Wärtsilä has signed a contract with Liegruppen AS for the delivery of design and propulsion equipment for a new combined purse seiner/trawler.
The 64m vessel has been developed and equipped for lowest possible fuel consumption, which increases operational cost-effectiveness and reduces environmentally harmful emissions.
“We are very pleased that Liegruppen Fiskeri AS has chosen our design for its new vessel. It is the 12th fishing vessel we have designed for Liegruppen. Amongst these is Libas, Norway’s largest fishing vessel,” says Martin Vestbøstad, Project Manager at Wärtsilä Ship Design.
The majority of Liegruppen’s Wärtsilä-designed vessels are also equipped with propulsion systems from Wärtsilä.
Liegruppen AS is a management company that manages a number of underlying companies, several of them engaged in fisheries. The group has been engaged in fisheries in Norwegian and international waters for more than a century and it has invested in a number of innovative solutions for vessels and fishing technology.
The 64m newbuild, a Wärtsilä VS 6106 design, is a further development and improvement of a series of fishing vessels that Wärtsilä Ship Design has previously delivered six of.
“When designing the vessel, we have emphasised that it shall use as little fuel as possible. To achieve this, we have optimised the lines of the hull to minimise resistance at sea and we have chosen a propulsion solution from Wärtsilä that contributes further to good fuel economy,” says Mr Vestbøstad.
Among other things, it will be possible for the crew to disconnect the main engine and run the vessel solely on a diesel-electric auxiliary engine that can vary the RPM of the propeller. With an output of 1,690kW, the auxiliary engine is so powerful that it can be used on its own during fishing and transportation stages. This solution is currently only found on a few other fishing vessels and the solution Liegruppen has chosen is a further developed and advanced version.
Wärtsilä’s scope of delivery includes a 6L32 main engine, a 9L20 generator set, a SCV85-PDC56 gear, and a CPP 4D1000 propulsion system with the company’s HP nozzle.
“The Wärtsilä HP nozzle is a further development of our well-known HR nozzle. By modifying the design, we have increased energy efficiency and improved fuel economy, while at the same time increasing the power of the system. We have seen that the HP nozzle gives a further 2-4% reduction in fuel consumption compared to our HR nozzle,” says Johannes Martinsen, Sales Manager at Wärtsilä.
In commenting on the new contract Lars Olav Lie, General Manager Fishery at Liegruppen, said:
“Liegruppen has cooperated successfully with Wärtsilä for many years. When ordering newbuilds we set stringent requirements for efficiency and low emissions, and Wärtsilä has proven that its design and equipment meet these requirements”.
Liegruppen’s new fishing vessel is expected to be ready for mackerel and herring fisheries in the North Sea and Norwegian Sea in summer 2012.
