A French factory trawler is now in its final trip for Saint-Malo owners Compagnie des Pêches, leaving last week for fishing grounds off Norway.
Due to be replaced, La Grande Hermine was scheduled to have already been laid up. With the new vessel’s delivery delayed, the veteran trawler gets to fish a final trip before being replaced by the new Emeraude, under construction at the Kleven yard in Norway, one of the series as built to the same Rolls-Royce hull design as the Berlin and Cuxhaven already delivered to Samherji subsidiary DFFU.
Built at the Ateliers et Chantiers de la Manche shipyard in Saint-Malo in 1985 for Compagnie des Pêches (then known as Comapêche), La Grande Hermine has an unusual design with its superstructure offset to port to provide an extended trawl deck on the starboard side.
It measures 61.55 metres overall with a 15 metre beam with a 2700hp Sulzer main engine, and was an exceptional vessel when it was commissioned to fish primarily in Newfoundland. After 1993 La Grande Hermine was switched to fishing grounds in Norwegian waters, targeting cod and haddock that are filleted and frozen on board.
Emeraude which will replace La Grande Hermine is one of a series ordered from Kleven by the Icelandic and Dutch operators who hold a share in Compagnie des Pêches.
La Grande Hermine sailed for its last trip on 25th January and is expected to be at sea for two months.
