VESSEL REVIEW | Copious – Croatian yard delivers 25m newbuild to Shetland fisher

A new fishing vessel has been delivered to 60 North Fishing of Shetland.

Copious is the first of a pair of sister vessels for the company and was built in Croatia by Tehnomont Shipyard to a full design package supplied by UK naval architecture firm Macduff Ship Design. The second vessel, to be named Prolific, is set to be delivered later in the year.

Macduff Ship Design was first contacted by Mark Anderson, who heads 60 North Fishing with partners Andrew White, Ryan Arthur, and fish selling agent LHD, to develop a bespoke new design. Once Tehnomont Shipyard was selected as builder in 2020, Macduff Ship Design set about developing hull form, detailed construction, and outfitting plans. One of the first key decisions was sizing the propeller. The designer said larger controllable-pitch propellers can have notable efficiency savings hence the largest propeller that could fit was to be selected. The hull form was meanwhile configured to ensure the vessel could handle the unpredictable and oftentimes rough seas in its designated fishing area but would also have optimum efficiency to minimise fuel consumption.

The vessel needed to readily be able to swap between single net trawling, twin rigging and pair trawling with all equipment needed for these three operations to be carried on board. The arrangement of the deck machinery was developed collaboratively with 60 North Fishing to improve the safety and efficiency of fishing operations.

Although designed with the ability to sail on 10 day trips, the vessel is likely to focus on shorter trips to better ensure catch quality. In order to maximise the quality of the landed fish, there has been a high importance placed on the way the fish is handled once caught, with care taken in the design of all of the systems, with particular attention being paid to the processing equipment supplied by JJ Measuring Systems. Once the fish is landed through the aft cod end hatch into the hopper, it is immediately cooled with a water spraying and slush ice system. After passing through the gutting area, the fish are sorted into one of two six-compartment, cylindrical selector/coolers supplied by Carsoe to a design from Jim Johnson of JJ Measuring Systems. Each segment can be emptied individually in any order to suit the optimal fish cooling.

Once cooled, the fish are transported by conveyor to the fish access hatch and into the hold to a portable table with four workstations. The fish are graded, weighed, and boxed with fresh water and flake ice before being stored in the 1,100-box capacity hold. The hold also contains two 2.5-tonne Buus slush ice tanks that work in conjunction with the two 4.5-tonne per day ice machines on the main deck. The water for the system is supplied from the onboard fresh water tanks and a two-tonne per day Alfa Laval freshwater desalinator fitted in the engine room.

The vessel is fitted with a Mitsubishi V12 S12R main engine rated 588 Kw at 1,400 rpm and this is coupled to a Finnoy FK50 11.3:1 gearbox. This drives a Finnoy controllable-pitch propeller fitted in a nozzle supplied by Kort Propulsion. The vessel is fitted with a triple rudder and bow thruster also supplied by Kort Propulsion, and this gives the vessel excellent manoeuvrability for day-to-day operations.

The deck machinery package supplied by MacGregor is driven by three hydraulic pumps driven from power take offs on the Finnoy gearbox and electric towing pumps. The fishing equipment consists of three 14-tonne trawl winches arranged under the focsle forward. The winches are linked to a Scantrol autotrawl system with a three-speed arrangement of 100 per cent, 80 per cent, and 60 per cent. Aft of the wheelhouse are three 20-tonne split net drums that are also linked to the Scantrol system. Macgregor also supplied a pair of hinged pins arranged just forward of the stern openings and can be raised or lowered remotely, depending on the fishing method and nets being used.

The winches tow a pair of Thyboron type 32 semi pelagic trawl doors and a two-tonne roller clump. The gear is monitored by a Marport system with sensors on the trawl doors and clump measuring depth, height, distance, pitch, and roll with a further sounder measuring the distance each door is off the seabed. There are a further two symmetry sensors mounted on the headline of the net. Nordso Trawl supplied the twin rig nets along with a single net and high lift pair trawl net with Scot Trawl supplying the codends and extensions and Jackson Trawl the combi line sweeplines.

The crew accommodation is arranged entirely on the main deck and comprises a changing area with deck water closet and shower forward to port and accessible from the processing area.  Once into the main living quarters, two four-berth cabins, two two-berth cabins, and WC facilities are positioned from amidships forward. Aft of the cabins are a dedicated lounge area and a combined galley/mess.

The wheelhouse is arranged with a forward control area and an aft raised control area for fishing operations. H Williamson and Sons supplied the wheelhouse electronics, which include a radar, GPS, and AIS from Furuno, a Raytheon gyrocompass, and Sailor VHF radios.

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