UK: NAFC Marine Centre Gets New Workboat

The NAFC Marine Centre is adding a new workboat to its fleet, which has been specially designed to deliver a greater range of services to Shetland’s maritime industries. The Havra was officially named today (Monday 25 April) by Councillor Josie Simpson at a ceremony held at the Malakoff Slip in Scalloway. Also present were the group of school pupils from Scalloway Junior High School who put forward suggestions for naming her, including Heather MacDonald who submitted the winning name.

While the new workboat will be used to support the Centre’s aquaculture trials site, she will also be able to undertake other types of work thanks to her flexible design, which includes a large, clear deck area, long reach crane and capstan capacity.

Explaining what prompted the new commission, NAFC Marine Centre Estates Manager, David Hopwood, said: “The main drivers for the new vessel were two-fold: we needed a vessel that was not only capable of meeting our current requirements with respect to our research scale fish farm but also other activities being planned by our Marine Science and Technology team. We also wanted to provide a suitable platform to support research and development work whilst at the same improving facilities for all those on board.”

“Having a catamaran hull design gives the Havra a high degree of inherent stability during lifting operations, which will enable us to undertake marine operations requiring greater lifting capacity that we could not previously consider.”

“As with other vessels in our fleet, the new workboat will be available for hire to carry out a variety of marine operations, including survey work, benthic and ROV scientific sampling, and marine renewables project support.”

Director of NAFC Marine Centre, Professor David Gray, added: “The addition of this new vessel to our fleet means we are now in a position to offer a greater range of services to our customers. In turn, this means we can better support Shetland’s maritime industries, which is exactly what we are here to do.”

“I would like to thank the team at Malakoff Limited for designing such a flexible vessel and Shetland Islands Council for investing in this essential addition to our fleet.”

Chairman of Shetland Islands Council, Development Committee, Josie Simpson, added: “I am glad to see this new vessel being delivered to the NAFC Marine Centre. It is very important that the Centre has access to boats and equipment that enables it to compete for training and research work, particularly as it earns a significant amount of its income from external sources.”

“The involvement of the Centre this summer with the deployment of the wave energy monitoring buoys will hopefully be the start of a new era in marine energy for Shetland.”

This vessel was wholly funded by a £380,000 grant from Shetland Islands Council Economic Development Unit.

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Source: NAFC, April 25, 2011.