be built in the new Middlesbrough site was launched officially at Whitby Harbour. The company offers a range of marine engineering services; from refurbishment and repair, to a whole newbuild ship. The yard offers ship-lengthening services. The first ship to undergo this work was the Scarborough trawler Allegiance, which was extended by at a fifth of the cost of a newbuild ship.
Parkol also undertake maintenance, and have, in the past, cleaned the Whitby Lifeboat and serviced her in less than six hours so as to keep the lifeboat availability at the best it could be. In 2002, they built a replica of Captain Cook's ship, HMS Bark Endeavour, to two-fifths of the actual size. The replica vessel (known simply as either Endeavour or The Bark Endeavour Whitby) sails up and down the coast from Whitby and is powered by a motor. The ship was constructed from wood using the skills of local tradesmen.
Parkol regularly feature in the Fishing Vessel of the Year competitions run by Fishing News: they won best vessel in 2015 and 2016. Their yard in Whitby has been featured in an episode of Kavanagh QC on ITV in 1998.
Parkol fabricate their boats on the quayside and then have a crane lift their vessels into the water, as opposed to the normal route of launching them down the slipway.
Ships built Below is a sample list of ships that Parkol Marine have built since 1997. There is not a ship with yard number 13. +Yard No.YearTypeNameGross tonnageIMO NumberNotesRegistration CodeYard built inLaunch date1199719.11m ScalloperJacqueline AnneOB 555Whitby2199918.50m TrawlerRebecca 1308957209Renamed Courage in January 2007WY 790Whitby3200018m TrawlerOur Lass 8965476 WY 797Whitby4200118.77m Twin Rig TrawlerReliant8972716 BCK 101Whitby5200114.94m TrawlerSophie Louise II SSS 678Whitby6200213.37m wooden ReplicaEndeavourWhitby7200214.95m Gill NetterBerlewenPW 1Whitby8200314.95m Vivier CrabberSiwrengale H 77Whitby9200415.95m TrawlerEmulateWY 110Whitby10200414.15 m ScalloperHarmoniiMR 7Whitby11200415m twin rig trawlerRachael Jayne IIMT 100Whitby12200516.95m Vivier CrabberCeltic Dawn8996396 K 76Whitby14200518m Scallop TrawlerRois Mhiari8996384 OB 45Whitby15200514.95m Vivier CrabberEbonnieBM 176Whitby1620069.80m FoyboatFoy BoatWhitby17200618.77m TrawlerCopious9395757 LK 985Whitby18200618.90m TrawlerStar of Jura9095503 OB 278Whitby19200714.95m Vivier CrabberAquilaOB 74Whitby20200721m TrawlerOur Lass II9095515 First vessel over 20 metres built by Parkol MarineWY 261Whitby21200722.80m TrawlerRadiant Star9453808 LK 71Whitby22200816.49m Twin Rig Trawler Prolific9548859 LK 986Whitby23200816.70m Vivier Potter Noronya9564530 K 733Whitby24200917.50m Twin Rig TrawlerPleiades9564542BF 155Whitby25200916.49 m Twin Rig TrawlerReliance II9564566 BF 800 Whitby26200921.67 m Twin Rig TrawlerJubilee quest9564554 GY 900 Whitby27201016.49 m Twin Rig TrawlerChallenger9564475 FR 90 Whitby28201022.06m Twin Rig TrawlerVirtuous9577252 FR 253Whitby29201626.75m Motor YachtAble OneWhitby30201326m TrawlerOur Lass III9655925 WY 261Whitby31201426m TrawlerGuiding Star2619699488H 360Whitby32201427m Salmon Feed CarrierHavilah1609743394 Whitby33201526m TrawlerGuardian Angell9747388 LK 272Whitby34201514.95m Vivier CrabberLa Creole II BM 177Whitby35201627m Seiner/TrawlerResilient9781346 LK 195Whitby36201723.95m Prawn TawlerDay Star9803390 FR 86Whitby37201723.95m TrawlerVictory Rose2659810288 WY 37Whitby38201719m TrawlerSparkling Star9810317 UL 290Whitby39201826m Trawler Guiding Light9840025 H 902Whitby40201823.95m TrawlerUberous9850965 FR 50WhitbyLaunched 21/10/201841202033m Scallop And Queenie TrawlerAlcedo9884875First vessel over 30 metres built by Parkol MarineBA 77MiddlesbroughLaunched 10/01/202042201820.30M Scallop TrawlerSummer Rose9829291 The hull was built in Middlesbrough under subcontract by MacDonald Offshore OB 141Middlesbrough43201919m TrawlerCarvela9884746 K751MiddlesbroughLaunched 23/03/201944201820.30m ScalloperAtlantic Dawn9850953First vessel built by Parkol Marine at their Middlesbrough yardCN 25MiddlesbroughLaunched 16/09/201845201922.30m Twin Rig TrawlerFruitful Bough9858917 PD 109WhitbyLaunched 03/04/201946201924m TrawlerVirtuous 9879650 FR 253WhitbyLaunched 14/09/201947202027m Salmon Feed CarrierHavara260 9885697MiddlesbroughLaunched 10/09/202048202016.49m Vivier CrabberOsprey9858931WK 4WhitbyLaunched 06/03/202049202020.70m Twin Rig TrawlerReliance III1909898888BF 800WhitbyLaunched 04/09/202050202127.8m Vivier CrabberValhallaN/AFR 268WhitbyLaunched 29/09/202151202120.40m GillnetterAmanda of ladramN/APW 6WhitbyLaunched 17/03/202152202127.8m Twin rig TrawlerSparkling StarN/AUL 290MiddlesbroughLaunched 15/02/202253202123m TrawlerAmbitious II'N/ADA 62MiddlesbroughLaunched 08/09/202154202222.2m twin rig trawlerDay dawn9934022FR 90WhitbyLaunched 12/03/202255202222m TrawlerGreen isle9963645SO 500MiddlesbroughLaunched 5/09/202256202321.6m Twin rig trawlerSeraphimN/APD 170MiddlesbroughLaunched 29/08/202357202225 m TrawlerDaystar IIN/AFR 86WhitbyLaunched 16/04/202358202327.30m beam trawlerAdmiral Gordon2269970181PH-330MiddlesbroughLaunched 17/03/202359202221.4 m CrabberWinter of Ladram218N/AE 24WhitbyLaunched 12/07/202260202427.30m beam trawlerAdmiral Blake N/APH 440MiddlesbroughLaunched 27/03/202461202315m vivier crabberGenesisN/AH 37WhitbyLaunched 28/10/202362202434m scallop & queenie trawlerHalcyon9949596Largest vessel built by Parkol MarineBA 72MiddlesbroughLaunched 09/01/20256320239.80m Foyboat Foy boat IIIN/AWhitbyLaunched 07/12/202364202424.5m survey and patrol vesselNorth Eastern Guardian IVN/AAluminum catamaranWhitbyLaunched 08/05/202565202427.30m beam trawlerAdmiral RamsayN/APH-220MiddlesbroughLaunched 30/06/202566202415m whelkerTed of LadramN/AE7WhitbyLaunched 10/05/202567202628m stern trawlerOur LassN/AN/ABeing built at Middlesbrough yardWY 261MiddlesbroughIn active build6820249.80m FoyboatFoyboat VN/AN/AWhitbyLaunched 06/08/2024 69202628m stern trawlerN/AN/AN/ABeing built at Middlesbrough yardN/AMiddlesbroughIn active build70202626m Ro-Ro FerryN/AN/AN/ABeing built at Whitby yard (New ferry for Fair Isle Shetland)N/AWhitbyIn active build7120258m stock fishing BoatN/AN/AN/ABuilt as a stock item, (Aluminum catamaran)N/AWhitbyLaunched72202615.58m HullMax WorkboatMilestoneN/AN/ABeing built at Whitby yard for Salcombe Harbour AuthorityN/AWhitbylaunched 29/06/202673202727m hybrid fish feed carrierMargaret McKenzieN/AN/Awill be built at Middlesbrough yard for Inverlussa Marine ServicesN/AMiddlesbroughIn active build
See also List of shipbuilders in the United Kingdom
References