VESSEL REVIEW | Hargun – Norwegian family to operate blue whiting purser/trawler off western Ireland

Danish shipbuilder Karstensens Skibsværft recently handed over a new purse seiner/trawler to Norwegian family-owned fishing company Hargun Havfiske.

The 83- by 16-metre (270- by 52-foot) newbuild is the fourth vessel in the company’s fleet to be named Hargun. Like her predecessors, she will be operated primarily off the west coast of Ireland, where she will trawl for blue whiting and catch herring and mackerel using purse seines.

Hargun’s hull was built at the Gdansk facilities of Karstensens Shipyard Poland while final outfitting was undertaken at Karstensens’ site in Gdansk. Karstensens was also responsible for design work. The owners had full oversight throughout the construction, resulting in a vessel that was tailored to their requirements.

Custom-designed to deliver improvements in safety and comfort

The overall design, the interior design, and the arrangements were developed through close collaboration between the owner and the builder. The owner had requested innovative solutions, and special emphasis was placed on optimising working conditions, safety and comfort for the crew.

The work on the hull design and optimisation had a goal of achieving the lowest possible fuel consumption figures. The vessel is also equipped with heat recovery covering all engines as well as a number of other measures intended to minimise energy consumption.

The hull is made of steel with three continuous decks while the boat deck, wheelhouse and fore and aft masts are built in aluminium. The hull is built on a round frame with a nearly vertical bow with a bulb above and below the waterline.

Flexible heavy-duty propulsion setup

Power for the vessel is provided by two Bergen 3,600kW (4,800hp) engines driving a Brunvoll Volda arrangement of 4,500mm propellers and gearboxes. This configuration can deliver a service speed of 18.9 knots. The engines are fitted with selective catalytic reduction systems to ensure compliance with IMO Tier III NOx emissions regulations.

Also fitted are two Cummins AvK 2,320kW shaft generators and two Scania DI16 600ekW diesel generators. The electrical power arrangement has been configured to permit parallel operation of the 600ekW generators. A DEIF power management system manages the vessel’s power consumption as well as the automatic start-up of the diesel generators.

The rest of the propulsion setup includes a Kongsberg Tenfjord steering system, a Kongsberg high-lift flap rudder, and two Brunvoll FU74-LTC2000 1,400kW side thrusters.

Comprehensive deck machinery and electronics selection

The deck equipment layout includes a Karmøy package of hydraulic winches and a selection of cranes from Karmøy and Storm. Markussens supplied the trawl blocks while the two 1,500kW RSW plants are from Johnson Controls. Marport provided the trawl monitoring system.

The nets are kept in dedicated aft tanks on two decks where stores and machine shops are also located.

The wheelhouse offers 360-degree visibility and boasts electronics consisting of Furuno radars and sonars, an autopilot and gyrocompass from Simrad, a Teledyne FLIR thermal camera, Starlink and Thrane Iridium satellite communications equipment, a Seacom intercom, Hatteland displays, and monitoring systems from Consilium and Mobrey.

Amenities suitable for extended-duration trips

Crew facilities include cabins with en suite toilets and showers, an exercise room, a laundry area, stores, a day room, a cinema, a mess, and a galley with an adjacent provisions room and separate freezer compartments. The interiors have been laid out to ensure reduced noise levels even during normal operations.

Work on the interior spaces was undertaken by Maritime Montering.

The onboard firefighting equipment includes Desmi pumps and a Survitec water mist system while box coolers from Kelvion and Blokland are used for the main engines and the auxiliaries, respectively. Jets provided the vacuum systems for the toilets.

An MOB boat with a dedicated davit and two liferafts were supplied by Viking Life-Saving Equipment.

Hargun was built in compliance with DNV class requirements including those under the ice-C notation.