Skipper Jason Coyle brought the Ullapool-registered Amberlisa UL-30 to Denmark to look for some luck.
The boat was delivered new in May this year by Arklow Marine Services, and Jason alternates with Seamus Rogers skippering the boat.
Built to fish for brown crab and lobsters in Scottish waters, Amberlisa is a dedicated viver crabber with catches delivered to the NacNeil Shellfish factory – kept alive in the boat’s tanks that are chilled and oxygenated to keep the crabs in peak condition.
According to Jason Coyle, fishing for crab in Scotland has been poor and while prices are acceptable, the volume has dropped drastically. This is what prompted the two skippers to try crabbing from the west coast of Jutland, and they hope to be able to continue up to December.
Amberlisa can carry around 500 pots, and fishes 3000. So most of the boat’s gear was brought to Denmark in five truckloads.
‘There are six crew,’ he said, adding that before long they expect to add one more to cope with the workload on board. The deck crew come mainly from Latvia.
He commented that working from Hvide Sande has been a real pleasure, as he and his crew have found everyone to be helpful and friendly. The port has provided them with chiller space and a berth.
‘We were right to choose Hvide Sande as the place to work from,’ he said.
The 19 metre LOA, 7 metre beam Amberlisa was delivered earlier this year to MacNeil as a joint venture with MacMar. It has a 450hp Scania DI 071M main engine coupled to a Reintjes WAF 274 reduction gearbox. The auxiliary engines are a pair of identical Cummins units, each driving Stamford generators.
