The Nodosa shipyard has signed a contract to build a new 85 metre LOA, 14 metre breadth factory trawler for the PetrelFishing Company, part of the Pescapuerta group.
With a delivery date scheduled for late 2024, the new Prion will be the largest to date in the recent wave of fleet renewal for the Spanish distant waters fleet. The design has been developed by Nodosa, in close co-operation with the Petrel technical team.
Prion follows Falcon, which Nodosa delivered to the same owners more than a year ago and which has returned excellent results during its first seasons operating in South Atlantic waters.
The latest vessel’s design draws on the experience with Falcon, with a number of improvements aimed at improving environmental performance, as well as safety, comfort and conditions for the crew, with as many as possible of them in single and twin-berth cabins.
Facilities are also provided for the observers required for the Falklands fishery.
The factory deck design utilises the ergonomic study that returned good results for Falcon, minimising heavy lifting, and with automated processes to reduce the crew’s workload during processing catches, while maintaining quality of the final product.
Prion will be outfitted with energy efficient main and auxiliary engines, designed to meet the highest emissions standards, and ammonia has been selected as the refrigeration agent for the freezers and fishroom, as this is both environmentally friendly and has a greater refrigeration capacity than alternatives.
The hull lines are refined for operational efficiency, and incorporate an inverted bow, based on extensive studies and previous experience with such an arrangement.
The deck layout is optimised to minimise the number of crew needed to handle the gear during routine operations and to provide greater protection during heavy weather.
As the Spanish fleet has moved into renewal of its elderly factory vessels, Nodosa has been at the forefront of this, having already delivered modern factory trawlers Monteferro, Argos Cíes, Montelourido and Falcon to Spanish operators for fishing in the South Atlantic, as well as specialised longliner CFL Hunter, which was delivered in 2017 specifically for the Patagonian toothfish fishery.
