The new French pelagic trawler Scombrus CC-919999, built for France Pélagique (part of Cornelis Vrolijk), is now in its first trip, having sailed from IJmuiden at the beginning of August.
Built by Havyard Ship Technology AS at Leirvik in Norway, Scombrus arrived in the netherlands and went to one of the Damen yards in Rotterdam for work on the cargo holds to be completed and for a final inspection, followed by a week alongside in IJmuiden for the crew to familiarise themselves with the new vessel and for required safety and training drills to be held.
The 81.40 metre LOA, 7.50 metre beam Scombrus replaces the Sandettie, which was built in 1981, and will operate on small pelagic species such as herring, mackerel, horse mackerel and blue whiting.
The owners’ requirement with the new vessel was for greater energy efficiency than older vessels are capable of, better working and living conditions, and for a higher quality of product on board.
Greater energy efficiency is achieved with a diesel-electric, dual-propeller propulsion system, combined with a more efficient refrigeration and freezing system. Effectively insulated horizontal plate freezers result in significantly reduced loss of cold air. All of this is expected to result in energy savings of approximately 15%.
The working environment is improved with safer working conditions on the aft deck, with a higher bulwark providing a protection from weather and wind. The cargo holds are supplied with fork-lift trucks and automatic palletising systems, minimising the amount of heavy lifting for the crew.
In general, work on Scombrus’s processing deck is less physically strenuous as the horizontal plate freezers can be loaded and discharged automatically, while the new sorting systems and freezing methods are expected to result in a higher product quality.
