Astilleros de Murueta has delivered the fifth in a series of new trawlers for Royal Greenland that began in 2019.
The five-vessel series began with filleter factory trawler Sisimiut, followed by four freezer trawlers designed to fish primarily for shrimp, of which the new Kaassassuk is the fifth – built to the same Skipsteknisk design as Tuugaalik, Nataarnaq and Avataq.
The 82.30-metre by 18-metre breadth Kaassassuk arrived in Nuuk this week, completing the delivery trip from Bilbao.
Like its sister vessels, Kaassassuk is built to operate on cold water shrimp, with the option of switching to groundfish if required. According to Royal Greenland, the new trawler has the capacity to fish up to 10,000 tonnes annually.
‘Kaassassuk is not just a technological novelty it’s an investment in the future of Royal Greenland and for the fishing in Greenland,’ said Johan Berthelsen, operations manager of the company’s trawler division, adding that this is the final element in a series of investments aimed at ensuring the company’s efficient, stable and future-proof operation, with modern technology, better working environment and high quality product on board.
The new trawler is outfitted with a factory deck that includes four IQF lines with a combined 100-tonne/24 hours throughput capacity, as well as a specialised Japan line capable of handling 20 pieces per minute and an automated freezer able to handle 28 tonnes/24 hour. There is a high level of automation on Kaassassuk’s catch handling deck, including three palleting robots.
Catches are stored on pallets in the two fishroom areas. The upper 1550 cubic metre fishroom has capacity for 334 pallets and the lower 1400 cubic metre fishroom can hold 287 pallets.
Propulsion is provided by a MAN package, with a 7200kW 12V32/44CR main engine powering a 4500mm VBS 1180 propeller via an ACG 1080 reduction gear with a 5.86:1 ratio.
Gensets are a pair of 940kWe Caterpillar C32 units, plus a C7.1 emergency set, and also has a 3200kWe shaft generator that runs from the PTO on the reduction gear.
