It’s been tied up in Nelson for a few years, and tuna purse seiner Koorale is about to be sold by public tender. Although it’s been a dead ship for some time, it could be put back to work as a fishing vessel – or converted for some other purpose.
Built in 1973 at the Martinac yard in Tacoma, Washington, the 55.50-metre Koorale (ex-Royal Pacific) was fishing in the Pacific in mid-2019 when it suffered damage in a collision with the larger American Eagle – when both seiners were reported to be chasing the same school of fish.
The badly damaged Koorale headed for New Zealand for repairs. Docked in Nelson, a considerable amount of work was done – before repair work came to a halt – while a legal battle raged between the owners of the two US-flagged purse seiners. Since late 2020 Koorale has been cold laid up, with none of the systems on board run up or maintained.
The work carried out in Nelson includes the hull shell plating, deck plating on the bridge deck, a complete replacement of the wheelhouse superstructure. The main engine crank shaft and intermediate propeller shaft were removed from to check for deflections, all the auxiliary engines were removed to be rebuilt and all electronics were taken off when the damaged wheelhouse was removed from the vessel. The workboats, including the skiff, the power block, purse seine net and crows’ nest were also removed. The wheelhouse electronics were also removed from the vessel prior to work starting during the incomplete rebuild in Nelson. Work had been done on the accommodation, but was not completed.
The ammonia refrigeration plant is in place on the upper level in the engine room. Koorale has a wet deck with two lines of nine wells, giving the vessel a roughly 950-tonne carrying capacity. Some of the portside wells have had plates replaced when damage to the port side incurred during the collision was repaired, with not all of the refrigeration pipework fully reinstated.
On deck there’s a Marco Superseiner II Model WS455 and the bulk of the topping, snubbing, brailing and other winches are Pullmaster or Marco equipment. Koorale has a Martinac windlass and there are two Pullmaster hydraulic cranes and a hydraulic drum winch forward of the superstructure.
Now the subject of a sale process ordered by the High Court in Wellington, the disposal of the Koorale is being handled by broker SeaBoats, which describes the vessel as ‘suitable to be returned to tuna fishing or her attractive lines make her a candidate for a yacht conversion.’
