VESSEL REVIEW | Destiny – Cooke Seafood USA’s Argentina business deploys new shrimp trawler

Wanchese Fish Company, the Argentina-based family-owned seafood business that was acquired by Cooke Seafood USA in 2015, has taken delivery of a new outrigger trawler from Spanish shipbuilder Armon.

Named Destiny, the new vessel was built at a cost of approximately US$12 million to provide a modern and better-equipped platform for catching Argentine red shrimp and other species. It has an LOA of 42.93 metres, a beam of 11.1 metres, and a maximum deadweight tonnage of 885.

In addition to possessing the latest processing technology from Josmar, the new vessel also has Ibercisa electric trawl winches for the outrigger system. The electronics suite includes two radars supplied by Furuno while the onboard generators are from Scania and Yanmar.

Safety and comfort are of high priority for the owners. Hence, the vessel was designed to provide the crew of 34 with improved accommodations for long voyages.

Destiny has since replaced Altalena, an older vessel in the Wanchese shrimp fleet. The newer trawler is based at the port of Mar del Plata on Argentina’s Atlantic coast and is being operated primarily off the southern part of the country following the commencement of this year’s red shrimp season.

As with the other vessels in the Wanchese Fish Company fleet, the new trawler is being used to catch shrimp that will be primarily for export. The processing equipment make catch available in the form of frozen whole shrimp, with shell-on tails, or already de-veined.

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