Fisheries patrol cat is built for year round Irish Sea operations

Incat Crowther designed Lady Megan to cope with tough Irish Sea conditions year round

Built by Mainstay Marine Solutions, Pembroke Docks, South Wales, the 19 m Catamaran Fisheries Patrol Vessel Lady Megan has been designed and built to a demanding specification for operation year round in harsh Irish Sea conditions.

Designed by Incat Crowther, the robust and versatile 19.7 m x 7.5 min  vessel packs a lot of functionality into its modest platform.

The aft working deck is the epicenter of this functionality, featuring a hydraulically operated tender launch and recovery system, capable of launching and retrieving a 5 m RIB while the vessel is in motion in Sea State 3. The main deck also houses a pot hauler, deck stores, capstans and a deck crane for unloading large items such as quad bikes.

Lady Megan sleeps eight, with permanent berths for six and convertible berths for two. Each hull has toilet and shower rooms adjacent to twin cabins, whilst the captain’s cabin is located on the main deck. The main cabin also features three individual forward-facing seats, a fully-kitted galley, settee, shower room and wet room/workshop.

The upper deck wheelhouse provides excellent 360 degree visibility.

Lady Megan has many features to combat the harsh conditions.

The vessel’s center bow and active interceptors combine to improve seakeeping, while maneuverability and station-keeping are assisted by a pair of Hercules HHBT45 bow thrusters. The skeg is configured to protect the propeller from debris, while allowing the vessel to be beached. One of the two Kohler 18EFKOZD generators is also air-cooled to enable systems to be powered when beached.

Lady Megan is powered by a pair of Caterpillar C18 main engines, each producing 651 kW @ 2,200 rpm. In recent sea trials, she achieved a maximum speed of 27 knots and comfortably achieves a loaded service speed of 20 knots.

The vessel is classed to BV rules.