Naust Marine Supplies Winch Control for Sakhalin Trawlers

 

JSC Pilenga, a trawler-vessel operator based on Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East, has awarded Naust Marine a contract to install Naust’s ATW (Automated Trawl Winch) autotrawl systems aboard three BATM-class supertrawlers—and on a single Moonzund-class trawler, the F/V Vasilii Kalenov. Naust’s DC-based package is tailored for work with existing electric systems on board. 

 

“Autotrawl in the Russian Far East is, for many, a relatively new concept, and winning this contract took paramount effort,” said Scott R. Atkinson, Regional Sales Manager for Naust Marine. “Many operators have, until recently, considered autotrawl unnecessary—despite advantages in trawl handling, kW efficiencies, and higher catch rates elsewhere. The very tough economic situation in Russia, the weak Russian ruble, the declining market for Russian-caught Pollock in China, and the increasingly difficult political-military situation in Europe—all of these made closing this sale even more challenging.”

 

At the request of Pilenga, Naust delivered a fuel-efficiencies study indicating that, over the course of just over three years, the autotrawl system aboard the BATM-class trawler pays for itself in kW efficiencies that translate to fuel savings, to say nothing of immediate savings in removal of maintenance costs for old systems, along with dramatic improvement in catchability owing to stepless, automated control of the trawl winches.

 

Naust said its ATW goes far beyond the original constant-tension and render/recover functions of early autotrawl, providing infinitely-variable speed control (along with varied other functionalities), notable since such speed control was once considered the sole province of the hydraulic winch “school.” 

 

Manager of Sales Helgi Kristjansson, Naust’s long-time veteran sales presence in worldwide markets, was with Atkinson on Sakhalin Island for the closing. Kristjansson noted that “Naust Marine has been blessed to have a loyal customer here. They were pleased with the efficiencies gained from installing our auxiliary winch controls package (for four sweepline and two Gilson winches on each of four trawlers) earlier. So we view this as a key expansion in our close relationship.”

 

Naust technicians have arrived in Pusan, South Korea, and startup for the first two vessels will begin soon.