Registration number 345
Status Registered
a12admin

Previous names

  • 1911 - 2017 Carbolate

Details

Function Cargo Vessel
Subfunction Barge
Location Gloucester and Sharpness Canal
Vessel type Motor Canal Boat - Tanker
Current use Commercial Activity
Available to hire No
Available for excursions No
Info required Yes

Construction

Builder Cox & Company, Falmouth
Built in 1911
Rig None
Number of decks 1
Propulsion Motor
Number of engines 1
Primary engine type Diesel
Boiler type None
Boilermaker None

Dimensions

Length: Overall
74.95 feet (22.86m)
Tonnage: Gross
65.00

History

Built in 1911 by Cox & Co., Falmouth, as CARBOLATE, an oil tanker barge.  She was built for William Butler & Co., which owned two tar works; one at Crew's Hole, Bristol, on the banks of the River Avon, and at Gloucester on the River Severn. Trade ceased in the 1960s and CARBOLATE was then converted into a steam pleasure boat that could carry 199 passengers.  From 1975 she was based at Stourport and owned and operated by the Stourport Steamer Company.  She operated public and charter cruises on the River Severn as far as Worcester.  When these cruises ceased, the boat was used as a floating free house pub called The Showman until about 2014 when she fell into disuse. 

Renamed RIBCHIC PIRANHA, the boat was remodelled and refitted in 2022-2024 and turned into a boutique cafe / bistro moored in Gloucester Quays. 

Update, August 2024: Vessel for sale.

We are lacking information on this particular vessel. If you have any information on this vessel, past or present, please contact us.

 

Sources

Geoffrey Hamer, Trip Out 1995/6 - A Guide to the Passenger Boat Services of the British Isles (1995) pub: G P Hamer

https://shippingandshipbuilding.uk/view.php?year_built=&builder=&a1Order=Sorter_types&a1Dir=ASC&a1Page=145&ref=205313&vessel=CARBOLATE 

Own this vessel?

If you are the owner of this vessel and would like to provide more details or updated information, please contact info@nationalhistoricships.org.uk

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