“The first E-Line hauling system went through a very long trial period onboard Loran, and after eight months in daily operations making sure we could be confident that it was right. Ståle Dyb, the owner and skipper o board has been using it ever since,” said Mustad Autoline’s Gro Fjeld, commenting that quality is everything.

Mustad

Mustad

Norwegian longliner Vonar was among the first to start fishing with a fully-electric longline system. Mustad plans to extend its rollout of electrical systems to the coastal fleet, starting next year

“We have customers who are fishing long trips, sometimes several months, and they are fishing a long way offshore. So providing support isn’t always easy and these systems can’t go wrong.”

So far there are six of these top-of-the-line longline installations in use on board large freezer longliners, with more on the way, and Mustad is now working to respond to the demand from coastal vessels for an electric option.

The focus is on the more manual HandyMag system which works with smaller, loose magazines, and the higher-capacity Coastal Autoline system – both of which operate with the same precision baiter.

“We have a very positive experience of developing the systems for larger vessels and we can make full use of that acquired knowledge in adapting electrical autoline gear for the coastal sector,” she said.

“It all depends on the development process, and the test results but we intend to launch components for the E-Line system for coastal fisheries at Nor-Fishing 2024.”

Increased efficiency

Apart from the initial advantages of moving away from hydraulics, such as doing away with fluids that have the potential to spill and pollute, an electric longline setup typically has a lower energy requirement, resulting in a reduction in fuel consumption.

It doesn’t do any harm that an electric system is easier to install in terms of both time and space.

“What makes a big difference is the amount of data collected. An electric setup with PLC based control system offers opportunities for a much more accurate and precise collection of data with live monitoring of temperature, vibration, and more. Predictive maintenance based on accumulated data and if necessary, live data connected direct to our service team for support,” Fjeld said.

Because of the massive collection and processing of data the electric Autoline hauler is more sensitive to heave, so the tension on the line remains more constant.

“The feedback we get from skippers is that there is less sudden tension, fewer line breakages, and also less fish lost off the line while hauling.”

 

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