THE biggest quota holder in South Africa’s inshore trawling industry has taken delivery of a second GRP-hulled sole trawler, writes Claire Attwood.

Owner SeaVuna’s latest inshore fleet addition is Vuna Imbongi and she has been built to help meet the company’s commitment to enhance its catching capacity after securing long-term fishing rights.

The sole fishing component of the SeaVuna fleet has now been increased to four trawlers, all of which were moulded in GRP at the Sandy Point boatyard of Tallie Marine.

Vuna Imbongi is similar in design to her sister Vuna Liesa, which was launched less than a year ago, but a number of changes have been incorporated into Vuna Imbongi to improve her operations.

Kobus Maritz, managing director of SeaVuna, tells FNI: “Imbongi is slightly longer and we have built the deck a little higher, so there is considerably more space in the fish hold and engineroom.”

In addition, the wheelhouse on Vuna Imbongi has been raised to provide additional space in the bridge, galley and crew living areas.

A further improvement with the latest sole trawler is that her power system has been re-worked to increase fuel efficiency.

Says Kobus Maritz: “The sharp rise in fuel prices really focused our minds on efficiencies and we believe that Imbongi will prove to be between 10 and 20% more fuel efficient than Vuna Liesa.”

Vuna Imbongi has been fitted with a much smaller auxiliary engine than her sister– an 8 kW Lister with two cylinders as compared with a 40 kW keel cooled and six cylinder John Deere engine in Vuna Liesa.

Then, to compensate for the smaller auxiliary engine, her auxiliary power is supplied by an inverter system with a battery pack.

Kobus Maritz reports: “The system was custom designed and fitted by Radio Holland and the early signs are very promising. This will help us to reduce fuel costs.”

Like her sister vessel, Vuna Imbongi is powered by a John Deere 6081AFM01 main engine having an output of 235hp at 2100 rpm and the engine is coupled to a DMT gearbox.

Vuna Imbongi will undertake trips of up to seven days with a crew of six. Her sole catches and by-catches will be stored in ice ponds inside the boat’s 40 cu. metre fishhold. Prime quality hake will be stored in fish bins and chilled with ice. Vuna Imbongi will take about ten tonnes of flake ice on her fishing trips.

Her deck machinery includes two single drum trawl winches which each carry 500 metres of 14 mm warp. The winches, fitted with a mechanical brake and clutch, can pull up to four tonnes at 25 metres a minute. A net storage winch with a pull of two tons is mounted aft.

The sole trawler’s fresh water tank with a capacity of 1000 litres is fitted in the fo’c’stle and two diesel tanks having a combined capacity of 6200 litres are fitted each side of the engineroom.

Electronic equipment aboard Vuna Imbongi – supplied and fitted by Pertec – comprises a Furuno PG500 electronic compass, Furuno Navipilot 500 autopilot, Furuno NavNet M1834C colour radar and plotter, Furuno GP32 GPS receiver and MaxSea (Version 12) plotter and Mapmedia chart (Zone 2).

Her communications sets include a Furuno FS1503 HF radio and two Furuno FM3000 VHF radios. Fishfinding equipment aboard the vessel includes a Furuno FCV1100L 1.2 or 2 kW synthesised dual echo sounder, plus two ES transducers.

The boat’s safety equipment and vessel management system (VMS) complies with South African regulations and include a Kannad 406 GMDSS floatfree Epirb and a Sailor SP31105 W fisheries VMS.

There is accommodation for seven crew in the vessel’s fo’c’stle, while her separate officer’s cabin is under the shelterdeck on the starboard side. The galley is under the shelterdeck on the port side and the adjacent messroom is equipped with a table and seating.

As Vuna Imbongi was put in the water at her base in Mossel Bay, Andrew Hendricks, chairman of SeaVuna, explained that Imbongi means “praise singer” in isiXhosa, one of the languages spoken by South Africans living in the Eastern Cape Province.

“The name is appropriate because we believe that we have to sing praise for the blessings we continue to receive from the ocean,” he said.

The traditional breaking of the bottle of Champagne on Vuna Imbongi’s bow was followed by the SeaVuna choir singing a traditional praise song while a praise singer blessed the vessel and her crew.

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Second new sole catcher for SeaVuna