The Isles of Scilly Royal Mail delivery boat Swift Lady has been totally rewired and re-instrumented over just one weekend thanks to the swift work of a Falmouth company.

To avoid disruption to the postal service, Falmouth Boat Construction had just 48 hours in which to remove and reinstate the Rigid Inflatable Boat’s (RIB) entire electrical infrastructure.

Salt water had migrated into the instrumentation and equipment which resulted in the need for a complex electrical job with added time pressure since the RIB provides a vital service to the islanders. In order to complete the job in the necessarily short time scale, the team from Falmouth Boat Construction flew to the Isles of Scilly by Skybus, while their instruments and tools were shipped on the passenger ferry Scillonian III. Jonathan Fielding, commercial director of Falmouth Boat Construction, said: “We’ve worked on the Steamship Company’s vessels for a number of years and it’s always a logistical challenge.

“We have to plan the project in minute detail and consider all of the possible eventualities. Our team showed great commitment and completed the job on time so that the postal service to the islands was not affected.”