Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Good for Business, Lithuania, Machinery construction, Port, Transport

Eilif Gaard, director of the Faroe Marine Research Institute (FAMRI), said that the new vessel will help explore the marine environment of the oceans and preserve sufficient fish stocks for future generations. All residents of the Faroe Islands are keeping a close eye on the progress with the construction of the vessel, he said, describing the project as being of key importance for residents and the government of the Faroe Islands.

The manager of the shipbuilder MEST Shipyard, Mouritz Mohr, said that they chose Western Baltija Shipbuilding as the builder of the vessel as one of the best shipyards around, which has many years of experience in shipbuilding and a good reputation for trust.

The Faroes-based Mest Shipyard signed a contract with Western Baltija Shipbuilding for the building of the hull of the vessel and its partial equipping in February 2018. The vessel is designed to be as quiet as possible in order to get the optimal performance in research work at sea.

The vessel is 54 meters long and 12.6 meters wide. The hull will be transported to the Faroe Islands in the summer of 2019, where MEST Shipyard will finalize the work with accommodation, machinery, piping, electrical and cable work, deck machinery, and final painting work.

For the construction of the hull some 800 tons of steel will be used, along with about 40 tons of aluminium for deck structures.

The vessel built on commission from the government of the Faroe Islands is meant for the research of sustainable fishing and biological resources of the sea. The vessel must meet the standards of Silent-R underwater noise class and have ice class C. 

Western Baltija Shipbuilding has built research vessels also earlier. Almost four years ago it completed a multifunctional maritime research vessel, Mintis, for Klaipeda University.