Looking for a modern trawler with more comfort for the crew, as well as better steaming speed and fuel efficiency when towing, while staying largely with the successful and familiar layout of their previous vessel, Derek Watt and his son Philip went back to Macduff for their new Excel BF-100.
Designed to operate from Fraserburgh, fishing primarily for nephrops in the North Sea, the new Excel replaces vessel of the same name that Macduff delivered to the family in 2010 and which has served them well since. Staying with the general internal layout and working arrangement that has shown itself to work well over the years was a key factor in the design, developed by the owners with the yard and Macduff Ship Design to make the transition to the new vessel a smooth process.
No requirement for Excel to be under the ticket requirement registered length meant that the designers were free to optimise the bow section for maximum efficiency, and the resulting arrangement is similar to that of other recent newbuilds Venture IV and Zenith.
The yard worked closely with the Wolfson Unit in Southampton, which conducted a Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis of the existing hull alongside a couple of variants of new concept models. This helped the yard to refine the design and ensure that a step forward was being taken in regard to reducing hull resistance and improving energy efficiency.
The resulting design was drawn up by Macduff Ship Design for a trawler with a 19.99 metre overall length and a 7.40 metre beam, accommodation for a crew of six to eight below deck level, and a fishroom capable of holding 600 boxes.
Built with a double chine hull form, transom stern and modern bow designed to cut cleanly through the sea with a lower energy requirement, resulting in lower fuel consumption and emissions along with increased crew comfort, Excel is constructed in steel, and topped with an aluminium wheelhouse and mast.
Excel’s build has seen Macduff returning to work with Nogva (previously Heimdal) which provided many of the yard’s newbuilds through the 80s and 90s with stern gear packages. Excel has a 2200mm controllable pitch propeller, housed within a nozzle, coupled to a large reduction gearbox complete with two PTOs for hydraulic power, driven by a Caterpillar C18 main engine – the first IMO Tier III engine to be fitted by the yard. A SCR and urea/AdBlue system is fitted, provided by Xeamos, which allows the engine to meet the new, more stringent emission standards set by the IMO, resulting in the cleanest emitting new build delivered by the yard to date.
Certification of the engine and SCR system was arranged by Finning CAT who assembled the complete system on their test bed in Cannock, with witnessing and certification provided by DNV/GL. The system was demonstrated to work well during sea trials where the 35 dB reduction SCR silencer helped the reduce noise levels throughout the vessel.
Cooling systems for all engines and hydraulics on board are served by box coolers supplied by Blokland Non-Ferro.
The rudder system is the yard’s own construction and the steering gear is from Scan Steering APS.
Electrical power onboard is provided by two Mitsubishi generator sets supplied by Macduff Diesels Limited, each with a rating of 98kWe and of sufficient size to run the vessel’s power independently providing complete redundancy. Electrical systems onboard were designed and fitted by R.D. Downie, who also fabricated the switchboard and control panels for all the pumps and motor starters, as well as providing the fire, bilge and gas alarm systems along with the navigation light panel and assisting with the installation of the navigation equipment. This is a high-spec package was supplied and fitted onboard by Woodsons of Aberdeen. The Notus trawl monitoring system has been supplied by Seafield Navigation.
At main deck level Excel is laid out with an aft shelter, galley/mess and side passage area, fish processing area and forepeak where the winch is located. This is part of a tailor-made hydraulic deck machinery package fabricated by the yard, with a triple barrel winch fitted with a Hagglunds compact CA140 motor. There are two split net drums aft, complete with two Hagglunds compact CA70 motor per drum and a cod end lifting winch.
Thistle Marine supplied both the MFB8 landing crane and MBK7 powerblock crane, both of which are mounted on a slew ring base. Primary hydraulic power is provided by two pumps driven from the gearbox PTOS, whilst secondary hydraulic power is provided by a small electro-hydraulic system featuring a 45kW electric motor coupled to a hydraulic pump which can retrieve the fishing gear in a emergency.
The fish processing deck features a catch handling system built by the yard and Northeast Fabricators. A separate compartment is formed within the fish processing area which house both the ice plant room as well as an access hatch and fixed permanent stair to the hold. The fish hold refrigeration system along with ice machine was supplied and fitted by Premier Refrigeration.
