Leading Journal of the Irish & UK Fishing Industries

Recently the new 22.2 metre twin rig trawler, Day Dawn FR 90, for skipper Chaz Bruce and his brother Martin Bruce in partnership with P and J Johnstone, completed engine trials where she achieved a speed of 11.1 knots.

Several days later Day Dawn left Parkols yard in Whitby to steam to Fraserburgh to take on the trawl gear and undertake fishing trials. Having completed their fishing trials Chaz said, ‘the boat performed well, it was very quiet, generally really impressed and everything seems to have worked out well, very pleased with the new boat’.  Day Dawn is a replacement for Chaz and Martins previous vessel the 19m long MFV Challenger, also FR90 that was completed by Parkols in 2010.

Challenger remains in Fraserburgh, having been sold to James and AJ Third and renamed the Harvest Moon. Chaz and Martin have named their new vessel Day Dawn to honour the memory of their father as that was the name of the boat that he had when they both started at sea with him.

Construction of the new vessel, that was designed by Ian Paton of SC McAllister and Co Ltd, started in Parkol Marine Engineering yard in February 2021 and she was lifted into the water just over a year later on March 12th 2022.

Day Dawn, insured by Sunderland Marine, is built in steel, of round bilge construction with a bulbous bow and an aluminium wheelhouse atop the steel deck housing. She is 22.2metres overall length with a beam of 7.5 metres and a gross tonnage of 215 tonnes. The boat has an impressive crest on the stem of an 8 pointed compass star with the skippers clan name ‘Bruce’ above it and the clan motto ‘Fumius’ below.

Like their last vessel the new boat is powered by a Caterpillar main engine. This vessel is fitted with a Cat C32 rated at 492 KW driving a Masson MM W7400 gear box with a reduction ration of 9.077 to one. This turns an innovative 2.5m diameter six bladed propellor in a nozzle, both supplied by Promarin. This combination is to improve efficiency and give quieter running with less vibration. This appears to be working as Chaz confirmed that the boat was very quiet without any vibration during the sea trials.

In recent years Promarin have supplied several propellors to other UK fishing vessels with good results. The three auxiliary engines are also from Caterpillar, one C12 rated at 340 hp mounted on top of the port fuel tank to power the main hydraulic pumps. On the starboard fuel tank at the other side of the engine room are two smaller Caterpillar C4.4 marine open generator sets providing electrical power for the vessel. Bilge and deck wash duties are provided by two Azcue CA-80-5a general service pumps, with two Azcue 80/17 pumps on deck for clearing the deck sumps.

The exhausts from all the engines are channelled upwards through the main deckhouse and out above the aft port corner of the wheelhouse.

A total of 18,700 litres of fuel is stored in four tanks. 17,600 litres of fresh water is stored in a tank under the fish room floor. The vessel is divided below decks by water tight bulkheads into four areas, the accommodation aft, then moving forward the engine room and then the fish room and right forward the forepeak, housing the KT 12L 500mm diameter bow thruster.

The fish room can hold in the region of 700 boxes and is fully insulated and fibre glassed lined. The fish room is refrigerated by an air blown system supplied and fitted by Airo-tech Solutions from Fraserburgh. They also supplied the Geneglace 2.5 ton ice machine. All the refrigeration machinery, including the ice machinery, is housed in a central compartment alongside the fish hopper on the main deck, cleverly utilising some of the void below the fish hopper. This system has already been fitted to several other NE boats

There is a small tugger winch from Seaquest Systems rated at 1.5 tonne fitted in the fish room for hauling the tiers of boxes forward to below the landing hatch. This winch has local fixed controls and a push button type radio control.

The catch arrives into the fish room by way of a chute direct from deck into a small reception selection tray ready for final weighing and packing. Weighing done with set of VCU scales supplied by Woodsons of Aberdeen, that delivers the information directly up to the E log station in the wheelhouse helping to provide full catch traceability.

On the main deck right forward is a weather tight compartment housing the two speed, three drum 32.7 tone twin rig trawl winch with hydraulic spooling, that was supplied (along with the other deck machinery) net drums and crane etc, by Seaquest Systems of Killybegs. Each barrel of this winch is spooled with 300 fathoms of warp supplied by Karl Thomson, Buckie. The trawl winch has been designed to be able to be fully controlled from the wheelhouse in a similar manner to if it were three split winches as well as local controls. Full video camera surveillance of all moving parts of this system ensures safe operation.

The three warps are led from the winch up above the shelter deck and aft to the three Fleming fairleads hanging blocks on the gantry aft.

Aft of this is, the separated by a watertight bulkhead is the main fish processing area, this has the deck sheathed in blue epoxy resin from PBP Services in Fraserburgh. To starboard is the fish reception hopper leading into a fish selection tray running aft down the starboard with space for the crew between it and the vessel side.

Running along the inboard side of the selection tray there is a narrow separate section for the crew to put the prawn tails in. From here they get washed aft into a basket ready for washing in one of the two prawn washers. Inboard of this section is a raised rack to hold 10 baskets for selecting the other prawns and fish into. The fish / prawn selection tray and prawn washers were supplied by Seagate Fabrications from Peterhead.

After being washed the baskets of prawns are stowed in racks on the deck before being passed down into the fish room for weighing and packing. Alongside the fish hopper, forward is a compartment housing the refrigeration equipment and the 2.5t Geneglace ice machine that leads directly into the ice lockers in the fish room below.

The main fish room landing hatch in the main deck is slightly offset to port with a dedicated and crew access hatch further forward on the port side of the vessel. This gives the crew easier and safer access to the fish room when at sea. The landing hatch in the shelter deck is also offset that helps to give a clear run aft for the centre. At the port side of the main deck is a hatch and stairwell providing the main access to the shelter deck. At the after end port side is fitted with basket storage racks.

Aft of the processing deck is the galley and mess deck accessed through the changing room / oilskin storage / walkway on the port side. This area has heated racks and hanging space for the crews’ oilskins, boots, and lifejackets to keep the dry, this area is also has a resin sheathed floor. From this compartment there is access, through watertight doors, forward to the main processing deck and right aft to the trawl quarter deck and to starboard is the main access to the accommodation section.

Immediately inside the accommodation unit on the left is a stairwell up to the wheelhouse above, opposite this is the stacked washing machine and tumble dryer, then the doorway leading down to the crew accommodation. Opposite this is the toilet and shower. Straight ahead is the roomy and well equipped galley fitted out with light coloured moulded worktops. Galley equipment includes, along the aft bulkhead, a full height fridge/ freezer, a full height freezer, Seimens oven, hob, and microwave and a Quooker boiling water tap to save the need for a kettle on the worktop.

Opposite this is a large galley table, again in the same light colour moulding, with adequate seating for the whole crew and a 55inch flat screen television mounted high on the bulkhead to allow the crew to keep up to date with the latest programs. Under the work surface are storage cupboards and above, there are many electric sockets complete with USB charging points.

The crew accommodation is accessed by a stairwell from the galley area and consists of two single berth cabins and two cabin ‘areas each with 3 bunks. A hatch allows access to the wills Ridley steering gear. Like many of Parkols new builds all the sharp bulkhead corners are rounded off giving a roomier feel to the cabin area.

Moving further aft on the main deck to the quarter deck, the main gear handling area dominated by the two 15.6 ton Seaquest Systems split net drums positioned either side. These net drums have a flange diameter of 2.2metres and a core pull of 15.6 tonne. The controls for the net drums are positioned aft below the central ramp for the clump weight. The four twin rig trawls supplied by Faithlie trawls, Fraserburgh are spooled on the two split net drums.

The trawls are 2 X 180ft letterbox style trawls with 30ft wide mouths and 2 X 170ft scraper trawls with 20ft mouths, all are rigged on disc footropes. All the nets are made predominately in the latest ‘Breztech’ twine that has shown to be strong and long lasting in the North Sea prawn fishery, with many skippers specifically requesting this netting for their trawls. Faithlie Trawls also supplied a full rig of sweeps, bridles and a set of Thyboron 72 trawl doors to spread the gear. Shackles, swivels and other chandlery for rigging the gear was from Jackson Trawls, Fraserburgh.

Right aft on the are the two large net hatches with rail rollers, in between them, is the plastic covered ramp for secure housing of the centre clump weight when its hauled. The net drum controls are fitted at head height just ahead of this ramp. Access from this gear deck to the shelter deck is by a hatch with ladder situated forward between the two net drums. At shelter deck level above the net drums is the robust gantry with the port and starboard trawl gallows at either side and in the centre, the hanging block for the centre warp, all with trawl blocks are from Fleming Fairleads.

Fitted on top of the gantry is the Seaquest powerblock crane rated at 1.5 tonnes at 6.5 metres reach to help with gear handling. This crane has the ability to rotate a full 360 degrees.  the controls for the Seaquest crane and powerblock are protected in a bespoke stainless steel housing with opening top to access the levers that is fitted right aft on this deck and by a remote radio control unit. Below the gantry there are 2 gear storage pounds each with a double hinged aluminium cover for general gear storage. The idea of the aluminium fitted lids is to protect the stored spare sweeps and netting exposure to the elements and keep them dry until needed. Just ahead of these is the hatch for accessing the aft deck.

Attached to the hand rails around the top of the hatch is the Quicksling man overboard rescue device in a convenient position to where crew are be working on the open deck.

On the port side, just forward of this hatch is the entry to the wheelhouse from shelter deck level. On the port side immediately in the wheelhouse door is a small sink with a chilled cabinet below, then the hatch to the galley tucked in ahead of this. The wheelhouse is finished in a light wood laminate walls with all sharp corners rounded off and edges trimmed with solid oak along with grey timber effect Karndean floor complete with a 16 point compass star with the vessel name inset into this.

The centre piece of the wheelhouse is a the Norsap wheelhouse chair with three 55inch 4K flat screens monitors fitted, low level immediately in front. Around the wheelhouse chair is an island console with the Navitron Autopilot, engine controls, plotter controls and various radio telephones both on the console and in the overhead displays.

There is full access all around the centre console giving easy access to the steering positions at both sides of the wheelhouse. There are also 8 other 24inch widescreen monitors around the wheelhouse

The whole boat is covered by 10 CCTV cameras, these can be displayed in any configuration on the various monitors in the wheelhouse and a Phonetech talkback system to keep the skipper in contact with the crew throughout the boat. The 55inch 4K monitors are operated through a dedicated 4K Multiview wall control system that enables each one to be divided into as many as 9 smaller screens to show radar, plotters, sounders, CCTV cameras etc in whatever configuration that the skipper prefers.

They can also display any of the items on full screen, such as the radar when an expanded presentation would be beneficial, such as when working close to several other vessels or coming into port. All the wheelhouse electronics were supplied and fitted by Woodsons of Aberdeen.

There are engine, bow thruster and steering controls beside the wheelhouse chair, at either side of the wheelhouse and aft alongside the controls for the winch. Immediately behind the wheelhouse chair is a small ’office’ space to house the computer for the e log and sat phone etc. In the starboard aft corner are two more lounge style seats and a table between them.

Forward of the wheelhouse on top of the shelter deck, above the reception hopper, there is a robust Gilson gantry for taking the codend onboard. At its base is a Seaquest Systems 7 Tonne Gilson winch This winch can and the hydraulic ram operating the deck hatch can both be controlled from the wheelhouse, or locally if required. Just ahead of this the anchor and chain is stowed in bespoke shallow deck pound. On the port side forward is the Seaquest systems fixed boom landing crane rated at 1000kg at 8 metres reach. Controls for this crane are similar to that of the power block crane with local controls protected in a stainless steel housing and the option to use wireless remote controls.

 

DETAILS of Day Dawn FR290

Designer: SC McAllister

Boatyard: Parkol Marine Engineering, Whitby

DIMENSIONS and CAPACITIES

Length overall: 22.2m; Length Registered: 21.15m, Beam7.5m; Depth moulded: 4.m Draught: 4.60m; Tonnage: 215 tonnes gross; Fuel: 18,700 litres; Fresh water: 17,600 litres; Fish room700 boxes.

 

ENGINEROOM

Main engine: Caterpillar C32IMO11 660hp at 1600-1800rpm.

Gearbox: Masson MMW77400, Ratio 9.077 : 1.

Propellor: Promarin six bladed in Promarin nozzle.

Auxiliary engines: Caterpillar C12 340hp at 1800 rpm – Hydraulics. Two Caterpillar C4.4 marine generator sets rated at 6 ekW at 50Hz, 415 volt.

Bow thruster:  KT 120L with a thrust of 800kg

 

DECK MACHINERY

Supplier – SeaQuest Systems, Killybegs

One 3 drum 2 speed trawl winch 23.7 tonnes core pull, complete with local and remote controls.

Two Split net drums 2.2m diameter with a core pull of 15.6 tonnes.

One Gilson winch with 7 tonne core pull, complete with local and wheelhouse controls.

One fish room winch with a 1.5 tonne pull. Delivered with local controls and remote radio controls.

One powerblock crane with a lifting capacity of 1.5 tonne and a reach of 6.5metres. Delivered with local controls and remote radio controls.

One fixed boom landing crane with a capacity of 1000kg and reach of 8 metres. Supplied with local controls and remote radio control.

 

CATCH HANDLING and STORAGE

Catch handling system: Seagate Fabrications, Peterhead.

Fish room refrigeration:  Airo-tech Solutions, Fraserburgh

Ice Machine: 2 X 2.5 ton Geneglace supplied by Airo-tech Solutions, Fraserburgh

 

ELECTRONICS

Supplier: Woodsons, Aberdeen.

Fish detection:  JRC JFC 180BB black box plotter / sounder

Navigation: Olex 3D seabed mapping system, two Sodena Easywin plotting system, Navitron NT921MK11 autopilot

Communications:  JRC JSS 2150 150W GMDSS MF/HF SSB, a Sailor 6210 VHF, Two Icom M330 VHF with DSC, one Jotron Class A AIS and an eSEA60Ka INTERNET communications system. A Phontech 3100 talkback system. A CCTV system with 10 cameras, an eSEA60 Satellite TV system. One e-SEA 60 Satellite TV system, One – 4 K Video Wall control system c/w 3 55inch 4 K monitors and 8 Neovo X24 wide screen monitors

Safety Equipment – One Entel HT649 GMDSS Handheld VHF, One JRC NAVTEX Receiver, One Jotron TRON 60 EPIRB with GPS

Woodsons also supplied the vessels VCU catch management system and weighing scales.

 

FISHING GEAR

Supplier:  Faithlie Trawls supplied 2 X 180ft letterbox style trawls with 30ft wide mouths rigged on 8inch and 6inch discs. 2 X 170ft scraper trawls with 20ft mouths, rigged on 10inch, 8inch and 6 inch discs. Faithlie Trawls also supplied all the sweeps and bridles for the trawls.

Trawl Doors:  Thyboron type 72 trawl doors supplied by Faithlie Trawl

Warp: 3 x 300 fathoms of 20mm diameter wire supplied by Karl Thomson, Buckie.