In renewing its fleet, Royal Greenland and partner companies went to Skipsteknisk for the designs of filleter factory trawler Sisimiut and four vessels with capacity to process and freeze shrimp onboard, as well as having options for other fisheries, such as Greenland halibut.
Kaassassuk arrived in Nuuk this summer, following the deliveries of sister vessels Tuugaalik, Nataarnaq and Avataq over the last few years – all built by Spanish shipbuilder Astilleros de Murueta.
The 82.3-metre by 18-metre breadth Kaassassuk has the capacity to fish up to 10,000 tonnes annually.
“Kaassassuk is not just a technological novelty – it’s an investment in the future of Royal Greenland and for fishing in Greenland,” said Johan Berthelsen, operations manager of the company’s trawler division.
Berthelsen adding that it’s the final element in a series of investments aimed at ensuring the company’s efficient, stable and future-proof operation, with modern technology, better working environment and high-quality product onboard.
Highly automated
The new trawler is outfitted with a factory deck that includes four IQF lines with a combined 100-tonne/24-hour throughput capacity, as well as a specialised Japan line capable of handling 20 pieces per minute and an automated freezer able to handle 28 tonnes per day. There is a high level of automation on Kaassassuk’s catch handling deck, including three palleting robots.
Catches are stored on pallets in the two fishroom areas. The upper 1,550 cubic metre fishroom has capacity for 334 pallets, while the lower 1,400 cubic metre fishroom can hold 287 pallets.
All of the trawlers in the series for Royal Greenland have been outfitted with Seaonics electric winch systems. The four shrimpers in the series are built to tow three trawls on four warps, so Kaassassuk’s deck is laid out with four 55-tonne PM trawl winches, managed by a Scantrol control system. Seaonics also supplied a row of eight 18-tonne sweepline winches, three 30-tonne gilsons, 21-tonne codend winches, 16-tonne outhaul winches and a 26-tonne net drum, plus a variety of specialised auxiliary winches for handling gear and other items on deck. Seaonics also supplied switchboard and wheelhouse control panels, and its SeaBrief package.
Kaassassuk has been supplied with a Vónin package of shrimp trawl gear, with Vónin 2024 trawls, four codends and sorting grids, Oliveira warp on each of the four winch drums, and two pairs of Storm 2 trawl doors – a 16 square metre pair, plus the largest pair of these doors yet delivered at 18 square metres.
Propulsion is provided by a MAN package, with a 7200kW 12V32/44CR main engine powering a 4500mm VBS 1180 propeller via an ACG 1080 reduction gear with a 5.86:1 ratio. Gensets are a pair of 940kWe Caterpillar C32 units, plus a C7.1 emergency set, and Kaassassuk also has a 3200kWe shaft generator that runs from the PTO on the reduction gear.
