Ulstein Unveils New Trawler Series

Norwegian ship designer and shipbuilder Ulstein has launched a new series of fish trawlers with state-of-the-art ship solutions for sustainable fishing methods and processing. The trawlers incorporate a number of innovative features, including Ulstein’s signature X-Bow hull design and environmentally friendly hybrid propulsion systems.

Ulstein Group has a long tradition of cooperating with different actors when developing new and innovative ship designs and solutions. On this project, Ulstein has worked closely together with Nordic wildfish. Both companies were established in 1917.

The unique design, with optimal capacity with regards to quota for efficient and profitable fishing, will make significant improvements in trawler fishing, Ulstein said. The goal is, among other things, more gentle handling of the fish and introduction of environmentally-friendly ship solutions.

“Nordic wildfish has solid experience in trawling and in testing new methods for fishery and market. We both have a history of being innovative and come up with advancing solutions. Through this cooperation we have developed improved and state-of-the art solutions for quality and sustainability in trawl fishery,” said COO in Ulstein Design & Solutions, and Ulstein Group’s Head of the Board, Tore Ulstein.

“We want to turn visions into reality with regards to our EcoFive project (Eco-friendly fishing vessel). Ulstein’s trawler series is designed to implement solutions for gentle fish catch, effective processing and hydrolyzing of the rest of the raw material. This will provide significantly increased sustainability in trawling, better quality, higher efficiency, more earnings and less environmental footprint,” said CEO Tore Roaldsnes at Nordic wildfish.

The X-BOW alters the traditional layout of trawler vessel arrangements, and leads to better placement of crew, factory and cargo. The factory is placed on two decks, while all the accommodation is assembled central in the ship. Due to the X-BOW hull line, the fore ship will be efficiently exploited. Ships carrying the X-BOW feature also have less vibrations and pitching, which help to improve the working environment on board and reduce noise in the sea.

The X-BOW hull increases the loading capacity and operability, minimizes movements and reduces wear and tear on hull and equipment as well as reducing the fuel consumption.

Ulstein has also implemented the latest technology to improve performance and reduce the environmental impact. The vessels in the series have an effective hybrid system which combines batteries with diesel-electric and diesel-mechanical propulsion. The vessels will become more fuel efficient, operate with little noise and will comply to the requirements of the DNV-GL SILENT notation.