ASENAV Shipyards to Construct Fishery & Oceanographic Research Vessel

[By: ASENAV]

On May 16, at the offices of the Chilean Undersecretary for Fisheries and Aquaculture in Valparaíso, Chile, Mr. Heinz Pearce, General Manager of ASENAV Shipyards, and Mr. Julio Salas, in representation of the Undersecretary for Fisheries and Aquaculture, signed a contract for the construction of a Fishing and Oceanographic Research Vessel. “We are very grateful for the confidence that the Undersecretary for Fisheries and Aquaculture has had in Astilleros ASENAV S.A. to carry out the construction of this important ship that will benefit all Chileans” said Mr. Heinz Pearce. This construction is due to the need for the public institute to have a coastal ship to be able to carry out acoustic surveys of fishery resources, evaluation of biomass through acoustic methods in coastal sectors and inland waters, and collection of samples of different types of marine living beings. The contract has a value of approximately USD 15 million and will be built at the ASENAV facilities in Valdivia, Chile. Currently, the project is in the detailed engineering development phase and construction is expected to begin at the end of August with the “first steel plate cut” milestone, while its delivery is scheduled for February 2024.

This ship, which will be ASENAV project NB 191, will have a length overall of 30.80 meters, a beam of 9.00 meters and a draft of 2.95 meters. She will be equipped to accommodate seven scientists and ten crew members in ten single and double rooms, as well as a kitchen, dining room, recreation room and dressing rooms. It will also have an acoustic, a wet, a dry and a fish processing lab for the analysis and study of all the samples obtained during its operation. The vessel includes a diesel-electric propulsion system, which lowers the carbon dioxide emissions, having less environmental impact and achieving better energy efficiency since the electric generators operate at constant revolutions.

This milestone highlights an important stage for the shipyard since it will mean the construction of the first fishery and oceanographic research vessel that ASENAV S.A. will have built in its history. This means the entry of the shipyard into an important new segment, increasing its portfolio of types of ships built, confirming the versatility of this company. This market is becoming even more important due to the increase in the need to learn and understand the marine fauna life cycle to preserve these species in a better way, so they don’t continue disappearing due to overfishing or global warming. Therefore, it is expected that the demand for these ships will continue to surge, and ASENAV S.A is expected to continue contributing to this growth for the next several years.

This ship will be added to the ASENAV production line, which today has two more ships: the NB 189 project, a port tug, which is about to be launched into the water, and the NB 188 project, a 3,000 cbm live fish carrier, currently in the stage of assembly and union of structure blocks.