Damen Multi-Mission 1608 for Aquaculture

On 26th July, Damen Shipyards Group and Coastal Workboats Scotland unveiled a new vessel for the aquaculture industry in Oban, Scotland. The unveiling of the new Damen Landing Utility Vessel 1608 took place at the same time as the handover of the first in series, to client Loch Duart.

The LUV 1608 is built by Coastal Workboats Scotland to a Damen design that was engineered by Damen design bureau OSD/IMT. The vessel will be able to carry out a wide range of support tasks to the aquaculture industry, including the transportation of people, equipment and feed to offshore fish-farming locations. A key feature of the LUV 1608 is the hull design, which has been developed to accommodate a HS Marine AK67 E4 Crane. This size of crane offers very high capability not usually seen in a vessel of 16 meters with close to 14 tonnes lifting capacity at 3.5 meters and 3 tonnes at 13 meters.

The LUV 1608 hull can also be built at 19 meters in length to provide additional deck capacity. The development of the LUV 1608 has drawn on the expertise of a number of parties specializing in shipbuilding and the aquaculture industry. The original concept was for a Utility Vessel (UV), but was expended to have landing craft functionality to ensure a wider geographical reach for operations in areas where there was less port infrastructure available.

As is usual with Damen standardized vessel designs, the LUV 1608 can be customized to meet individual client requirements. This is demonstrated with this first vessel for Loch Duart, the tailored features of which include tyre fenders, location of capstans and foot pedals.