VESSEL REVIEW | Venture IV – Trawler designed for Western Scottish waters

Venture II Fishing Company in the UK recently took delivery of a new trawler built for operations off Scotland's west coast. Designed by Macduff Ship Design in compliance to Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and Bureau Veritas (BV) guidelines, Venture IV is the fourth boat built by the same yard for Venture II company owner and boat skipper Mark Lovie. Construction of the hull and the wheelhouse was undertaken in Poland by Finomar Shipyard while final outfitting took place in Scotland.

The hull is of round bilge form with a streamlined inverted bow, flared upper stem, beam carried full length to the transom and possesses two complete decks, as well as a partial shelter and bridge deck above this. A ballast box keel is fitted along with deep V bilge keels to dampen roll motion.

Venture IV features four deck levels that, apart from the bridge deck, all run the full length of the vessel. The interiors are characterised by enlarged spaces to increase crew comfort and working areas, with large generous cabins and mess areas provided along with a fish hold that can house up to 2,000 boxes without the need to stack high.

Below the main deck, the area is separated into the aft peak, the engine room, the fish hold, and the fore peak. The aft peak features numerous tanks used to store both fresh water and lubrication and hydraulic oil.

The engine room houses the main propulsion machinery which consists of a Yanmar 6EY26W engine rated 1,110 kW at 750 rpm and coupled to a free-standing Mekanord 650HS gearbox with a reduction ratio of 5.44:1 driving a large 3,300mm controllable-pitch propeller. A low-drag, high-thrust nozzle is fitted in way of the propeller and incorporates a triple rudder system to provide high turning force. Two Yanmar 6NY16L 280ekW generators are also fitted within the engine room. The main engine and generators are cooled via freshwater plate coolers. The hydraulic towing pumps along with stern thruster are also fitted within the engine room along with the main electrical switchboard, refrigeration, and the pumping systems.

A large fish room is fitted forward of the engine room and has capacity for up to 2,000 stacking boxes. The refrigeration plant and chilling pipes for the fish hold were provided and fitted by Premier Refrigeration along with two 2.5-tonne Geneglace ice making machines, each feeding into large ice lockers that can house up to 10 tonnes of flake ice.

At the stem of the vessel, the fore peak is divided into four compartments with three large freshwater tanks used for ice making along with a bow thruster access compartment on the centreline. The bow thruster compartment also contain the grey and black water tanks.

Above the main deck, the vessel is generally divided along the centreline with working areas to port and accommodation to starboard. To the port side is a steering gear compartment combined with an engineer's workshop aft, a fish handling area amidships, and a dry locker forward. To the starboard side, there is a laundry/pantry/galley aft, followed by a large mess/lounge amidships and four two-man cabins forward. A large 20-cubic-metre hopper is fitted on the centreline.

A deck up features the trawl deck where most of the deck machinery is fitted and where fishing takes place. The deck features twin ramps aft with hydraulic stern gates fitted to the top of each ramp for crew protection. Forward of these are two flush-mounted hopper hatches where the catch is taken on board. The deck is then open all the way to the stem where three split sweep winches are fitted to allow maximum deck length for storing and mending nets.

Fitted amidships immediately above the net tracks are three separate bagging winches. Three split winches are fitted amidships, two to starboard and the third to port and lead directly aft to large trawl blocks which are capable of sliding forward up to 1.2 metres from the transom to reduce the pressure on the steering gear when towing an edge in deep water. Numerous casings are fitted either side of the tracks and serve various functions such as a gear store, air handling unit room, two-man cabin, and unloading trunk.

The shelter deck runs from stern to stem. Aft of this area, it is mainly open and provides a walkway around the perimeter of the vessel as well as shelter for those working on the trawl deck. Located amidships is a full-beam casing where a skipper's cabin with en suite toilet is fitted along with two two-person cabins, a general water closet, and an electronics room. Forward is arranged for mooring and anchoring and features a three-barrel winch fitted within a weathertight compartment. This is used to stow the two anchor warps along with a spare barrel for mooring rope.

At bridge deck level is the large wheelhouse, which spans nearly the full beam of the vessel to provide improved visibility when manoeuvring in restricted areas. Large windows are fitted all around for good visibility with full-height windows fitted aft on the centreline, providing a commanding view of the trawl deck to enhance crew safety.

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