MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands' fleet will incorporate state of the art trawler in 2021

Stewart Wallace (right) in representation of Fortuna Ltd during the contract ceremony at the Nodosa yard offices

The Falkland Islands will add to its registered fleet a state of the art trawler which should be operational by 2021 belonging to a local joint venture company, Petrel Fishing Company Ltd. In early 2019, the Board of Fortuna Ltd approved the construction of a new trawler to join their current fleet of five trawlers. The vessel will be owned and operated by Fortuna Joint Venture Company - “Petrel Fishing Company Ltd”.

Construction of the vessel commenced in late February 2019 at the Nodosa Shipyard in Vigo, Spain. It is hoped that the vessel will be completed in early 2021, ready to commence fishing in the first Falkland Calamari season later that year.

The vessel will be registered in the Falkland Islands and has been provisionally named “F/V Falcon”. The vessel will be the first of a phased update of the Fortuna fleet over the coming years.

During the design and construction of this new vessel several aspects have been taken into account, which are oriented towards respect for the environment and the safety, comfort and resting time of the crew on board, as well as ensuring the quality of the final product. These are summarized below:

Respect for the environment:

Both the main and the auxiliary engines comply with the IMO Tier II regulations in terms of emissions, ensuring lower pollutant emissions and greater savings in fuel consumption (around 10%).

Ammonia coolant will be used which occurs naturally and is therefore more environmentally friendly.

Silicone paint is being used for the hull, which is currently the most environmentally friendly on the market, whilst also providing fuel savings.

In order to mitigate the risk of seabird interactions, newly designed bird scaring devices will be fitted to the vessel, as well as offal tanks so that batch discarding can occur when fishing operations are not happening.

There is a high-tech incinerator that will reduce waste coming ashore.

Crew safety:

Thanks to the design we will be able to reduce the number of people used on the deck. In addition, in most deck operations they will work under cover, making working conditions better, especially in inclement weather.

Three modern cranes will be available on board which, due to their location and power, allow for safer loading and unloading operations.

Comfort and resting of the crew:

In order to reduce working hours as now required by current legislation, the crew will be increased to 70 people, which will allow for additional rest. Accommodation arrangements will be also improved with a greater number of two berth cabins.

For the design of the Factory, an ergonomic study has been carried out, improving and facilitating work in this area according to natural movement. Also, the size of the trays will be reduced from 25 to 12 kilos, which reduces the physical demands on crew.

In addition, loading and unloading of trays in the factory will be semi-automated, therefore reducing human intervention.

Quality of the final product:

To keep the product in perfect condition, the catching processes are improved - by the hauling operation on deck - temporary storage until it is processed - dividing the fishing pond to avoid crushing and deterioration - the ultra-freezing process - providing the ship with a fast - freezing plant.

Arrangements for observers:

The importance of facilities for fisheries observers has also been recognized, with a dedicated cabin and a specific area has been designed in the factory for the convenience of the observers to perform their work.

Finally the release from Fortuna Ltd says it would like to thank the Falkland Islands Department of Natural Resources, Pinsent Masons LLP and the Registrar of Ships for their assistance to date and future help on this project.

The future F/V Falcon is being built at the Nodosa shipyard in Galicia, the same yard that delivered Falklands' longliner CFL Hunter in 2017. The F/V Falcon trawler is 75 meters long and 14 meters beam with a displacement of almost 2.000 gross tons, and one of the largest to be built so far, and equipped with the latest technology.