Seiners News

My father was on the new construction team of the 1958 SS Rotterdam V, a visually iconic passenger liner that is presently a static hotel and event space in Rotterdam Harbor. When she entered service, her looks were much discussed and generally compared to her very graceful older running partner, the 1936 SS Nieuw Amsterdam II.I have pictures of both vessels in my office and I think the older vessel is the prettier vessel. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but, regardless…

Autoship Systems Corporation (ASC) of Vancouver, Canada has been supplying the marine industry with its Autoship Pro (hull design) and Autohydro Pro (hydrostatics and stability) software for over 40 years. These two programs combined has resulted in many hundreds, if not thousands of ships at sea, including ocean going fish trawlers.Pesquera Diamante in Lima, Peru is a current Autoship System user that has engineered over a dozen purse seiner vessels for its integrated operations that include a fish processing facility, using our hull design and hydrostatics programs.

In 1978 Allied Shipyards of North Vancouver built a series of three big steel purse seiners that have become much-admired classics amongst the excellent fleets of British Columbia. In the years since the boats have changed owners and changed names. One, the Viking Star, has even shifted from being a dedicated purse seiner to a transport vessel for salmon farms for the Walcan Seafood plant on Quadra Island.The success of the design, of which more than a dozen were eventually  built…

“No new fishing vessel has been (added) during the period,” says the email we get from Japan’s largest seafood company, Maruha Nichiro Corp. A year earlier, they had bought shares in New Zealand outfit, Sanford, which had just chartered a Nordic-looking vessel. Seafood rival, Nissui, had just done the same, buying New Zealand and Nordic. That all happened after the Naval Architect’s Society of Japan said a vessel based on the Icelandic design of Reykjavik’s Navis was its Ship of the Year.

Barillec marine will be at the meeting of maritime and river economy in Paris at the Euromaritime - Eurowaterways professional exhibition with Interprofession du Port de Concarneau (IPC). As a player in the shipbuilding industry in the port of Concarneau, Barillec marine is part of a growth dynamic aiming at attracting talent, contributing to local economic development and expanding naval industry in export. The company intends to enhance and strengthen its expertise in power generation, distribution and energy storage.

The SENER engineering and technology group has signed a new contract with NODOSA SHIPYARD to install its FORAN CAD/CAM/CAE system to design and produce the shipyard's new projects. This contract covers installing permanent FORAN system licenses in all design disciplines (Hull Forms and Naval Architecture, Hull Structure, Machinery & Outfitting and Electrical). As part of this agreement, SENER will provide engineering services in addition to technical support and training. The system has been installed successfully in the shipyard's Marin factory…

IMC’s latest fisheries research and survey vessel design was built in Malaysia for the Bangladesh Department of Fisheries. RV Meen Shandhani arrived in Bangladesh in June after completing extensive sea and fishing trials and its delivery voyage. The Australian consultancy’s naval architects and engineers drew on a wealth of relevant experience, data and expertise when developing the research vessel’s design. Formed in 1994, IMC and its principals have a long interest in, and association with, the fisheries sector.

The Fitch Fuel Catalyst improves fuel efficiency by 5-12 percent, reducing pollutants and paying for itself many times over. According to the manufacturer, Advanced Power Systems Int’l, these benefits are being experienced by many hundreds of commercial ships and vessels operating around the world using its system, including the Golden Alaska and the Tri Marine Group. Prior to installing the Fitch Fuel Catalyst on its 10 tuna seiners beginning in 2014, Tri Marine’s division in America Samoa commissioned three independent evaluations: a field test on the Cape Hatteras…

Newbuilding Department of Nauta Shipyard has begun construction of fully equipped fishing vessel - Ocean Star with a steel cutting ceremony held on April 26. The ceremony was attended by representatives of shipowner, DnV and Warthill Design . Nauta has signed contract with a Scottish shipowner in December 2015. This is particularly important order,as it concerns building of a turn-key vessel and all construction process – from the beginning to the end – will be carried out at Nauta New Building Devision located in the former Gdańsk Shipyard.

Nauta Shiprepair Yard in Poland has signed two contracts in recent days for building partially outfitted fishing trawlers for its Danish client Karstensens Skibsvaerft AS. Within the first order Nauta will produce a partly outfitted vessel with length 69.9 meters and beam 14.2 meters. The B – 436 unit will be ready to hand over in March m2017. This vessel will be similar to the other seiners – Kvannoy and Beinur – which Nauta has built for Karstensens Skibsvaerft AS. The second order is for building a slightly smaller vessel with the length of 63 meters and beam of 12.8 meters.

The enactment of Law No. 2014-742 of 1st July 2014 and the signing of decrees related during late 2014 and early 2015 resulted in June 2015 to approve the first private companies wishing to conduct activities of protection of French flagged vessels (APPN). Active since 2011 in the training of PCASP and involved from the earliest discussions (2013) on the French bill, the holding GROUPE PRORISK started its first missions for French flagged vessels. of its subsidiary PRORISK INTERNATIONAL ensured in September the protection of a tanker in the Gulf of Aden and three teams are being deployed on tuna-seiners in the Indian Ocean. In order to anticipate demands of ship-owners and answer them in the best conditions…

EBDG announced the passing of Jim Cole. Over the span of a half century, Jim distinguished himself as among the best in his field, demonstrating extensive expertise in the design of a variety of vessel types ranging from ferries, innovative tugs and his beloved fishing boats. Jim earned a degree in Industrial Design from the University of Washington in 1957 entering Seattle's marine industry during the crab-boat boom of the 1960s, and gaining experience in Tacoma during the era of large tuna seiners. He would soon return to Seattle where he worked at Foss Shipyard for nearly 20 years.

Merger positions combined company to play a dominant role in recapitalization of North Pacific fishing fleet and emerging Arctic oil gas operations. Kvichak Marine Industries and Vigor Industrial today announced the companies are merging to unite their strengths in the design and fabrication of aluminum workboats, shipbuilding, and boat building. Under the terms of the merger, Kvichak will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Vigor. Kvichak’s current owners (Jim Meckley, Brian Thomas and Keith Whittemore) will join Vigor as shareholders and as members of the leadership team. “My partners and I are very excited to be joining Vigor. Sharing best ideas and practices across companies will make us even more competitive and create a more stable business base for our workers…

Today at the SMM 2014 exhibition, GE announced it will showcase a variety of cutting-edge projects and solutions to meet demands of the global commercial and naval marine industry. According to Afra Gerstenfeld, General Manager of Transportation’s Marine group, “The products and services GE provides can help customers operate ships more efficiently, reduce emissions and meet stringent global environmental regulations. •    Dongwon Industries-- one of the world's largest tuna fishery companies -- will use two 16V250 GE Marine diesel engines to power two 80-meter-long tuna purse seiners. The first ship is scheduled for commissioning in late 2015. This is the second GE diesels order from Dongwon. Local support is provided by GE’s regional distributor, YusinHR.

At the presently running Kormarine International Shipbuilding and Marine Equipment Exhibition in Busan, South Korea, GE Marine say they have sold three 16V250 marine diesel engines: 2 engines to Dongwon Industries, one of the world's largest tuna fishery companies; and one engine to Hansung Enterprises, a leading Korean seafood and fishery company. The GE Marine engines will power 80-meter-long tuna purse seiners. The engines are IMO (International Maritime Organization) Tier II and KRS (Korean Register of Shipping) certified and scheduled for commissioning in early 2014. Local support is provided by GE Marine’s regional distributor, YusinHR.

Just as America’s Cup racers spent decades tuning the near perfect design formula of the 12-meter boats required by that event, so to have fishermen fine tuned the 58-ft Alaskan Limit seiner. The 58-ft limit was implemented in an early move to limit the size of vessels in the Alaskan salmon fishery. The boats are now used in many fisheries including halibut long lining and crab pot fisheries. The latest incarnation resulting from decades of evolution for this highly adaptable vessel underwent sea trials this month at Reedsport, Ore.

Tyler Boats of Sedro Woolley launched its second 22-ft by 11-ft Seine Skiff. Powered by a John Deere 6081, 375 hp engine, this seine skiff is designed to pull. Helped by a 32-inch nozzle steering these skiffs have a pull measurement over 9,500 lbs. This pulling power is harnessed within a stable designed platform for the operator. The seine skiff is often described as the “weak link” in a purse seine operation. Bad weather, pulling against the tide, or just holding the set on the beach the role the Seine Skiff plays can keep you in the game.

In February, a new propulsion package contract was made between the Peruvian company COPEINCA (Corporacion Pesquera Inca S.A.) and MAN Diesel & Turbo, Frederikshavn. Three newbuildings powered by 6L21/31-VBS propulsion packages are to operate off the coast of Peru – primarily for anchovy fishing for the production of fish meal. When the ships’ annual quota has been utilized (takes between 20 days and three months depending on the capacity and vessel efficiency), the vessels convert to mackerel and horse mackerel fishing for the rest of the year.

The propulsion units of tuna seiners of the latest generation are characterized by high cruising speeds of up to 20 knots and highly turbocharged diesel engines with critical response characteristics during stop maneuvers. Reintjes has developed a gear system which helps maximize engine response times to aid the seine fishing process, yet also protects the gear and engine. A new 381 ft. tuna seiner, ordered by Albacora S.A. and scheduled for commission in early 1999, will be equipped with a Wärtsilä 8R46 diesel engine and a Reintjes WGV 1100 gear, and will reach a speed of 19 knots

Petersburg, Alaska has been known since its founding as the home of good fishermen and fine boats. One of the earliest limitations on the commercial salmon fishery was the limiting of Alaskan seine boats to 58 ft. Over time, the Alaska limit seiner evolved to one of the truly classic fishboats of the world. With its high bulwarks over a plum bow stem and a full body flowing with a clean shear aft to a broad timbered stern, the design provides a stable working platform from which to work the 250-fathom by 450-mesh salmon seine. The main cabin set on the forward half of the deck carries topside controls to give the skipper a clear lookout for jumpers and tidal conditions.

Guido Perla has always had a love of the sea. Perla, who was born and raised in Barranquilla, Colombia, came to the U.S. in 1971 to pursue his dream of using the "tools" he was given to become a naval architect. His story is one that is marked by innovation, relationships and hard work. — By Regina P. Guido Perla’s philosophy on naval architecture and marine engineering — on life — is easily summed up: "I always follow what my father used to say," Perla said. "It is better to be wrong than to be average." Perla is not shy to admit that he's not always perfect, but that does not mean that he will not try and try again until he achieves perfection. "You don't learn anything from sitting around and doing nothing," Perla quips. "You learn from making a move and taking risks.

For many years Alaskan salmon purse seiners have been limited to a length of 58 ft. This led to the development of some beautiful and relatively beamy wooden boats in the 1950s. In the intervening decades designers have fine-tuned the 58 ft design to add beam and depth. An example of this is being built at Westman Marine in Blaine Washington to a design by Hockema & Whalen Associates Inc. of Seattle and Bellingham Washington. The new hull has the standard 58 ft overall length with a hefty 25 ft beam and a full 11.7 ft moulded depth.

The 180,000 sq. m. area of the Fujian Southeast Shipyard is crowded with coastal freighters in for repair and a series of modern anchor handling tugs in various stages of constructions. The ISO9001-certified yard has the capability of building ships to 10,000 tons but also it has a long history of building fishing boats. At one of the fitting out docks several 24-m tuna long liners await delivery to their French owners. At another dock a half dozen purse seiners are rafted alongside each other. The purse seiners are part of a 36-boat order from an owner on the island province of Hainan off China's southeast coast. Each of the identical boats has a cabin aft with a long forward deck that includes the hold and forepeak with a wide platform over which the seine can be set.