Western Fishers Shipyard Ltd (WFSL) has launched its first deep-sea mid water fishing trawler recently.
WFSL — a joint venture between Western Marine Shipyard and Fishers Shipyard Ltd — is the first shipyard in Bangladesh to build such a trawler.
The 42-metre vessel — FT Agro Food-1 — has a freezing capacity of 300 tonnes of fish, Western Marine said in a statement.
It has a draft of 4.3 metres and is equipped with an engine of 1,850 BHP, a generator of 800 kilowatt, an anti roll-tank, a Kaplan propeller, a Kort nozzle, a bulbous bow and a bollard pull.
The vessel has a pulling capacity of 26 tonnes, according to the statement.
Unlike other imported fishing trawlers, FT Agro Food-1 has been customised following a design from Iceland to operate in the rough weather of the Bay of Bengal, said Sakhawat Hossain, managing director of Western Marine.
The trawler has a hi-tech refrigeration system, including a processing deck, a slurry ice machine, a chilled water maker, a blast freezer and a store freezer, which will keep stored fishes fresh, said A Rouf Chowdhury, chairman of WFSL.
New jobs will be created if WFSL secures orders to build such trawlers that were previously imported mainly from China and Thailand, according to the statement.
-With The Daily Star input
