In July 2007, Sapmer ordered three new tuna purse seiners from Piriou.
The first seiner will be built by Chantiers Piriou, France, and is scheduled for delivery in the spring of 2009. The remaining two will be built by SEAS, a Piriou subsidiary located in Vietnam, and are due to be delivered in the autumn of 2009 and spring 1020.
Piriou has described the task of designing new deep-freezer seiners as a "new challenge" for the company.
The most important new features of the vessels, according to Piriou, will be :
• The propulsion system - two electric motors, fed by four diesel generators which will drive the propellers.
• A new freezing system, to process fish in two ways: 1) the catch will be plunged into a freezing bath (-20°C) and be kept at this temperature or 2) transferred to deep-freeze holds, where the temperature will be -40°C and kept until unloading.
