New trawler Ecofive, under construction for Norwegian fishing company BlueWild, promises to attract plenty of attention this summer when it starts fishing.
The 72-metre trawler is packed with innovation and even before its delivery has won several awards for the new thinking and imagination that have gone into its design. These include the Norwegian Innovation Prize, awarded for the groundbreaking technology going into the new vessel.
Ecofive is designed to be as energy-efficient as possible, with hybrid technology, battery systems, a special hull design, and two propellers.
‘Ecofive is a vision that is now becoming a reality. A vision of fishing more sustainably by reducing energy consumption, preserving fish quality, and utilising 100% of the fish,’ said owner Tore Roaldsnes when he last year accepted the Innovation Prize on behalf of Bluewild.
Catches never come onto the trawl deck, instead being routed to water tanks below the surface and from there in a continuous flow to the factory deck.
Vónin has collaborated with Tore Roaldsnes since 2016 when he bought shrimp trawls for Langenes and Stornes. Vónin has also supplied equipment to Ishavet for the company. In February 2022, Vónin was invited to a presentation about Ecofive.
‘Storm doors from Vónin were already included in the model images, and since then we have discussed equipment for the new ship,’ said Óli Horn, Vónin’s sales manager for bottom and shrimp trawls.
Ecofive is designed to operate on groundfish and shrimp. In shrimp mode, it will tow four trawls, and this is new to Vónin.
‘It’s a special task for us. They will work with two sets of trawl doors, large outer ones and smaller inner ones, and then a roller weight between the inside trawls,’ Óli Horn said.
The four trawls are 3200 mesh large Vónin Novajas, each trawl with a roughly 70-metre spread, and the spread between the outer pair of doors will be about 320 metres. This is about 100 metres more spread than when towing three trawls, so this provided an exceptional sweep.
Sections of the trawls are made in Fortis netting, which is a smooth, lightweight Dyneema netting. High-strength knotless netting is used for the sorting grid sections. The trawls have to be designed so that the codends can be released before it coming onto the deck.
‘This is done with a section between the grid and the bag, which can be lifted slowly to guide fish into the tanks below the water surface,’ Óli Horn explained.
‘They have confidence in us, and therefore Vónin supplies all the equipment for shrimp fishing on this new vessel, and this has already started to benefit others that are on the way.’
The gear will be delivered in Ålesund, and staff from Vónin will also help the crew to rig this trawler of the future for fishing.
