A section of the stern of beam trawler Helena Elizabeth TX-29 now forms part of a memorial to the Dutch fishing vessels scrapped during 2023.
The memorial is on the island of Texel, which has long been a centre of the Dutch beam trawl fishery, and Helena Elizabeth’s stern section bearing the trawler’s name has been placed in a location with a view over the sea and with benches for visitors.
Just one of the many beam trawlers leaving the Dutch fleet that has been plagued with challenges in recent years – ranging from the Landing Obligation to Brexit, and the loss of the pulse fishery to the runaway growth of windfarms and the consequent loss of fishing grounds – Helena Elizabeth TX-29 was owned by the Drijver family and skipper Marco Drijver sailed the trawler away earlier this year from Oudescheld for the last time to take it to be scrapped at Kampen.
This also marked the end of Marco Drijver’s 42-year career in the wheelhouse.
Built at the Scheepswerf Visser in Den Helder in 1985 as Hendrik Petronella HD-4, it was acquired in 1994 by the Drijver family to become Helena Elizabeth TX-29.
The 40.42 metre trawler originally had a Bolnes 2280hp main engine, later on replaced with a Caterpillar of the same size that was subsequently derated in 2006 to 1999hp.
