New Antares in Lerwick after crossing from Norway
Peter Johnson
WATCH: The latest pelagic trawler for the Shetland fleet arrived in Lerwick this morning to carry on a proud tradition for the Irvine family of Whalsay.
Antares (LK 419) replaces her namesake, sold to Samherji of Iceland in the summer. She is 75m overall length, some 2m longer than her predecessor – which was lengthened in 2009 – and 2m beamier at 15m.
She was built at Simek AS in Norway and final work undertaken at Kristiansund before she headed across the North Sea on Thursday, belting along at 14 knots.
Skipper Lowrie Irvine said that Antares will single boat trawl and was being rigged with nets and other equipment before heading out, hopefully on Monday, in order to make a landing before Shetland Catch shuts on Friday.
Mr Irvine and son Lawrence were well pleased with the performance and handling of the vessel, which left Norway in some towsy weather, and the finish given her in the shipyard.
Antares features the customary banks of flat screen radars, sonars and other equipment in her immaculately finished wheelhouse and all the comforts associated with modern pelagic vessels.
Mr Irvine said that she was a step up from the old Antares rather than a revolution and was quite similar other than slightly longer and 2m wider.
She features a Wärtsilä main engine, controllable pitch propeller and two-speed gearbox gearbox, intended to provide the vessel with high levels of operational efficiency and flexibility in different operating modes. She is powered by a 12-cylinder Wärtsilä 32 main engine.
