15m tuna fishing vessel to operate out of Hout Bay
There’s some new eye-candy fresh out of the Sachal yard in Vredenburg. It’s the ninth hull from the yard’s ‘new’ 15m series which was first designed in 2018. The new hull was launched in the last week of November at Yacht Port SA, and will soon be racing towards the tuna fishing grounds off Cape Point. Sea trials are already complete and she has already been delivered to the client in Hout Bay, who now has two Sachal hulls to his name.
“She is designed as a very fuel efficient, stable platform to get to the fishing grounds and back faster than the competition,” says Sachal yard manager Nic Stevens. “This has been proven by the vessels based on the same hull form that came before her in the Tuna pole fleet alone, namely Dr Fish, Thorfin and Christina.”
The new build is destined for the tuna pole fishery. Some of her noteworthy features include:
- She is a Category A vessel, meaning she can fish in any waters
- space for 12 crew including the master
- 280hp Doosan main engine and a 30kVa Baudouin gen set
- six tanks with stainless steel RSW (refrigerated sea water) refrigeration coils, one tank doubling as a bait freezer when not being used for RSW. Two of the tanks have live bait capability.
- 15hp refrigeration system in the engine room supplies custom 316 stainless steel coils in each tank. The system can get the water in the holds well below 0 degrees Celsius to deliver top quality product to the market
- Three tuna spray systems; the two larger spray systems pumps can each supply up to 600 litres of water per hour.
- Six pumps controlled from multiple stations onboard by custom built control panels to supply water to the tanks.
- Top-of-the-line Furuno electronics and Victron energy power management hardware linked to the Furuno system for AC and DC system monitoring
- 4000 litre diesel fuel capacity of Diesel & 1800l of fresh water,
Stevens says the vessel is customised to the exact requirements of the client and built to a very high-quality
standard using only top products. “She is as big as we can possibly go sticking under 25 gross register ton, meaning she is a lot of vessel for her class,” he explains, adding that the vessel can therefore stay at sea for extended trips. “She is also finished off very well for a work vessel.”
He says the vessel can be optimised for other sectors, such as the diamond mining industry where some of her sister vessels are already in service. “She can be used as a work boat platform, dive support and for OPL duties to name a few,” he says.