Sustainable fish farm company Kames, operating in the lochs and estuaries round the Western Isles, has taken delivery of a new Landing Utility Vessel (LUV) from Damen to handle waterborne operations at their steelhead trout farm.
The Damen LUV 2208 offers large deck space, a heavy crane and two capstans to handle lines and nets at the farm. The boat is optimised for aquaculture jobs with a deck layout that places the wheelhouse and accommodation offset to port, leaving clear deck space and unobstructed length from bow to stern for large loads.
The high deadweight of the vessel adds to its buoyancy while operating the crane. A ramp at the bow offers the possibility of beaching and opening the front to load or offload large items directly from the deck. The bottom plate and the bow ramp are constructed from extra strong steel plates to withstand beaching and landings in touch conditions.
Fendering is very tough. Thick rubber bands are mounted to the hull sides, to decrease impacts from other boats, quays or floating farm equipment. This mounted fendering offers better protection than the usual car tyres hung alongside the hull. Crew safety is improved by high bulwarks and robust stairways overboard for getting on and off smaller boats during the work around the farm.
Kames expect to start working with the new vessel in early April.
The Damen LUV 2208 was built at the Coastal Workboats yard in Exeter, in close co-operation with Damen Shipyards
The Kames boat is the second of this type that has been built, and a third LUV 2208 is under construction. The first was delivered to Organic Sea Harvest from the Isle of Skye in the Scottish Sea, a sustainable salmon farm.
Damen is confident that this type of vessel is what aquaculture needs. In addition to the vessels ready built and under construction, four more LUV 2208’s are being built and Damen will be able to deliver from stock.
