Skipper Louwe de Boer has taken delivery of the new Osprey Group seine netter/twin-rigger Henk Senior, making only a brief call in IJmuiden after steaming home from the Nodosa yard in Spain to change gear, take on boxes and stores, and head plaice grounds.
Henk Senior’s arrival has been slightly later than originally scheduled as the winch systems on board were carefully tested and put through their paces with seine netting trials before leaving Spain. The 23.99m, 10m beam Henk Senior has the first set of combination seine and trawl winches produced by Spanish manufacturer Ibercisa, complete with brand-new software written to manage the winch systems.
With the plaice season already well under way, the decision was taken to head straight for the North Sea, so the seine net gear used in the trials was put ashore in IJmuiden and the new trawler was quickly rigged for trawling with its pair of 7 square metre Type 15 Thyborøn doors and sets of Acera 24mm synthetic trawl warp.
Henk Senior’s main engine is an ABC6DZC developing 749kW to drive a ducted 3300mm diameter five-bladed propeller via a WGF1963 Reintjes gearbox with a 1:8.997 reduction to give a speed on sea trials of 11.50 knots and a 25 tonne bollard pull. Auxiliaries are a pair of 320kW MAN D2876LE30 engines and an 86kW Caterpillar.
It has been built at the Nodosa shipyard at Marín in Spain to a Vestværft design, and an identical vessel has also been ordered for Osprey Group.
For the full story on the new Henk Senior and an interview with skipper Louwe de Boer – and much more – check out the latest issue of Hook and Net
