Lithuania: Western Baltija Shipbuilding Signs Fishing Vessel Contract

Western Baltija Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of BLRT Grupp, and the Danish company Gitte Henning A/S signed a contract for the construction of a fishing vessel Gitte Henning. This will be the first “turn-key” fishing vessel to be built at Western Baltija Shipbuilding, i.e. fully equipped and ready for operation.

It is commonly known that the fishing vessels are among the most complex vessels to build and to deliver. “Experience and production capacities, which the holding has today, allow us to accomplish such complex projects,” said the chairman of the board of BLRT Grupp Fjodor Berman. “The vessel will be a worthy addition to the “turn-key” ships that we have already built, among which is the world biggest gas-powered ferry Boknafjord,” he added.

According to Jevgenij Petrov, the director of Western Baltija Shipbuilding, the received order shows customer‘s great confidence in the company. ″We highly appreciate the order entrusted to us. It is not only a very great responsibility, but also a challenge for our people. We will try to meet all of the customer‘s best expectations ″, said Jevgenij Petrov.

The vessel is intended for trawling pelagic fish, such as mackerel, herring, blue whiting. It will be designed by Wärtsilä Ship Design (Norway). The construction work on the fishing trawler will start in May 2012 and will last until August 2013. The value of the project is more than 32 million Euros.

The overall length of the vessel is 86,3 m, breadth – 17,6 m, hull weight – 2200 tons. The vessel will be equipped with thirteen refrigerated sea water tanks (RSW) of the total capacity 3200 m3. Vacuum system will be used for fish loading and unloading.

Western Baltija Shipbuilding specialists will outfit the fishing vessel with all the necessary equipment as provided in the specification. Company shall mount a hybrid engine with the total capacity of 7500 kW: diesel engine – 5220 kW and electric engine – 2280 kW. Two thrusters will also be mounted: 900 kW aft thruster and 1470 kW retractable azimuth bow thruster. The vessel will also be equipped with two generators: 2600 kW and 800 kW. The vessel’s speed is 17 knots; maximum number of the crew is 14 people. Classification society Det Norske Veritas will supervise the construction of the fishing vessel.

Currently, Western Baltija Shipbuilding is building 2 “turn-key” ECO tugs, 2 “turn-key” multipurpose vessels, one “turn-key” dredger, 2 bulk barges.

32 million Euros = 41.3408 million U.S. dollars

[mappress]
World Maritime News Staff, January 5, 2012; Image: BLRT Grupp