SUNBEAM FR487

Fraserburgh’s Duthie family take delivery of a 73 metre pelagic trawler, replacing the Sunbeam they fished for 25 years.

The newest Sunbeam was handed over to her owners at Myklebust Verft in Norway on 15 June 2026, closing out a build programme that ran for almost three years and opening a new chapter for one of Fraserburgh’s best known pelagic fishing families.

Registered FR487 and working out of Fraserburgh, the 73 metre pelagic trawler replaces the 25 year old Sunbeam, which has been sold on to Peru. The new vessel is owned by the Duthie family, James Snr, James Jnr and Gavin Duthie, trading as Sunbeam Fisheries, and will be skippered by James Jnr and Gavin Duthie with a crew of 12.

Designed by Norwegian naval architects Salt Ship Design as a 0364 type mid water trawler, the Sunbeam was developed in close cooperation between the builders, Myklebust Verft, and the owners. The hull was constructed at the Bason Shipyard in Vietnam before being towed to Norway between August and November 2025. She arrived at Myklebust Verft in Gursken on 4 November 2025 for fitting out, with delivery following late  June 2026. The vessel was originally contracted in September 2023.

Measuring 73.00 metres in length, with a beam of 15.60 metres and a draught of 7.60 metres, the Sunbeam provides accommodation for 18 persons, fitted out by Vestnes Ocean. Her fishroom holds 10 RSW tanks with a combined capacity of approximately 2,000 cubic metres. The vessel will target herring, mackerel, sprat and boarfish.

At the heart of the vessel is an ABC main engine, supported by two Yanmar auxiliary engines and a third auxiliary from Nogva. Thrusters, propulsion, gearbox and generator are all supplied by Brunvoll, with the forward thruster a retractable unit. The fish handling system is provided by MMC First Process, while deck cranes and fish pumps come from SeaQuest and the pump package from Azcue.

In a feature rarely seen outside the Norwegian fleet, the Sunbeam is fitted with a retractable drop keel that lowers the echo sounder transducers three metres below the hull, clear of the turbulence and noise generated by the vessel and giving enhanced acoustic performance for scientific surveys. The vessel also carries two laboratories and a research office, providing visiting scientists with a dedicated area to sample and analyse fish.

The Myklebust Verft project group, technical department and outfitting crew extended their best wishes to the owners for good fishing in the years ahead, noting the close working relationship with James Jnr and Gavin Duthie and their engine room colleagues Jordan Tijou and John Cox.

The Skipper would like to wish the Duthie family, skippers and crew, and all at Sunbeam Fisheries every success with the new Sunbeam and good fishing for the future.

ENGINE AND PROPULSION

The Sunbeam is powered by an ABC 8DL36 main engine supplied by Anglo Belgian Corporation (ABC). The 8 cylinder D36 inline unit features a 365 mm bore and a maximum continuous rating (MCR) of 5,200 kW at 750 rpm, delivering the performance, reliability and fuel efficiency required for modern pelagic fishing operations.

Pieter Boeykens, Senior Sales Manager at ABC, commented:

“From the very beginning of this project, there has been a strong and constructive collaboration with Sunbeam Fishing Limited. Throughout the discussions, their clear vision for modern and efficient fishing operations consistently came to the forefront, together with a high level of confidence in our technology. This combination of craftsmanship, entrepreneurship and cooperation strongly reflects what ABC stands for. We are therefore pleased to have successfully delivered this project together.”

The vessel also carries a broad package of Brunvoll equipment. The main propulsion consists of a controllable pitch shaft line propeller and gearbox, while manoeuvring is handled by a stern tunnel thruster and Brunvoll’s retractable azimuth combi thruster, which combines azimuth and tunnel thruster functions in a single unit. The BruCon Propulsion and Thruster Control (PTC) system ties the package together, ensuring smooth operation across a range of conditions.

Auxiliary power is provided by two Yanmar 6EY18ALWS auxiliary engines, each rated at 750 kW, which were supplied by Trevor McDonald (Marine Engine Services) Ltd.

DECK MACHINERY

Deck machinery is supplied by Evotec, comprising two trawl winches (drum capacity 2,100 m of 38 mm wire), two net drums (storage capacity 40 cubic metres), a lifeline winch (900 m of 44 mm rope), a netsound winch and a tailend winch (200 m of 80 mm rope).

The Evotec delivery covers all winches for trawling and mooring and features the Evotec MultiSoft Trawl system, with permanent magnet motors and converters. Alongside its dynamic performance and high efficiency, the system offers significant savings in weight and space. As the company puts it, “Our goal is to make the customer more efficient in their operation.”

Håkon Woldsund, sales manager at Evotec, said:

“This is yet another project developed in close collaboration with Salt Ship Design. It is particularly gratifying that the main economic impact of such a delivery is placed along the Norwegian coast. The shipping company has worked in close dialogue with Evotec for a long time, and we are very satisfied to be chosen as a supplier to the Duthie family, based in Scotland. We are well-positioned in the fisheries segment and look forward to the future.”

Jogeir Romestrand, CEO of Evotec, added:

“Evotec’s commitment to sustainable technology and efficient handling solutions for the fishing fleet has yielded good results. The company has quickly established itself as a market leader in the global market and has big ambitions moving forward.”

Deck cranes and fish handling equipment are supplied by Killybegs based SeaQuest Systems. The package comprises a 14 metre knuckle boom crane with a lifting capacity of 4,000 kg at full outreach and two gantry style knuckle boom cranes fitted with integrated powerblocks. All three are built specifically for marine operations, with extensive corrosion protection including SA 2.5 sandblasting, metalising, marine grade coatings and stainless steel components on critical systems. The cranes feature dual slewing drives, marine specification hydraulic controls, proportional radio control, non rotating wire ropes and load sensing variable pump systems, and each was factory tested at 125% of rated capacity before delivery.

The two gantry style cranes carry the latest transport roller powerblocks, with a 2.5 tonne pull capacity, hydraulic tilt and endless rotation for handling gear and codend operations. Fish handling is further supported by two 20 inch fish pumps with bridge controlled capacity adjustment, a two hose hydraulic hose reel with gearbox driven operation, hydrostatic brake and capacity for 90 metres of dual 2 inch hose, and a SeaQuest 20 inch Pump Thru fish hose reel with a 3.5 tonne core pull, hydrostatic brake and telescopic pipe arrangement. All crane radio control transmitters are interoperable, so an alternative transmitter can be used in the unlikely event of a failure, keeping downtime to a minimum.

TRAWL NET AND DOORS

Nets and trawl gear for the Sunbeam were supplied by a range of specialist makers, including KT Nets, Cosmo, Jackson Trawls, Egersund Tral and Swan Net.

Killybegs based KT Nets designed and supplied their signature 8 panel K.T. Design Mackerel Net, with an 8 panel and 4 panel T.90 braided skinless brailer. This is a similar successful design to those supplied to many Irish, Shetland and Scottish customers, and has proven its catching ability on the grounds year after year.

The Sunbeam is fitted with a full set of Thyborøn controllable Type 42 Bluestream trawl doors, continuing a long partnership between the Danish manufacturer and the Duthie family. The Bluestream double foil design is paired with fully integrated real time hydraulic control, allowing the crew to adjust spread, depth, height and resistance from the bridge without any manual work on deck. Built in sensors handle automatic depth and height regulation, and each door can be controlled individually or together, giving the skipper a level of precision not possible with fixed trawl doors.

According to Thyborøn, trawl doors account for up to 25% of total drag resistance in bottom trawling, while fuel costs typically represent 20 to 30% of turnover in trawl fisheries. By continuously minimising drag, the company reports fuel savings of up to 10% per trawling hour and reductions of up to 35% in fuel consumption per kilogram of catch when gear efficiency is fully optimised, with corresponding cuts in carbon dioxide emissions.

TRAWL SENSORS AND MONITORING

Trawl monitoring is handled by a Marport package built around the new M6 Hub bridge system, designed for vessels running complex, large scale trawl gear. The M6 Hub supports 100 sensor data channels and 10 sounder channels, automatically switches between up to six hydrophones for the best signal coverage, transmits high resolution echogram data with minimal delay and can drive up to three monitors. It connects to the internet through a router, to external NMEA devices and directly to the Dock smart charger.

The sensor package includes port and starboard Door Spread Sensor Pro NX units, with pitch and roll, depth, battery life and positioning, two Trawl Navigator Pro tunnel sensors, four Catch Navigator Pro NX and four Catch Sensor Pro NX units, four NC-1-08 active wideband hydrophones, two NC-1-07 active hydrophones, two Medusa chargers and one Dock Pro charger. Marport’s latest NX sensors offer up to twice the battery life of earlier models, at up to 22 days, along with an easy swap out design that lets sensors be changed while the housing stays on the net.

ELECTRONICS AND FISH FINDING

The fish finding, communications and steering electronics were supplied by Echomaster Marine, built around proven SIMRAD equipment. The acoustic package comprises the ST93 low frequency sonar, the MF90 mid frequency sonar and three ES80 split beam echo sounders at 38, 120 and 200 kHz, with all three transducers cluster mounted on the internal drop keel in a fishery research vessel layout. A SIMRAD CP60 Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler is housed in a blister aft of the bulbous bow, while the owners’ FS70 trawl sonar runs on the third wire for net opening imagery, upgradable to FS80.

Communications equipment includes a Sailor 6310 MF/HF DSC radio, three Sailor 7222 VHF DSC radios with 6204 remote handsets, two Lars Thrane Iridium GMDSS terminals, three Jotron GMDSS handheld liferaft radios, three Jotron SARTs and a Jotron TRON 60GPS EPIRB with AIS. Motorola fixed UHF radios are fitted, with bridge handsets located by Bluetooth walk about units and further sets in the RSW and engine control rooms. Offshore internet is provided by a Starlink Gen 3 Maritime high performance system, with all communications antennas manufactured by AC Marine AS.

Heading and steering control is built on a dual SIMRAD GC80 gyrocompass, with remote I3007 heading indicators on the bridge and at the emergency steering position, and a SIMRAD AP70 mk2 autopilot with dual control heads on the bridge interfaced to the Kongsberg rudder and thruster control systems. A Pyronix intruder alarm is also fitted.

Andrew Masson from Echomaster Marine commented:

“This order continues the long-standing relationship between Echomaster Marine and the Duthie family, with SIMRAD product once again forming the backbone of fish-finding technology onboard their new vessel. We look forward to delivering this project in 2025/2026 and thank the Duthie family for having the continued confidence in our business to place such an important order with Echomaster Marine Ltd.”

The navigation package is supplied by Furuno. The radar fit comprises an X band FAR-2228 with a 25 kW magnetron and an S band FAR-2238S for long range detection in heavy weather, alongside a DRS4D-NXT solid state Doppler radar with Target Analyzer, which highlights approaching targets and needs no magnetron warm up. Chart work runs on a TECDIS dual ECDIS system and TimeZero Professional navigation software, with position, heading and identification provided by a GP-170 GPS navigator, an SC-70 satellite compass accurate to 0.4 degrees and an FA-170 Class A AIS transponder.

For fish detection and seabed mapping, Furuno supplies the FSV-75 half circle scanning sonar, a high frequency unit suited to tracking fast moving schools and fish held tight to the bottom, together with WASSP multibeam, which charts a 120 degree swath of seabed and water column using up to 224 beams to read bottom hardness and biomass in real time. A VR-7000 Voyage Data Recorder and a BR-500 Bridge Navigational Watch Alarm System (BNWAS) complete the package.

Moltech supplied the Molbridge matrix system and bridge screens, along with the vessel’s internet and television distribution, while CCTV is provided by Hareid Group using a Milestone system.

THE YARD: MYKLEBUST VERFT

Myklebust Verft, located in Gursken in Sunnmøre, traces its roots to 1915, when blacksmith Oskar Myklebust set up a forge and repair shop. From those small beginnings it has grown into a modern yard handling advanced shipbuilding, conversions and maintenance. Through the 20th century it moved from repairing local fishing boats to building its own vessels, and from 2001 to 2018 it formed a central part of the Kleven Maritime group. In 2018 it became an independent yard owned by local investors, including the Remøy, Kleven and Lillebø families. In more recent years it has specialised in complex conversions, including extensive environmental upgrades and new hybrid installations for large coastal vessels.

VESSEL SPECIFICATIONS

Engine Room

Deck

Wheelhouse