Nodosa to build a new freezer fishing vessel to be known as “Prion”

Petrel Fishing Company LTd, owned by the Pescapuerta Group, has commissioned its construction to the Galician shipyard

"PRION" will be a vessel of almost 2,500 GT, 85 m-Long and 14 m-Wide, becoming the fleet renewal largest vessel built in recent years. The new freezer construction number is the 305 of the shipyard, who has designed and developed it entirely, together with shipowner's technical team. It is scheduled to be delivered by the end of 2024.

In the design, a series of important technical innovations stand out for which the shipowner is especially concerned, already tried and tested on the "FALCON", a freezer ship delivered by NODOSA to the same shipowner a year and a half ago and with excellent results in its first South Atlantic fishing campaigns. These are improvements eager to respect environment, safety, comfort and rest of the crew on board, and the final product quality.

ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFICIENCY
Both the main engine and the auxiliary engines comply with the demanding regulations of the fishing ground in terms of emission control and have been designed to always work in the best regimes, thus ensuring lower polluting emissions and greater savings in fuel consumption. After all, energy efficiency means environmental efficiency.
As for the refrigerant, ammonia has been chosen again (like previous unit), which is more environmentally friendly as it exists in nature and provides greater cooling capacity than others. A relevant aspect in the search for greater efficiency in navigation and at work, which directly results in savings in energy consumption and therefore in greater environmental benefits, is the design of a completely optimized hull, where the figure of an inverted bow as a result of previous experiences and personalized studies for this purpose, is also resulting in a very innovative aesthetic.
Other notable elements strengthening environment defence are: the choice of silicone patents for the hull (which have proven to be more ecological and efficient in consumption for this fishing ground), the existence of a tank to store biodegradable waste during hoisting and launching of the rigging, an approved incinerator to avoid throwing any type of rubbish into the sea, and state-of-the-art aviaries for the protection of seabirds.

CREW SAFETY AND COMFORT
Thanks to an innovative and effective design, it is possible to reduce the number of people needed in deck manoeuvres. In addition, the crew will work more protected from harsh weather, which minimizes their risks. A cabin is also incorporated to provide greater comfort and safety to the observers of the fishery. Three modern cranes installed on board will allow, due to their location and power, to carry out all kinds of deck manoeuvres in the fastest and safest way, especially in loading and unloading. Habitability has been increased, allowing proper shifts and rest. Living conditions on board are also improved with the greatest possible number of single and 2-seater cabins.

For the Factory design, an ergonomic study that has given such good results in the "FALCON" has been repeated, thereby improving and facilitating the work of the operators. Likewise, containers size is reduced, thus avoiding excessive weights handling. In addition, some demoulding, loading and unloading processes have been automated, managing to reduce and lighten human intervention for the sake of improving working conditions on board.

FINAL PRODUCT QUALITY
To keep the product in perfect condition, extraction processes are improved (by deck manoeuvring), temporary storage until processing (by dividing the swamp tank to avoid crushing and damage) and freezing (providing the ship of a quick freezing plant). With this, there are already 5 large offshore freezer vessels specialized in the complicated the South Atlantic fisheries that NODOSA has signed in recent years: MONTEFERRO was the first to begin fleet renewal , followed by ARGOS CÍES, then MONTELOURIDO and the aforementioned FALCON (in addition to the long liner CFL HUNTER delivered in 2017 for toothfish fishing), becoming the undisputed reference shipyard in this sector, with a lot of gained knowledge through deliberations and conversations held with the Flag Administration, the Classification Societies, the Crews and the Owners of mentioned ships.