Canada's Baffin Fisheries takes delivery of Arctic-capable stern trawler

Canadian Inuit-owned fishing company Baffin Fisheries 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. It is designed for polar and North Atlantic waters, and its initial deployment will be in the Eastern Arctic, harvesting shrimp and Greenland halibut (turbot).

The newbuild has a length of 80 metres, a beam of 18 metres, and a processing and freezing plant with two production lines for frozen-at-sea shrimp and groundfish. The modern factory includes two large automated plate freezers, three shrimp tunnels, a sorting robot, and an automated palletising system to complement the twin-trawl capabilities.

The vessel also boasts a hold capacity of up to 1,300 tonnes of Greenland halibut or 900 tonnes of shrimp.

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