LIDAN MARINE of Lidkoping, Sweden, supplies winches for demersal, pelagic, pair and twin-rig trawling, always linked with Scantrol autotrawl systems.

Recent deliveries by Lidan Marine to fishing vessels have been to Ronan Ross and Sarah David, which were handed over last year by Swedish yard Tjšrnvarvet to owners in Ireland.

"They wanted main winches capable of holding 3600 metres of 26 mm wire. They have their main winches forward and the mid winch aft, which we supplied with a Scantrol autotrawl system. It's an excellent system and they have done very well with it, " Lidan Marine's Leif Andersson says.

The winch drums are fitted with Lebus grooves to ensure that the wire lays efficiently on the drums.

"These are very effective, but it is also important to use good quality wire that keeps its shape with them, then you will have good spooling on to the drums and this extends the life of the wire." Ronan Ross and Sarah David are also fitted with a special pair trawling system which Lidan Marine first supplied to Swedish pair team of Lšvšn and Carmona. This links the winch controls of the two vessels over a radio link so that, when the lead vessel makes a change to the warp length, the other boat's winch follows suit automatically, eliminating the possibility of mistakes in sending verbal instructions over the VHF.

"This system works very well and the next step is to develop a distance control for pair trawling, " Leif Andersson says.

While Lidan Marine was established as an engine repair company in 1909, the company did not move into winches until the 1950s. Then it began by producing its own lowpressure hydraulic winches, mostly for the fishing industry.

By the 1960s, when higher torques were needed, the company began using Swedish-made HŠgglunds Drives hydraulic motors for its winches. Lidan used so many hydraulic motors that the company was eventually bought by HŠgglunds.

Lidan Marine is now a partner company of HŠgglunds Drives within the Arcorus group.

Fishing is one of the company's six divisions, which include producing heavy-duty equipment for offshore and roro applications, as well as very high tech equipment for the Swedish navy, sales manager Leif Andersson tells FNI.

The company produces winches with capacities of up to 2500 metres of 86 mm wire and a 350 tonne pulling power for applications in the offshore industry.

Lidan Marine uses the HŠgglunds Viking and Compact models for fishing applications to power its direct drive and geared winches. Direct drive winches are for the 20 to 25 tonne range, while the company's geared winches have capacities of up to 80 tonnes. Gear drives are also available for net drums.

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