The long awaited film ‘Robin Hood’ has just hit our screens. The Ridley Scott Movie which opened at the Cannes Film Festival is set to be another box office hit.

The Dover beaches were recreated at Freshwater West, in Pembrokeshire, Wales where the guaranteed surf produced the right effect. The last 15 minutes of the film is set on the beach with 130 horses doing a full speed gallop charge into 600 actors. Maritime Services International (MSI) was called in to source a suitable vessel that could be converted into a 12th century landing craft for the French invasion fleet. MSI found an old LASH barge in Castleford that seemed to suit the brief. They then liaised with the Merry Men Film Arts Department to prepare structural drawings for the modification and design of the vessel. This was not an easy task as it had to meet the requirements of the Arts Department whilst still being able to achieve certification from the Maritime & Coastguard Agency.

Modifications included removing the side decks and fitting a ramp, which meant that the vessel had to be structurally stabilized to compensate for the loss in strength. MSI worked with 2 marine co-ordinators from Merry Men Film Productions and 3 surveyors from the MCA in this complicated conversion, not only measuring the vessel’s stability and structural strength for filming but ensuring that compliance and safety were acceptable for the vessels to carry over 200 people in potentially dangerous waters.

Once one vessel was converted, it was a simple matter of cloning to produce the rest of the French invasion fleet of landing craft. Nobody was hurt or injured during these scenes although on occasions the boats suffered damage in the surf!

During the film viewers only see the vessel propelled by oars but this was not practical in the dangerous waters off the Pembrokeshire coast. This meant that outboard engines had to be fitted, which were cunningly concealed underneath the barges’ swims.

MSI’s 25 years of marine surveying experience and their ability to adapt their depth of knowledge to these unusual circumstances confirmed that they were the right company for the job. The level of commitment and dedication required to work on such a huge film production did not faze MSI and they are excited about embarking on their next film project.