VESSEL REVIEW | Federico C – Locally-built shrimp trawler designed for southern Argentina’s waters

Astillero Federico Contessi y Cia, a family-owned shipyard located near Argentina's famed coastal resort city of Mar del Plata, has delivered a new all-aluminium freezer trawler to local seafood company Pesquera Veraz. Named Federico C after shipyard founder Federico Contessi, the RINA-classed newbuild will be used to catch shrimp in South Atlantic waters off Argentina's Chubut province.

The yard said the trawler is one of the many fishing vessel newbuilding projects that were initiated as part of the ongoing renewal of Argentina's national fishing fleet.

"We have long been involved in the construction of trawlers for local operators for use in coastal and freshwater environments," the shipyard told Baird Maritime, "but we also wanted to build bigger freezer vessels, even those that can compete with vessels built by foreign yards."

Federico C has an LOA of 39.95 metres, a beam of 9.7 metres, a draught of 4.2 metres, a deadweight of 340 tonnes, and space for 32 crewmembers. The yard said the vessel is also the first in the Argentine fishing fleet to be fitted with an inverted bow meant to maximise the waterline and thus improve hull speed to ensure more fuel-efficient sailings.

The vessel is intended to undertake multiple tasks, which also include washing, packaging, weighing, and freezing of shrimp, hence the incorporation of a wide array of freezing and processing equipment. Specifically, the owner wanted a modern vessel that was capable of freezing about 18 tonnes of shrimp per day, as each of the four existing freezer trawlers in its current fleet are over 30 years old and can only freeze a maximum of 12 tonnes daily.

"The idea was to gradually replace the older vessels with newer ones," said the yard.

The processing machinery includes belts, automatic washers, sulfiters, and worktables from Be-Inox and compressor-equipped refrigerators from PM Refrigeracion.

One Yanmar 6EY22AW main engine producing 1,389 kW at 900 rpm drives a Schottel SCP 060 2,400mm controllable-pitch, four-bladed propeller via a Reintjes LAF 1143 gearbox to propel the trawler to a cruising speed of 12 knots. The propeller rotates inside a Kaplan-type nozzle whose entire interior is made from stainless steel for increased durability.

For more precise manoeuvring, such as when positioning to ensure optimum catch, Federico C is equipped with a Sleipner SAC 1100 513mm bow thruster.

Backup power is available in the form of a pair of Mitsubishi S6R2T2MPTK auxiliary diesel engines, each with an output of 544 kW at 1,500 rpm. Attached to each of the auxiliary engines is a Stamford 500kVa generator.

The vessel also comes equipped with a harbour generator setup consisting of a Cummins 6CTA engine and a Stamford 160kVa generator.

Ibercisa provided a comprehensive deck machinery package to enable Federico C to be fully capable of its myriad assigned tasks. The equipment includes two 100kW split-type electric main winches, two auxiliary electric winches, an electric lanteon winch, a BV-certified double electric anchor winch, two anchor chain stoppers, an electric anchor winch starter/inverter, and an automatic fishing system. The command control panel in the bridge was also supplied by Ibercisa.

There is also a Ferioli hydraulic marine crane with a maximum horizontal reach of 14.7 metres and a carrying capacity of 10 tonnes.

The electronics were installed by Electronica Naval and consist of Furuno radars, JRC satellite compasses, Furuno and Seaman echosounders, ICOM and Samyung radios, Seaman autopilots, and a Samyung GPS and EPIRB. Even with this selection of electronics, the wheelhouse was designed with a minimalist feel with few large screens showing all the information gleaned from the different equipment.

Federico C also has a broad range of ancillary equipment intended to help improve the operating efficiency of the vessel and its crew. These include a Tecnicomar onboard sewage treatment plant, a Rivertrace oily water separator, and Azcue pumps.

"The main challenges we faced in building the trawler were due mainly to its size," the yard told Baird Maritime. "These included coming up with a capable vessel given the type of facilities our yard has and sourcing the many pieces of equipment. Since there are not that many local suppliers of the onboard equipment we needed for the construction, almost all of it had to be imported."

However, the builder said it was able to overcome the challenges in addition to learning new lessons, particularly in building vessels of similar or larger size more efficiently and in less time.

"Through this project, we were able to improve many of our processes, and we are applying the lessons we learned in five other ongoing newbuilding projects."

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