VESSEL REVIEW | Inuksuk II – Arctic-capable shrimp trawler for Canadian Inuit fishing company

Baffin Fisheries, a company owned jointly by Inuit Hunters and Trappers Associations in five Qikiqtani region (Baffin Island) communities in northern Canada, recently took delivery of a new large stern trawler built to a design by Norwegian naval architecture firm Skipsteknisk.

Baffin Fisheries said Inuksuk II is one of the largest Canadian-owned fishing vessels with an LOA of 79.85 metres (262 feet), a moulded beam of 18 metres (59 feet), a depth of 7.95 metres (26.1 feet), and a gross tonnage of 5,400. The vessel is designed for polar and North Atlantic waters including NEAFAC, NAFO and ICES regulatory areas, and its initial deployment will be in the Eastern Arctic, harvesting shrimp and Greenland halibut (turbot).

The design work that went into the vessel took key factors into consideration such as a safe onboard working environment, comfortable crew accommodation, and a long service life.

Extensive fish processing facilities

The vessel is fitted with a processing and freezing plant from Carsoe with two production lines for frozen-at-sea shrimp and groundfish. The modern factory includes two large automated plate freezers, three shrimp IQF tunnel freezers, a sorting robot, a shrimp grader, a batch cooking line, and an automated palletising system to complement the twin-trawl capabilities.

The processed shrimp can be frozen in one of the three IQF tunnel freezers or in the two automatic horizontal freezers. The freezing process done through either system is completely automatic for efficient and continuous processing.

Carsoe said the compact robotic solution efficiently sorts the frozen products by grade in a completed automated flow with no manual handling. The robot has been customized to run in cold environments, as the temperature is kept at -15 to -18 degrees Celsius in key areas of the factory deck.

The pallets are equipped with layered wrapping for safe storage at sea and labeled before the completed pallet is sent to the cargo hold. To maximise the utilisation of the compact factory deck, a hybrid palletising solution with an integrated elevator is installed. This means that the pallets are transported directly from palletising into the cargo hold.

Ample amenities and an efficient onboard layout

The automated flow in the processing plant means less heavy lifting and a better working environment for the crew.

The vessel also boasts a total freezer hold capacity of approximately 2,700 cubic metres (95,000 cubic feet) for storing up to 1,300 tonnes of frozen-at-sea Greenland halibut or 900 tonnes of cold-water shrimp.

The propulsion arrangement includes two Yanmar 6EY22ALW main generators, a Scania DI09M emergency generator, and a Brunvoll FU63 side thruster.

Designed and built under the supervision of class society DNV, Inuksuk II can accommodate 38 crewmembers. Accommodation spaces include crew cabins, a gym, a sauna, mess areas, and a hospital.