£50m trawler launched

A £50 million stern trawler which will be one of Europe's largest catchers has been launched in Norway by a Donegal-based skipper.

The 144-metre ocean-going vessel, Atlantic Dawn, is owned by Mr Kevin McHugh, an Achill islander based in Killybegs. Mr McHugh also owns the Irish fishing fleet's flagship, the 106-metre Veronica.

The vessel was constructed at the Umoe Sterkoder shipyard in Kristiansund, Norway.

The hull was launched at the weekend by the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Fahey, and the vessel is expected to be completed by June. The Atlantic Dawn will work initially off the coast of west Africa, and will catch horse mackerel, mackerel, sardinella, sardines and anchovies.

All catch will be chilled, precisely graded and frozen in the ship's factory on board.

It will be shipped or landed directly into west African markets.

The stern trawler is one of three super-ships built recently in Europe - two others were commissioned by Spanish and Dutch owners. Over a third of the EU's fisheries budget has been consumed by "third country" agreements whereby fishing rights are bought from non-EU member-states to satisfy a growing world demand for seafood.

However, several west African states are unhappy with the deals, and environmental groups have expressed concern about the impact of what has been described as "neo-colonialism" by the EU on the fishing fleets of developing countries.