Looking to replace their older vessel with a newbuild offering more capacity and greater comfort, Icelandic fishing company Blakksnes earlier this year took delivery of new longliner Hulda GK-17, built by Trefjar.
The 12.50 metre, 6.70 metre breadth Hulda departs from the usual pattern of the yard’s Cleopatra designs, notably with the significantly greater than usual beam, while remaining within the 30gt limitation for Iceland’s hook and line fishery management regime.
The design was developed with Ráðgarður, and while based on the conventional Cleopatra layout, some sections have been completely redesigned.
“The bow section is based on an existing mould and is much the same as the standard boats, but the demands of working with such a broad hull mean that the underwater section of the hull has been completely remodelled so that Hulda performs well when pushing into the weather or operating in a following sea,” said Trefjar’s Högni Bergthórsson.
“What also makes Hulda different is the accommodation, with eight bunks in four separate cabins, so it’s no problem to rotate two crews, with each crewman having his own bunk. This means that Hulda has the capacity in both the fishroom and accommodation space to work extended trips if required.”
He added that a sister vessel is currently under construction for another Icelandic customer, with a delivery date scheduled for late 2021.
Placing the wheelhouse one level up from the usual position in a vessel of this length means that Hulda has a full-length working deck, laid out with a dedicated hauler room on the starboard side with a hauling hatch in the shelterdeck. The HV200 longline hauler the racking system and the baiter located by the aft shooting hatch are all from Mustad Autoline. The Line Controller system provides the skipper with a constant readout of progress while hauling, including a total of how many hooks had a fish on and the baiting rate. The line tension and speed can be adjusted from the wheelhouse. The 22,000-hook system consists of Mustad 12 hooks rigged on 7.20mm line.
The bait tub is from Beitir and Stálorka supplied the bait racks, as well as rails on the upper deck and other steelwork on board.
The catch handling layout includes bleeding and cooling facilities supplied by Micro, as well as reception and by-catch tanks. The icemaker and the pre-chilling system are from Kæling. The midships fishroom is laid out for up to 54 tubs, each with a 460 litre capacity.
Electronics in the wheelhouse include WASSP F3i multi-beam and Simrad ES80 split-beam echo sounders. A JRC JLN-652 Doppler Current log helps assess conditions when shooting the line away. Plotters are Olex and Maxsea TimeZero sets. The autopilot is a Simrad AP70 MKII, and is linked to the Quick aft and stern thrusters to come into play automatically to keep Hulda on track when hauling at slow speeds.
Hulda’s wheelhouse electronics are routed through an array of AG Neovo QX-43 4K PRO displays.
With the standard Trefjar arrangement placing the engine room aft, Hulda has an 800hp Doosan 4V222TI main engine powering a free-standing ZF 665 reduction gearbox, all supplied by Ásafl, who also supplied the pair of 105kW Scam/FPT gensets, the stern gear and propeller, the propeller knife, pumps and the steering gear, while the rudder is from KN Vélsmiðja.
