The Ireland-based marine services company Atlantic Towage & Marine Ltd has placed an order with Damen Shipyards for a Multi Cat 2309, the newest addition to Damen’s range of highly versatile, multipurpose workboats. Scheduled for delivery in the spring of 2023, it will play an important role in Atlantic Towage’s expansion beyond Ireland/UK and into mainland Europe.

Atlantic Towage was founded in 2008 by managing director Sean Harrington. Since then, he has assembled a fleet of nine boats that includes tugs, dive support vessels, and multipurpose workboats. This variety allows the company to offer a wide range of services including salvage, ship handling/berthing, towage, surveys and more besides. The addition of the new and highly versatile Multi Cat 2309 will assist Atlantic Towage in all of the business’s core activities around Europe.

The new Multi Cat 2309 will spearhead Atlantic’s push into the European market, with a special focus on the fast-growing offshore renewables sector. To optimise the vessel for its role, Harrington has specified a larger forward deck crane AKC 185 HE4 and an aft deck crane HS AK34 HE4 from HS Marine, plus a DP1 system from Kongsberg. This brand new Multi Cat 2309 will also be the first in her range to operate with a Dynamic Positioning system. Additional, smaller customisations have been implemented to enhance its operational profile and so deliver an even better service to the company’s clients.

While the MuC 2309 comes IMO Tier II compliant, Atlantic Towage has selected the option that pre-prepares the engineering space for the retrofit of a Damen Marine No_x Reduction System. This uses selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology to deliver Tier III compliance and, with the necessary space already available, can be efficiently fitted as and when required. While this is the most efficient way to be future-proofed for IMO Tier III, Damen also offers a range of retrofit options to suit most requirements.

Work will begin soon on the hull and superstructure at Damen Shipyards Koźle, after which it will be brought to the Netherlands to be fitted out.

“This is our first newbuild,” says Sean Harrington. “We chose Damen based on its reputation in the market, plus we already have a Damen vessel in our fleet which has performed well. We look forward to taking delivery next year and putting our new Multi Cat to work.”

“Damen is proud to be working with Sean and his team,” added Frederik van der Linde, Damen’s UK and Ireland sales manager. “Atlantic Towage is a growing company and in order for them to continue this growth they need to have the right assets in place. We are honoured with this order and look forward to delivering in full what we have promised.”