MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands fishing group Fortuna incorporates state of the art trawler-freezer

Prion docked in Marin for the ceremony

The Falklands Petrel Fishing Company Ltd., belonging to Fortuna Group and Galician associate Pescapuerta Group officially received Monday afternoon at the Nodosa shipyard in Marin, Spain, state of the art trawler-freezer F/V Prion, considered among the best ever built in Spain and which will begin operations in the next squid season 2025 in Falklands waters.

Prion has a displacement of almost 2,500 GT, is 85 meters long and 14 meters beam, designed and developed by the Nodosa shipyard, is close collaboration with the Groups' owners.

The ceremony took place at the shipyard, port of Marin with the participation of Alfonso Rueda, president of the elected regional government of Galicia, Jose Puerto Prado from PescaPuerta, Stuart Wallace from Fortuna, plus Jose Ramon Regueira in representation of the shipyard. It is estimated that some four hundred people also attended the event with Ladies Margarita Prado and Lilian Wallace as god mothers of the vessel integration.

Prion is considered an example of high technology, energy efficiency, optimizing its capture elements, environment friendly offering great comfort and security for its crew in the living quarters. All of these specifications have been demanded by the contractors from the very beginning complying with the most strict international rules.

The new vessel also confirms the fishing fleet renewal initiated by the associates , Fortuna and Pescapuerta three years ago, with F/V Falcon, beside evidence of the trust and commitment of both groups in the Falklands well managed fisheries.

As to the vessel's specifications both the main engine as well as the auxiliary ones comply with fisheries regulations as far as emissions are concerned and have been designed to work under the most demanding conditions with lesser contamination and greater fuel efficiency which then represents an environmental friendly positive scenario. With this purpose a system to recover power has been incorporated which allows residual heat generated by the vessel to be converted into electricity for on board demand, and a significant fuel reduction. As to freezing capabilities the option has been for ammonia, more friendly with the environment, besides it is not harmful to the ozone layer hole and supplies greater cooling conditions.

Prion also has a remarkable silhouette, with an inverted prow and an optimized hull for leaner sailing. Plus three additional elements, a coat of silicone for the hull, a tank for biodegradable elements and an incinerator to avoid dumping garbage to the sea , plus the special cage nets to avoid seabird losses.

Finally Nodosa point out that the innovating design has reduced the number of hands onboard and the crew will work in better protected conditions from the weather and possible accidents. There's also a cabin with greater comfort and living conditions for the fisheries' observers. Three modern cranes will make moving cargo on and off far much quicker and less riskier.

In other words a proud example of Galician yards expertise and compliance with the environment and sustainability for the fishing industry.