VESSEL REVIEW | Aventurine – Locally-built trawler/crabber for French fishing company

French family-owned fishing company Armement Porcher recently took delivery of a new trawler and crab fishing vessel built by compatriot shipyard Socarenam.

Named Aventurine, the Coprexma-designed vessel is the sixteenth to be built by Socarenam for the same owner. The new trawler will be homeported in Saint-Brieuc in Brittany. It will be operated for periods of between one and three weeks primarily in the western portion of the English Channel as well as in the Irish Sea to fish for squid, monkfish, and crabs.

Aventurine has a steel hull, an aluminium superstructure, an LOA of 26 metres, a beam of eight metres, and space for seven crewmembers, though the vessel is designed to be operated by six personnel.

The catch is first sorted with the aid of a conveyor before being kept in either a 110-cubic-metre fish hold or a crab tank. Also fitted are Bopp trawls, seven winches, and an anti-roll tank on the wheelhouse.

The propulsion system includes a Caterpillar 3512C diesel engine driving a France Helices controllable-pitch propeller and a Hydro-Armor bow thruster. The engine and the propeller deliver a speed of approximately 10 knots, and Armament Porcher technical director Cedric Porcher claims the vessel enjoys an improvement in energy efficiency of as much as 15 per cent compared to the older vessels in the company's fleet.

The accommodation spaces benefit from reinforced sound insulation and include cabins and sanitary facilities. The interior spaces are laid out to also allow female crewmembers on board in the future.

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