Specialist aluminium boat builder Alnmaritec has announced the completion of ‘Shelagh Jane’ a new aquaculture workboat for service on a fish farm on the West Coast of Scotland.
This support boat is a development of the Alnmaritec Wave Worker class. She is designed specifically to have improved sea keeping properties to allow her to transfer long distances between fish farm sites and she has a unique hull form to fulfil this role.
She is 16.3m long by 6.1m wide and is fitted with twin Doosan 200bhp engines driving fixed pitch propellers. She has a 20t hydraulic crane with a sea water ballast system to allow her to pick up heavy cages and she has a large working deck providing plenty of versatility, even allowing her to carry livestock between islands.
As a result of the closure of the Caledonian canal for the winter, the boat had a long and demanding delivery trip from Blyth up around the north coast of Scotland and down through the Western Isles, all in late February. Commenting on the delivery trip the operator stated, “The journey was a very good test for the boat. We found that she has good sea-keeping qualities and is a good stable boat in a sea. The engines also ran very nicely and used considerably less fuel than anticipated.”
Chris Millman managing director of Alnmaritec said, “This is the third boat that we have supplied for this customer which is very pleasing and we are delighted so far with her performance. We hope that she continues to perform above expectations and to serve her new owners well for many years”.
