Ship repairer wins order for Mowi Ireland newbuild
Ship repair company Dales Marine Services Ltd has announced a contract to build a new multi-cat style vessel for salmon farmer Mowi Ireland.
The Multifarm 18, designed by Marine Design International Ltd in consultation with Mowi Ireland, will be built in the Dales dry dock in Aberdeen. It will be the first vessel built in the dock since the 1980s, when it was owned by a different company, Halls & Russell.
Dales Marine Services has more than 30 years’ experience in vessel engineering and has dry docks in Aberdeen, Leith, Greenock and Troon with a supporting dry dock at Grangemouth.
Working with aquaculture
In a press release, the company said it has been working closely with the aquaculture sector delivering dry dock services at its west coast facilities in both Greenock and Troon and providing offshore technicians and engineers to carry out urgent vessel maintenance and repair services in-situ.
“Dales is thrilled to have secured this contract which I know will become a key achievement in the company’s timeline,” said chief executive Michael Milne.
“We have years of vessel engineering, repurposing vessels and knowing that we can transfer these skills into a multi-cat vessel build. Everyone at Dales is proud and pleased with this new vessel build.”
He added: “It is an exciting chapter for the dry dock to be bringing back shipbuilding to Aberdeen, all be it a smaller vessel but hopefully the start of bigger things to come.”
Propulsion efficiencies
Marine Design International Ltd director Simon Cormack said: “Dales Marine Services demonstrated an in-depth knowledge in vessel engineering and an ability to deliver at a competitive price.
“The new design has been developed with Mowi Ireland as a platform incorporating the hydraulic, pneumatic and electrical supplies required for operations on the farms. This latest model also has propulsion efficiency improvements for transits between sites.”
Mowi Ireland mainly produces organic salmon, which fetches a higher price. It harvested almost 8,000 gutted weight tonnes of fish last year, and made an operating profit of €4.55 per kilo in the first quarter of this year, much higher than any other of the company’s salmon farming operations.
