July 09, 2020
Austral Fisheries newest and most advanced fishing vessel, the Cape Arkona, has today departed Norway bound for Fremantle, Western Australia. The vessel has completed outfitting at Båtbygg AS, and is due to arrive in Fremantle toward the end of August.
The Cape Arkona is the first multifunctional vessel of its kind, rigged for autoline, potting and trawling, and has the opportunity to combine all these fishing methods in one single trip. Primarily, the vessel will fish for Patagonian Toothfish in the Southern Ocean, but it will also trawl for Icefish and other species. The vessel was developed in close collaboration between Austral Fisheries, Baatbygg and the designers. The hull is built by Marine Projects in Gdansk.
The variation in catch methods also results in a very 'broad' operating profile with large differences in power take-offs on propeller and equipment. To optimize the vessel for these operations, a somewhat non-traditional propulsion system with associated battery solution has been selected. Cape Arkona is equipped with a so-called 'father-son configuration', two Cat main engines of 1825KW and 1250KW respectively, which are connected to a Brunvoll gear / propeller plant. in addition, there are two shaft generators connected to the same gear, one of which can be run as an electric propulsion motor / PTI. This allows power to be adapted to actual consumption, reducing running time and optimizing load profile on main engines while reducing fuel consumption and providing a very robust solution. To further reduce consumption and increase safety, a 'Peak Shaving' battery solution has been chosen from Elmarin / Corvus which also acts as 'Blackout prevention'. The batteries also absorb regenerated electricity from trawl winches and re-distribute this on board as needed.
Due to the ongoing COVID pandemic and the long voyage back to Australia, it was decided not to carry out an open ship or christening ceremony in Norway.
Austral Fisheries acknowledge the immense effort from everyone involved in bringing the Cape Arkona to life over the last three years. It has been an incredibly complex and important project which will help to pave the way for Austral's future in the industry.