The first of four longliner/processor vessels for Russian companies has launched at the Northern Shipyard in St Petersburg, ready for further fitting out to be completed at the quayside.
Marlin is being built for fishing company Globus LLC, a partnership of fishing collective farms in the Arkhangelsk region of northern Russia, and like the other three longliners in the series, it will fish for groundfish in the Barents Sea and Norwegian Sea, targeting primarily cod and haddock.
The MT1112 XL longliner design has been sourced from Norwegian naval architect Marin Teknikk, which has extensive experience of designing this type of vessel with the hull and diesel electric propulsion optimised for low fuel consumption and low emissions.
Marin Teknikk has been a pioneer in adopting this technology for both offshore vessels and fishing vessels.
Marlin has a 58.60 metre overall length and a beam of 13 metres, and is being fitted out with an autoline system laid out to haul the longline through a moonpool, a full fish processing deck including a cannery, and a 30 tonne/day freezing capacity. Endurance is projected for trips of up to 45 days and the fishroom capacity is for approximately 500 tonnes of frozen production.
In addition to accommodation for 26 crew, additional living spaced are planned for students of the North-West maritime colleges, enabling young people to do serve internships under real fishing conditions.
The launch ceremony for Marlin was a packed occasion, attended by head of the Federal Fisheries Agency Ilya Shestakov, St. Petersburg governor Alexander Beglov, the Arkhangelsk region’s governor Alexander Tsybulsky, as well as Globus LLC’s director Andrey Zaika and the shipyard director Igor Orlov.
In his speech, Ilya Shestakov commented that the implementation of the Investment Quotas Programme in Russia is what has made the renewal of the fishing fleet possible.
‘Thanks to this law, 53 new fishing vessels are currently being built at domestic shipyards. I want to thank everyone for the fact that, despite the lack of confidence in the competencies of our shipyards, you have demonstrated that anything is possible,’ Ilya Shestakov said in his speech.
The Chairman of the board of the Severnaya Verf’s parent company United Shipbuilding Corporation, Georgy Poltavchenko and general director Alexey Rakhmanov both congratulated the yard for its work.
‘We have clearly demonstrated that a large-scale renewal of the fishing fleet is gaining momentum,’ Alexey Rakhmanov said. ‘Our shipyards have already signed contracts for more than four dozen vessels. Today we are proving that USC has all the necessary resources and competencies to keep orders for fishing vessels in the country.’
