A sustainable seaweed harvesting company based on South Uist in the Outer Hebrides, UK, is taking delivery of two new 7-metre HDPE workboats fitted with single OXE Marine 150hp diesel outboards supplied by Proteum.
The vessels are designed to each carry around 16 tons of bagged seaweed in a single trip. The seaweed is cut and collected, then placed in one-ton capacity floating bags. Up to 16 of these bags are safely secured to the vessel for transportation to the processing plant. The seaweed is sorted, dried, and processed at the plant for global distribution by Uist Asco.
The decision to use OXE diesel outboards was made due to the diesel outboards much higher torque output enabling more seaweed to be transported per journey, maximising the efficiency of the operation.
The remote location demands that self-sufficiency is critical to smooth operations; consequently two engineers and the Projects Director for Uist Asco spent three days at Proteum’s facilities in Hamble for in-depth training on the service and maintenance of the OXE outboards.
