VESSEL REVIEW | Jinghai 1 Yuye Yangzhi Yunshu Chuan – New Chinese-built wellboat features remote monitoring systems

China's Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyard has delivered a new live transport vessel to local owner Shandong Yantai Jinghai Marine Fishery Company.

Built to a design by Yantai CIMC Blue Ocean Technology Company, Jinghai 1 Yuye Yangzhi Yunshu Chuan ("Jinghai No 1 Fishery Aquaculture Transport Vessel") has a length of 62 metres, a beam of 10.5 metres, a design draught of 4.1 metres, a depth of five metres, and a total live transport capacity of 60 tonnes. A 1,620kW main engine propels the vessel to a speed of 12 knots.

The wellboat is fitted with an advanced loading and unloading system for live fish, and this system also features fish collection, weighing, and sorting equipment that can be controlled remotely. Other key equipment includes those for water circulation, CO2 removal, water temperature regulation, water treatment and disinfection, water quality monitoring, automatic pollution cleaning, and other environmental control and life support systems necessary for fish farming.

All these systems feature intelligent monitoring and control for more efficient harvesting, transport, and unloading. The builder said the projected fish survival rate from offshore cages to land is 100 per cent while the maximum unloading rate is around 250 cubic metres per hour.

The new wellboat is being used to transport live catfish, sea bass, and rainbow trout from nine offshore harvesting facilities near Nanhuangcheng Island in Shandong province to the Chinese mainland.

Click here for more news and gear stories, feature articles, and vessel reviews as part of this month's focus on fishing and aquaculture.