The company has grown steadily since it was established by Eunan Kennedy as a modest family business and now occupies a 2100 square metres of workshop space in Ireland's premier fishing port of Killybegs.

"The company is doing well and we're looking to expand," EK Marine's Rod McLeod said. "We see Iceland as a strong potential market."

EK Marine has already established a strong presence in the UK fishing industry, with deck equipment systems for many of the new vessels joining the Scottish fleet, and the company has a string of orders to complete, including a full system for an innovative scalloper being built at Parkol Marine for Oban owners.

He commented that EK Marine already has a reputation among Icelandic vessel operators, as the blue whiting season has brought several of the Icelandic pelagic vessels to Killybegs over the last few years.

"This is a fishery in deep water with heavy catches, all of which places a huge amount of stress on winches and fishing gear. So we have done a lot of repairs to the deck systems of pelagic vessels during the season, and even rebuilt 50 tonne net drums on the quay. Eunan Kennedy has a good reputation, and he has got a lot of people out of a hole when they've been in trouble," he said.