Despite being in service for just under a year, the Falmouth Harbour Commissioner's new pilot boat ARROW has already passed the milestone of completing over a thousand operations.

ARROW was delivered last November and after two months of training and familiarisation she took over the duties previously performed by the pilot boat L K MITCHELL which had been in service since 1978 and consequently had become expensive to maintain and repair.

The new 16 metre pilot boat was commissioned from VT Halmatic and being capable reaching 23.5 knots (27 miles per hour) has vastly improved the time taken to reach ships visiting the port in order to carry out pilotage operations, an ability which has become especially valuable over the past two months as Falmouth has seen an increase in the number of bunker ships calling at the port.

Only last week ARROW went beyond her usual call of duty to come to the rescue of three crew from a sinking fishing boat whilst en route to take a pilot out to a ship visiting the port.

Deputy harbourmaster Mark Killingback said: "ARROW has been a tremendous acquisition. The combination of speed and comfort with a modern electronic fit has meant that our crews have managed to meet the demanding schedule of pilot boarding and landing that has been required in recent weeks."