Spanish shipyard wins contract for 110m Russian Fishery ‘super-trawler’

VIGO, Spain — A Spanish shipyard in the port of Vigo has won the order to build a 100-meter “super-trawler” for Russian Fishery Company (RFC), the largest pollock quota holder in the country, sources told Undercurrent News during the Conxemar trade show.

According to Undercurrent sources, RFC has given the contract to build the first of a series of seven vessels to Metalships & Docks in Vigo.

RFC declined to comment on this and Alberto Iglesias, general manager of Metalships, did not respond to a request for comment from Undercurrent.

During the recent WorldFood Moscow trade show, a spokesman for RFC told Undercurrent that the first of a planned seven 100m trawlers would be built in a European yard, but declined to say which. The following six vessels will then be built in Russia, said Ilya Vlasenko, corporate communication director for RFC.

Each of the vessels will cost between $70 million-$95m, he said. The vessels will have a length of 110 meters, a width of 20m and deadweight of 12,000 metric tons. Their daily catches will average 300t of pollock and 200t of herring per day.

The first vessel will not be entitled to extra fishing rights under Russia’s investment quotas plan, which only applies to companies building new vessels in Russian shipyards, however.

“We will build the first vessel out of the “investment quotas” mechanism, but the last six vessels will be built in the framework of this program,” Vlasenko told Undercurrent, at the Moscow show.

The reason for this move is simple, he said. “Russian shipyards don’t have experience of building high capacity trawlers. We plan to get the relevant experience in manufacturing vessels with a foreign shipyard, then use this expertise here in Russia to build new vessels.”

The vessels will be equipped to produce fillet blocks, headed and gutted and whole round fish, as well as products for the company’s new brand, Nordeco.

RFC has also recently bolstered its fleet with a used vessel, inking a deal for a 105m trawler from Iceland’s Samherji.