\u201cThis is more than just commissioning,\u201d, said Javier D\u00edaz Vizcaya, one of the engineer in Ibercisa\u2019s Technology & Solutions department. He is one the Skipper\u2019s Mates, the company\u2019s team of specialists in a role set up by the company to assist skippers and crews in getting the maximum benefit from the systems the company supplies \u2013 in this case a set of electrical winches with energy regeneration capacity.<\/p>\n
Ibercisa sent a team of three around the world to Alaska to join America\u2019s Finest<\/em> in Alaska. Javier D\u00edaz, V\u00edctor Carpintero and \u00d3scar Pi\u00f1eiro to spend time on board the 79.80 metre trawler built at Dakota Creek Industries in Anacortes WA for Fishermen\u2019s Finest. America\u2019s Finest<\/em> is based in Dutch Harbor, the main US port for fresh fish that handles 353,000 tonnes of fish worth $474 million in 2015.<\/p>\n \u201cOur task consisted of assisting the skipper and the crew. We carried out training, made the necessary adjustments \u2013 and we saw the work that the ship does,\u201d Javier D\u00edaz explained, adding that initially this was done over two days during sea trials, followed up with remote support. This was in turn followed by Ibercisa\u2019s staff spending time on board during fishing operations over several trips, aiming to achieve maximum efficiency while fishing for yellowtail and Alaska pollock.<\/p>\n According to Javier D\u00edaz, the trawler\u2019s skipper had asked for the Ibercisa team to spend time on board America\u2019s Finest<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cHe preferred it like that, he felt safer. For him the equipment supplied by Ibercisa was totally new, because he was accustomed to older and less sophisticated winches, the same as the crew,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n \u201cThe skipper felt more comfortable having somebody to respond to any operational questions, so that the maintenance crew, the engine room team and others knew exactly what they had to do to avoid problems during fishing.\u201d<\/p>\n The visit to Alaska was just one of the many trips that Ibercisa\u2019s engineers make around the world, to the Falklands, Namibia, the North Sea, Russia or the NAFO zone \u2013 but the trip to Alaska was much more of an extended stay than they are used to. He explained that once on board they live ad work alongside the crew, always in the wheelhouse with the skipper while the trawler is fishing. Most of the activity was during the skipper\u2019s twelve-hour shift in charge, but they were always on call for the chief officers at other times.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough every fishing vessel seems the same, each has its own way of operating. The crew has its way of working and we try to adapt our equipment to their style,\u201d Javier D\u00edaz said, commenting that in this case the adaptation was straightforward as the crew of America\u2019s Finest<\/em> made the transition from working with conventional hydraulic to the new electric winch system \u2013 and this presented no serious problems.<\/p>\n \u201cThe crew is very well trained. On other boats things can be different, but it always works out in the end,\u201d he said, adding that adapting to a new technology is a question of time, and of matching the technology\u2019s potential to the skills and experience of the skipper. He commented that there was a clear difference between the first and second visits to America\u2019s Finest<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe winches were in full use and catches were improving,\u201d he said, comparing the second trip to the first few weeks. \u201cWhen we left, the winches were working at their optimum level, and they haven\u2019t stopped fishing since we left the ship.\u201d<\/p>\n Taking service further<\/strong><\/p>\n Javier D\u00edaz and his colleagues see this kind of service as becoming increasingly important as technology becomes more sophisticated and efficient.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, it\u2019s about control,\u201d he said. \u201cLearning to manage new technology is essential. You can have all of the technology in the world on board But if you don\u2019t know how to use it, you won\u2019t achieve anything,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n At the same time, being able to work with the winches under operational conditions also presents the Ibercisa engineers with learning opportunities.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s positive to spend time on board, so we can make practical use of what we have seen. It\u2019s fundamental for us to really know the operation and how the skipper works, so that we know how to make the adjustments and what kind of problems can occur,\u201d he explained. It is also essential in case the owner orders a new set of winches for another vessel, as part of the work has been done already \u2013 but not all of it.<\/p>\n \u201cEven between two vessels from the same company, there would definitely be configuration differences,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery skipper has his personal way of doing things.\u201d<\/p>\n Full package<\/strong><\/p>\n Ibercisa delivered a full package of equipment for the Skipsteknisk-designed America\u2019s Finest<\/em>, built to an ST-116XL design at Dakota Creek Industries. This included the trawl winches and autotrawl control system, as well as net drums, sweepline winches, gilsons, codend winches, netsounder winches, a number of auxiliary winches and the anchor and mooring winches.<\/p>\n America\u2019s Finest<\/em> became the most controversial fishing vessel in the US fleet when its delivery held up for more than a year after an infringement of the US Jones Act came to light, as a larger proportion of the steel in the hull construction than allowable had been used. The situation was resolved after a lengthy legal process and an exemption granted by the US senate.<\/p>\n America\u2019s Finest<\/em> has attracted attention in Dutch Harbor, partly due to the tortuous process leading up to delivery, but also because this is the most modern vessel in the fleet, leading the way in terms of sustainability and efficiency \u2013 which includes the electric winches supplied by Ibercisa.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s big news in the area because the fleet here is very old. The industry has been waiting for this,\u201d Javier D\u00edaz said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Earlier this year three technicians from Ibercisa Deck Machinery went to sea with America\u2019s Finest to optimise and adjust the trawl winches supplied to the new trawler owned by Fishermen\u2019s Finest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2622,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"sponsor":[],"class_list":["post-2621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fishing-gear"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldfishing.net\/icefish-conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldfishing.net\/icefish-conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldfishing.net\/icefish-conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldfishing.net\/icefish-conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldfishing.net\/icefish-conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2621"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldfishing.net\/icefish-conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2623,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldfishing.net\/icefish-conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2621\/revisions\/2623"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldfishing.net\/icefish-conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldfishing.net\/icefish-conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldfishing.net\/icefish-conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldfishing.net\/icefish-conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2621"},{"taxonomy":"sponsor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldfishing.net\/icefish-conference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sponsor?post=2621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}