Thyboron has described its new dual purpose ‘Flipper’ trawl door as the most versatile of all of its doors so far.
Equipped with four adjustable foils, the surface area can be reduced by 15%, enabling the same set of doors to be used to trawl for different species (for example, either herring or mackerel).
The angle of attack can also be adjusted, thereby reducing the surface area by another 10%. The company says that this results in two types of doors in one – less drag and better spread.
Pelagic factory trawler Cornelis Vrolijk tested the Flipper in the English Channel in December last year. Skipper Martin van der Meij said he was so confident in the new doors that he left his other doors ashore when Cornelis Vrolijk headed for open waters with the Flipper doors. He said that trawling in shallow waters of only 35-40m proved easy with the adjustable doors.
Doors delivered
Thyboron has also delivered six pairs of specially designed Type 15 VF trawl doors to Russian Sea Catch.
Negotiations with the company began in 2013, as Russian Sea Catch looked to renew the trawl doors of its fleet of 12 factory trawlers. The company asked for a trawl door suitable for pollack, squid and herring, combining strength, high speed and low resistance. Based on the experiences from other Russian companies the Type 15 VF with bolted-on manganese shoes was chosen.
The six pairs of doors were delivered to Russian Sea Catch at the start of the year.
