New fuel-efficient fishing vessel to set sail

Sagar Haritha, an IRS class vessel, designed and developed by the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, is all set to conquer new seas. The Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), the lead partner in developing the fuel-efficient multi-fishing mode vessel, will take her to waters shortly. The vessel blends research as well as occupational fishing activities. The new model vessel was developed after detailed surveys across the fishing centres of the country and obtaining feedback from the stakeholders, said C.N. Ravishankar, the Director of the Institute. The vessel was built at Goa Shipyard at a cost of around Rs. 7 crore under the project "Green Fishing System for Tropical Seas" funded by National Agricultural Science Fund of the Indian Council for Agriculture Research. Garware Wall Ropes Private Limited, Pune and DSM India Limited, Mumbai are the other partners of the project. This was the first basic and strategic fisheries research project undertaken in PPP mode, explained Dr. Leela Edwin, the Principal Investigator of the project and Head Fishing Technology Division. This combination fishing vessel brings together deep sea fishing methods like long-lining, gill netting and trawling. F. V. Sagar Haritha is equipped with autopilot, echo sounder, High Frequency Radio, Fuel Monitoring System, Global Positioning System, Automatic Identification System, Very High Frequency Transceiver and NavTex-satellite based warning system. The Trawl Telemetry System would give inputs on how the trawl nets behave during fishing operations, said M.V. Baiju, the Naval Architect of the project. The vessel operating specialized energy efficient fishing gear made of new generation materials like Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene will be taken for sea trials for the next one year. The commercial version of the same design is expected to cost around Rs. One crore, the scientists said. The stability, resistance, and sea-keeping characteristics of the hull model were optimized using Computational Fluid Dynamic simulation software and model testing. This modified hull can reduce wave resistance, thereby making the vessel fuel efficient, according to the scientists. The vessel has refrigerated sea water cooling system for high quality fish preservation. The wheel house made of FRP ensures low heat conductivity, light weight, increased stability and low maintenance. Solar power for navigational lighting, bulbous bow, nozzle propeller are its other features of the vessel, they said. P. Pravin, Saly N Thomas, M. P. Remesan and Madhu V. R, are the other scientists associated with the project.