Design study for unmanned engine room for stern freezer trawlers

Abstract

Over the last 20 years or so there have been great changes in the design of some types of vessel in the British fishing fleet. Apart from improvements which would have arisen, naturally, out of progress in design of engines and other machinery, technological advance has been necessary to maintain profitability in the face of declining catch rates on most traditional fishing grounds.

Some of the more striking changes have taken place in the distant water fleet. The most modern ships in that fleet are complex vessels with advanced machinery and instrumentation, including:

Freezing at sea, enabling the ships to stay at sea until full, thus reducing non-produtive passage time.

Ultra-sonic fish detection with a very high degree of resolution.

Automatic control of certain functions such as boiler operation, starting of some standby and duplicated machinery, electrical loadshedding, etc.

Provision of certain machinery refinements aimed at increased ship efficiency, such as controllable pitch propellers, hydraulic deck machinery, etc.

Corresponding increases in standards of crew comfort.

At the same time, fishing remains an ardous calling and, with more attractive shore work in competition, has been suffering from an increasing decline in recruitment. This is true o fishermen and seagoing engineers.