It’s not every day a new trawler on this scale is delivered, and the Faroese port of Klaksvík gave JFK Trol’s new Gadus a warm welcome as it docked for the first time in its home port on Sunday – with speeches on the quayside and a celebration that lasted the whole day.
The Skipsteknisk-designed factory trawler has an overall length of 88.10 metres and an 18.30 metre beam, with accommodation for a crew of 43 and a 2060 cubic metre refrigerated fishroom capable of holding an estimated 1400 tonnes of frozen production, as well as storage for 815 cubic metres of fishmeal and 110 cubic metres of fish oil.
The Bjørdal factory deck is designed for zero waste as it provided Gadus with capacity to produce around 100 tonnes of frozen production per day. The whitefish processing lines can handle roundfish such as cod, haddock and saithe, as well as Greenland halibut and redfish, plus the factory deck also houses a shrimp processing line in addition to having options for processing pelagics.
Built at the Tersan yard in Turkey, Gadus replaces an older vessel built in 1987 and acquired by JFK in 2010. The delivery date for the new vessel was originally put at mid-2022 – but the early stages of the construction period coincides with the outbreak of the Covid pandemic, which resulted in a delay.
Gadus is powered by a high-efficiency Wärtsilä 31 main engine developing 9950hp, and the auxiliaries are Yanmar units, all of which are fitted with catalytic converters to minimise emissions.
Designed to operate as a triple rigger, Gadus has a package of EasyDrive winches delivered by Kongsberg Maritime – Brattvaag with the company’s own permanent magnet drives. By doing away with the gearbox, the SmartPΩWER-motor provide exceptional high torque with low revs, while also reducing the likelihood of mechanical failures and minimising maintenance.
The EasyDrive trawl winch has a pull up to 56 tonnes in towing mode and 66 tonnes in overload mode. Standard drum capacity is 3450m of ø34mm wire.
Gadus will be starting fishing with a pair of 12.25 square metre, 5100kg SeaMaster trawl doors and 7300kg clumps from Rock, and trawl gear supplied by Klaksvík company Netastovan.
