In the midst of the challenges presented by the global pandemic, The SMS Group has delivered a newbuild 24 metre aquaculture vessel to a tuna farm operator in Malta.
Built for Fish and Fish Ltd, the Valletta-registered Emmaya measures 24 metres LOA with an 8.50 metre beam. Emmaya is built to the MCA-MGN-280-Catergory 1 (150nm from safe haven) workboat code.
Its principle role will be tuna harvesting and aquaculture/fish farm logistical and maintenance support.
“This represents a major investment for Fish and Fish Ltd, and it illustrates not only the strength of our business but also our belief in the environmental sustainability of the aquaculture industry here in Malta,” said Fish and Fish Ltd director David Azzopardi.
“Having met SMS at Seawork in 2017, and then latterly concluding the purchase post Seawork 2018, we think the quality of the product is superb - and the level of flexibility and customer commitment illustrated by SMS is genuinely exceptional.”
Emmaya has Caterpillar Acert 18 main engines, delivering 448kM at 1800rpm to ZF 560W (inline) gearboxes to drive twin four-bladed propeller. Auxiliary engines are a pair of 148kVa Caterpillar Acert 7.1 units. Emmaya has a Veth VT-50 bow thruster for manoeuvrability around fish farm installations.
The deck is laid out with a pair of Palfinger PK32002M (CPO73) deck cranes and there is a hydraulic setup with an engine driven hydraulic pump and four independent electrical pumps
“It’s been a pleasure concluding the build with both David and James Walker of Walker Marine Design. The finished project is fantastic, and this is another great example of best of class British engineering and our proven partnership with Walker Marine Design,” said SMS general manager Dave Chaffers.
“As a business, our focus clearly remains on ship repair.However this build helps to illustrate both our capabilities and our expertise. We’re currently exploring two further new build workboats and several major pontoon projects.”
