The North Eastern Sea Fisheries Committee will take delivery next year of a £1.5m new patrol and research vessel built by Finnish shipyard UKI Workboat.
The vessel will replace the existing patrol boat “North East Guardian II” and will be used to map and assess benthic communities and habitats, fish and shellfish stocks, marine discharges and pollution events as well as undertaking fisheries enforcement activities.
It is expected to be 26m overall length, of aluminium construction and displacing approximately 47 tonnes with power from twin Caterpiller C32 engines, 2400 HP. It will have incorporated a stern ramp to launch a 6m boarding RIB.
Survey equipment will include: RoxAnn seabed discrimination system; YSI multifunctional probe to monitor salinity, turbidity, temperature and dissolved oxygen; Tritech Sea King Towfish sidescan sonar; VideoRay pro III greater thrust option (GTO) underwater ROV, Seaviewer 650 drop down camera.
Additional equipment will include sediment grabs and a range of trawls.
