SHIPPING and energy service company Craig Group launched the first of a £35million fleet of four new emergency-response vessels in northern Spain yesterday.
Samantha Craig, the fourth generation of the family-owned shipping and energy service business, set the Grampian Don – a D-class emergency-response and rescue vessel – on her way at Balenciaga Shipyard.
She was the 16th vessel to be built for Craig Group at the yard. The rest of the new vessels will take to the waves by the end of next year, creating 120 jobs in the North Sea marine sector and further modernising the fleet, operated by Craig Group subsidiary North Star Shipping.
Miss Craig, group corporate communications manager, said: “It was a real honour to launch the Grampian Don. The group is justifiably proud of its investments in the fleet in recent years which now tops £165million.”
The four new vessels will replace existing tonnage in the group’s 31-strong fleet.
Craig Group’s latest investment follows on from a £130million fleet programme between 2003 and last year, when the Grampian Citadel was completed.
The group said all vessels commissioned to date had gone straight into long-term charter contracts.
North Star’s fleet provides services to more than 45 installations in the North Sea.