VESSEL REVIEW | Halcyon – Scotland's West Coast Sea Products places new scallop trawler and transporter into service

Scottish fishing company West Coast Sea Products (WCSP) recently took delivery of a new scallop trawler built by Parkol Marine Engineering.

The Bureau Veritas-classed Halcyon is a steel-hulled vessel with a round bilge, a transom stern, a bulbous bow, and a soft nose stem. She is rigged for scallop dredge fishing, with dredge tipping doors and catch handling conveyors for a maximum of 18 dredges on either side, though the present configuration has only 17 dredgers on either side.

The trawler will transport the scallops to any suitable port, and the catch will eventually be brought to WCSP’s factory in Kirkcudbright for processing. The vessel may also land catch directly at Kirkcudbright, and this is made possible by fore and aft trim tanks that allow the draught to be further reduced to ensure safe navigation to and from the town’s harbour.

Upgraded variant of an earlier scalloper design

Parkol said that Halcyon’s design is based on that of Alcedo, an earlier vessel that it built for WCSP and is still being operated by the latter 25 years later. The two vessels are not identical, however, as the newbuild has a fuller transom as well as a different deck arrangement.

Halcyon has an LOA of 34 metres (110 feet), a moulded beam of 8.9 metres (29 feet), and a moulded depth of 4.16 metres (13.6 feet). Below deck she is subdivided by four watertight bulkheads into the steering gear compartment, the engine room, the hold, and the store and forepeak tank.

A Mitsubishi S12R-MPTAW 749kW (1,000hp) IMO Tier III-compliant main engine drives a Sip Marine four-bladed propeller via a Reintjes WGF 773/11 gearbox. Electrical power is supplied by two Volvo Penta 239kW generators while a Volvo Penta 551kW unit provides hydraulic power. Also fitted is an AS:Scan steering system.

Fuel is fed from port and starboard tanks with a total capacity of 40,000 litres (8,800 gallons). Buoyancy tanks are installed on the sides to help maintain stability during instances when the centre of gravity becomes slightly offset, such as when water ends up on the deck during hauling.

Systems permitting automatic operation of hauling and handling gear

The aft deckhouse features a combined galley and mess, air-conditioned crew cabins, a washroom, a lobby, an oilskin rest area, and split winch rooms. The wheelhouse is located on the upper aft deckhouse.

The main deck working area has a beam trawl gantry, catch conveyors, and dredge tipping doors incorporated into bulwark sides, while the workshop is placed forward. The catch handling equipment is arranged on the open deck. An automatic system can handle the shooting of trawls and the hauling of scallops to minimise the need for manual operation via joystick.

Scallops are hauled on board and into a hopper and then dropped into two conveyors. These conveyors then deliver the catch to a centrally-mounted selecting conveyor, at the end of which is a scupper that allows debris and any undersized scallops to be offloaded back into the sea.

The scallops that remain on board are dropped into a dumpy sack and are later iced and palletised for easier offloading when landing catch in port. Up to six one-tonne pallets can be stored in the hold, which features a refrigeration system from Guntner.

The aft main deck has space for a Palfinger Marine outboard-equipped rescue boat, which is launched into and recovered from the water using a dedicated davit. The other deck equipment includes a crane, remotely controlled three-speed winches, and gear handling systems as part of a package provided by SeaQuest.

Electronics suite suitable for long-endurance trips

The wheelhouse boasts two NorSap crew seats and electronics consisting of two radars and a sonar supplied by Furuno, a Hondex plotter/sounder, and plotters from Olex and MaxSea. There are also 18 CCTV cameras, four of which are mounted on the mast to aid the crew when manoeuvring in harbour.

Halcyon has since replaced Kingfisher, an earlier vessel in the WCSP fleet. Design work on the new vessel was undertaken by Ian Paton of naval architecture firm S C McAllister and Co.

The newbuild will be operated primarily on six- and seven-day fishing voyages in UK waters.