MACDUFF DELIVERS LARGEST VESSEL TO DATE

Seawork staple Macduff Ship Design has seen the delivery of a 34.5m stern trawler

The

Venture IV follows in the footsteps of its record breaking predecessors which were all the largest vesels to come out of the yard at the time they were built - Venture in 1993, Venture II in 2001 and Venture II in 2017.

Bigger and better

The Venture IV project began early in 2020 when the owner expressed an interest to build a new fishing vessel to replace the existing 24m registered vessel to improve on the fuel efficiency, speed, sea keeping and crew comfort.

Macduff Ship Design worked closely with Macduff Shipyards and the Wolfson unit at Southampton University on the hull design of the vessel.

The hull is of round bilge form with a streamlined inverted bow, flared upper stem, beam carried full length to the transom and possesses two complete decks, as well as a partial shelter and bridge deck above this. A ballast box keel is fitted along with deep ‘V’ bilge keels to dampen roll motion. Finomar Shipyard based in Szczecin, Poland, were subcontracted to fabricate the hull and wheelhouse which upon completion was towed to Macduff in the late summer of 2021.

The full outfitting was completed in Macduff to MCA and BV regulations with the vessel departing Macduff just over a year after arriving to go to Fraserburgh where it docked for a final paint. Sea and fishing trials were conducted in the Moray Firth before the vessel was signed over to the new owners just before Christmas 2022 with enough time for two short maiden trips fishing off the west coast of Scotland.

Early indications are that the hull is performing as anticipated with increased speed, reduced fuel consumption and improved sea keeping.

Norway orders more ambulance boats

Following the success of two ambulance 2200 fast catamarans last year, two similar vessels have been ordered for operations in Bergen, Norway, for marine services firm Buksér og Berging.

Shipbuilder Kewatec will deliver the 22m x 7.5m boats to Smøla and Romsdalsfjorden in early 2024, it says.

“Ambulance 2200 is like a mini hospital on the water,” says Kewatec. “The boat has an aluminium catamaran hull and two Volvo Penta D13 diesel engines, Compared to the previous Ambulance 2200 boats delivered, these new boats will have waterjets from Kongsberg instead of IPS propulsion.” Two

1,000 litre fuel tanks feed the engines, and the boats are also equipped with thermal cameras for water rescues.

The boats, which have seating for 12 people and two complete stretcher patient areas, have a service speed of 30 knots.

As well as providing ambulance boats, Buksér og Berging offers a range of other services, such as towage, salvage and offshore support. Most of the firm’s tugs are equipped for fire fighting, oil recovery and emergency towage.

Ambulance boats are not common on the world market, says Kewatec, but the large archipelago of Norway and permanent inhabitants on islands along the coast require high-standard mobile hospital and patient transport services.