The Irish flag has been raised on the new Antarctic at the Karstensens Skibsværft yard in Skagen, with several generations of the McHugh family present for the occasion.
The youngest family members, Eamon Óg and Gerard Jr, were in charge of the flag ceremony, supervised by owners and grandparents Teresa and Eamon McHugh.
Teresa and Eamon McHugh have been at the head of this family business for 25 years, and started out with the original Antarctic which was bought from Eamon’s brother Kevin McHugh in 1987. A subsequent Antarctic was commissioned in 1997 and this latest vessel to carry the name is the fifth in the McHugh family’s ownership.
Eamon McHugh is a well-known figure in the pelagic fishing community, with more than forty years at sea behind him, during which he has worked his way up from a mate’s berth on Paula to operating his own vessels. He will continue to skipper the new Antarctic.
Eamon and Teresa’s sons Eamon J and Gerard are integral to the family business, with Eamon J managing the shore side and Gerard sailing as skipper.
The vessel design, specification and arrangements are the result of close co-operation between the owners and yard, with the new trawler designed to suit Eamon McHugh’s exact requirements for optimised working arrangements, catch handling and fuel consumption.
Fulfilling these expectations meant opting for the latest equipment and systems, including SeaQuest deck machinery and a full package of RSW and vacuum systems from KER Group, both of which have a longstanding relationship with the new vessel’s owners, while these are their first complete systems supplied to Karstensen.
Barry Electronics has supplied and installed the complete array of electronics for the new vessel.
Built at Karstensen’s own yard in Gydnia and towed to Skagen for completion, the latest Antarctic is the yard’s 63 metre design, of which there are now numerous examples in operation around northern Europe. Antarctic’s hull was delivered to Skagen for outfitting in January this year.
Antarctic measures 62.60 metres overall with a 12.80 metre breadth and the RSW tanks have a 1370 cubic metre capacity. Accommodation is for a crew of 12.
SeaQuest deck equipment
SeaQuest delivered twin 61.80 tonne trawl winches, a 51.50 tonne topline winch and a 43.60 tonne tail-end winch, as well as a pair of 61.80 tonne net drums as part of a package that includes a net sounder winch and the pumping system. The SeaQuest pumps are 18-inch units and come with hose and hudraulic hose reels, deployed from a 4t/10m fish pump crane. There are also 4t/12m foredeck and powerblock cranes.
The man engine is a MAN 9L27/38, developing 2499kW @ 800rpm and powering a 3800mm MAN VBS940 propeller via a Renk RSVL-900 reduction gearbox. The shaft alternator is a 1650 kW/2063 kVA Cummins AvK and the auxiliary engines are a 930kWe
Caterpillar C32 and a 115kWe Caterpillar C18, plus a 115kWe Mitsubishi harbour set. The high lift flap rudder and Tenfjord SR662 steering gear are from Kongsberg and the 700kW aft and stern thrusters are from Brunvoll.
