Big trawlers a new breed

Press, 30 July 1986, Page 13

Big trawlers a new breed

PA Auckland New Zealand fishing companies are meeting the challenge of deep-sea fishing by building big new stern trawlers to be manned by local crews. The first of a new breed of New Zealand deep sea trawlers will be delivered to her owners this month in Spain. She will cost Amaltal Fishing Company Ltd, more than $lO million. A slightly smaller stern trawler is being build at the same Viga shipyard for Sanford, Ltd, and is due for delivery in the middle of next year.

Amaltal’s new trawler is 66m long, has a total fish capacity of 800 tonnes and can freeze up to 60 tonnes a day. The Sanford

trawler will be 43m long with a 400-tonne fish capacity and an ability to freeze up to 25 tonnes a day. It is the first time local companies have ordered new big refrigerated stern trawlers to work New Zealand’s 320 kilometre zone. Fletcher Fishing, Ltd, set a trend about two years ago when it took delivery of two former British North Sea trawlers, the Otago Galliard and Otago Buccaneer, and manned them with British and New Zealand crews. The new Amaltal vessel will trawl for squid round the Sub-Antarctic islands in an area traditionally worked by foreign boats.