VESSEL REVIEW | Om El Shohadaa – New trawler built for extended trips and tough sailing conditions off Egypt’s Mediterranean coast

Mohamed R. Eissa Company, a shipbuilder situated in Egypt's Port Said, recently handed over a new steel-hulled trawler to a local owner.

Named Om El Shohadaa ("Mother of Martyrs"), the newbuild has an LOA of 23 metres, a beam of 6.8 metres, a gross tonnage of approximately 129 tonnes, and space for six crew. Power is provided by one Mercedes-Benz 484kW main engine, which could deliver a maximum speed of 11 knots and a cruising speed of nine knots.

Interestingly, the builder claims the trawler was not built under any specific class rules as the client had requested in order to keep the overall cost to a minimum. However, the same client had nonetheless insisted that the vessel be capable of operating under even the worst sea conditions that are typical in some parts of the Mediterranean.

Om el Shohadaa has also been fitted with a rather large fish hold for a vessel of its size. The hold's total capacity of just under 100 cubic metres had been specifically requested by the owner to ensure that the vessel would be capable of accommodating as large a catch as possible during each fishing trip. This means that trips could last up to 20 days each and may be conducted only 12 times in a year regardless of weather conditions, as opposed to having a greater number of sailings and, in turn, incurring greater costs.

The builder was kind enough to talk to Baird Maritime about the work that went into this unique vessel, including some of the challenges that were encountered:

"Building a vessel that is not in accordance with any internationally recognised class rules proved difficult. We approached this challenge by focusing first on completing the overall design before seeking out those companies that would supply the parts we would need, including the engines and the onboard electronics. Naturally, this presented another set of challenges; for instance, it took us some time until we found an engine for the design we had finalised."

However, the builder's focus on delivering what the client needed proved to be a prudent decision. The alternative approach would have been to concentrate instead on developing a design that was based only on parts that were readily available, and this would have severely limited the vessel's capability.

"We ultimately overcame the issues by coordinating more closely with our consultants and our suppliers through frequent meetings and tests. We could say that the close coordination that we achieved to complete this vessel was of a level significantly higher than what he had achieved in our other newbuilding projects wherein compliance with class rules was necessary."

Om El Shohadaa's main fishing equipment consists of four winches with steel drums while the fish hold is situated in a freezer room with cooling and freezing capacities of -20 degrees Celsius and -40 degrees Celsius, respectively. The electronics suite consists of a Koden radar, a Sailor VHF radio, a Samyung GMDSS, and chart plotters from ONWA and Haiyang. Power for these and other onboard systems is drawn from two generators with outputs of 50 kW and 75 kW, respectively.

The onboard accommodations include a captain's cabin located behind the wheelhouse as well as single cabins for each of the five other crewmembers on the main deck. There is also a mess area and an adjacent galley near the bow plus a separate room for a refrigerator that will contain the crew's 20-day food supply.

Om El Shohadaa will be homeported at Damietta, a port city east of the Nile Delta and 15 kilometres from the Mediterranean.

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