A new longliner ordered by Norwegian operator Atlantic Longline benefits from a relaxation in the regulations that provide a wider choice of fishing gear options. The new vessel will break new ground in being designed and built to alternate automated longlining with seine netting.

Designed by Skipteknisk and due for delivery in late 2019, the order for the new Atlantic follows close behind an order announced only days previously for a new Geir. While Geir’s owners have opted to build in Norway, Atlantic Longline’s new 62.80 metre LOA by 14 metre beam Atlantic order has been placed at the Tersan yard in Turkey.

According to Skipteknisk, Atlantic will feature be built to an ST-157 design and will feature leading edge energy management technology with battery systems to contribute to fuel efficiency and to optimise the vessel’s emissions footprint. Energy recovery and optimisation is a theme that runs through the whole of Atlantic’s design.

Operating company Atlantic Longline is based in Ålesund and owned by Jonny Årvik, Kjell-Gunnar Hoddevik and Jan Ove Langeland.

Kjell-Gunnar Hoddevik said that they are taking the shift towards green operation very seriously and the decision by the authorities to relax regulations restricting gear types have made it possible to design this unique vessel capable of switching between seine netting and autolining with a 72,000 hook system.

The processing deck will have a 60 tonnes/day freezing capacity, with capacity for both fillet and H&G production, with the focus very firmly on maximising quality.

“We have twenty years of experience of producing high-quality fillets at sea and we intend to continue with this,” he said, adding that the factory deck will also handle raw material that has been waste in the past.

Atlantic’s processing deck layout incorporates freezing hotels and automatic palletisation, as well as fishroom capacity for 530 tonnes of frozen products on pallets for efficient discharging.