Marine Radio Acoustic Devices (MRAD) has supplied the latest in onboard sonar technology for two vessels recently acquired by Irvin & Johnson (I&J).
The Ferox and the Umlobi have Simrad sonar technology newly-installed, which will significantly enhance the vessels’ navigation and fishing intelligence capabilities.
“MRAD has a long and fruitful history with I&J as a supplier of onboard electronic equipment for navigation and fishing research,” says Eddy Elschot, general manager of MRAD. “We were fortunate to secure an order for a new Simrad SX93 sonar for the Umlobi, which was fitted during the vessel’s pre-delivery dry-docking in Norway. The Simrad SX93 is recognised as the best commercial and fisheries research sonar available today; and MRAD is proud to have been behind the procurement and installation of the equipment.”
The Norwegian vessel Umlobi is not new, but will be I&J’s new flagship vessel. A 2,600 gross ton fishing trawler, the Umlobi (meaning ‘fisherman’ in Xhosa), will able to both catch and process all fish onboard.
The Ferox (from the Latin for ‘fierce’) is a newly-built 910 gross ton stern trawler, capable of fast turnarounds and delivering fresh fish to the V&A Waterfront for further processing at I&J’s Woodstock plant in Cape Town.
“The Ferox represents a huge step forward in cutting-edge navigation and acoustic fish-finding technologies. The selection of the Simrad ES70 split beam fish-finder allows measurement of biomass, fish size and distribution of fish species within a school,” says Mr Elshot. “In a nutshell, this allows the skipper to selectively and responsibly target the right size schools, avoiding both mixed and juvenile schools of fish.”
