VESSEL REVIEW | Takapo – Aurora Fisheries' deep-water factory trawler built for Southern Ocean conditions

A new factory trawler was recently handed over to New Zealand-based seafood company Aurora Fisheries.

Takapo was designed by Norwegian naval architecture firm Skipstekisk in compliance with DNV class rules including those under the ice 1B notation. She is capable of both bottom and pelagic trawling and will be operated in New Zealand's offshore waters as well as in the Southern Ocean.

The vessel takes her name from Lake Tekapo on New Zealand's South Island.

Optimised for a variety of species in extreme southern latitudes

Aurora Fisheries said Takapo was purpose-designed for New Zealand’s deepwater conditions and fisheries and is capable of efficiently targeting and processing key deepwater species including ling, hoki, hake (grounds between the Snares and the Auckland Islands), southern blue whiting (Bounty Islands grounds in August and Campbell Islands grounds in September), jack mackerel, silver and white warehou (grounds near the Snares), and squid (Auckland Islands grounds, March to July). The species will all be caught outside the 12-nautical-mile zone in New Zealand’s quota management system fisheries.

The vessel will spend most of her time on the Sub-Antarctic grounds to the south of New Zealand and will not operate in North Island fisheries. The owner said she will fish year-round from Timaru on trips of four to six weeks, with catch processed, graded and frozen at sea within hours of capture, delivering premium-quality seafood to export markets worldwide.

Proven conventional propulsion setup

Takapo has a length of 80 metres (260 feet), a moulded beam of 15 metres (49 feet), a draught of 6.35 metres (20.8 feet), a depth of 9.3 metres (31 feet), a gross tonnage of 3,921, and space for up to 50 crewmembers and fish processing personnel.

The propulsion setup includes an 8L32/44CR 4,880kW (6,540hp) main engine from MAN driving a controllable-pitch propeller, a 3,000kW main diesel generator, and two auxiliary generators. The propulsion can deliver a maximum speed of 15 knots.

Full factory arrangement with multiple processing line types

The vessel has an advanced processing factory where the catch will be automatically processed and packaged as fillets or H&G products, then frozen at –30 degrees Celsius and stored in a dedicated hold.

Additionally, the ship is equipped with a surimi processing system and a 250-ton capacity reverse osmosis system.

The fish hold has a total capacity of 2,135 cubic metres (75,400 cubic feet) of palletised loads and a freezing capacity of up to 90 tonnes per day.

The crew spaces meanwhile include an onboard hospital, a sauna, a galley, a mess, a lounge, a gym, a laundry room, and 50 single cabins. Work on the interiors was undertaken by Maritime Montering.