Arctic Fjord: Pushing the limits on trawler design
The 99m Arctic Fjord shows the future of sustainable fishing vessels, borrowing heavily from offshore vessel and ocean research ship design
Kongsberg Maritime has designed dozens of vessels for US owners. But the first to be built within the United States is Arctic Fjord, a ground-breaking 99m trawler that borrows its design and naval architecture from the ocean research and seismic energy sectors, and that uses advanced technology to reduce by-catch.
Arctic Fjord is Kongsberg Maritime’s first-ever contract for a vessel to be built in the US and it is the largest fishing vessel ever designed by the company. The vessel was commissioned by Arctic Storm Management Group, a Seattle-based company that oversees four fishing vessels operating in the waters of Alaska and the US Pacific Coast. It was built at Thoma-Sea shipyard in Louisiana.
“This has been a significant contract for Kongsberg Maritime, and to deliver our first design to be built in the USA is a major milestone,” said Atle Gaasø, Kongsberg Maritime’s Sales Director for Ship Design – Americas.
Kongsberg Maritime Ship Design handled the hull shape, plus the deck and machinery, below-deck factory, and the layout of the vessel.
Arctic Fjord has a highly efficient hull design and wave-piercing bow, which reduces fuel consumption and slamming in rough seas, and it has a crew capacity of 152 in 48 cabins.
Arctic Fjord's hull shape and design were inspired by Kongsberg Maritime's work on ocean research and offshore vessels
The vessel was a big step for the Arctic Storm fleet. Rolf Barstad, a designer with Kongsberg Maritime Ship Design, said that Arctic Fjord can haul catches of up to 200 tonnes on deck. That, plus having space for the crew and facilities for fish processing to match these huge hauls, presented serious design challenges.
Barstad says that the design team took inspiration from offshore vessel designs so that the vessel could handle tough seas while maintaining the desired capacity. In the end, an entirely new hull shape and vessel design was created for the project over a two-year period.
In 2023, Arctic Fjord received the Maritime Achievement Award from classification society DNV.
The new Arctic Fjord replaces Arctic Storm’s original, 1974-built vessel of the same name. Arctic Storm Management Vice President Brett Johnson said that, until now, his company had been working with a fleet that was over 30 years old.
“It is our ambition to raise the bar with our newbuilds, providing vessels that deliver optimal results for our stakeholders, while minimising their impacts on the environments where they operate"
“It is our ambition to raise the bar with our newbuilds, providing vessels that deliver optimal results for our stakeholders, while minimising their impacts on the environments where they operate,” said Johnson. “We see the Arctic Fjord as the future of sustainable fishing.”
Getting the crew quarters right was also crucial because the crew are working such long hours, said Ottar Ristesund, Kongsberg Maritime VP Sales Offshore Support & Construction Units. “They (the crew) are working hard when they are out fishing, so an area to relax and to recover is important.”
Arctic Fjord has high bollard pull of 110 tonnes, thanks to a single Bergen 7,200kW main engine and a Kongsberg Maritime Promas Innoduct rudder and nozzle system with a propeller of 4.2m in diameter. It also features a tunnel thruster and a range of deck machinery from Kongsberg Maritime.
Arctic Fjord features sonars, sounders, and monitoring systems that can pinpoint schools of fish, or even individual fish, identifying each by type and size
“We chose Kongsberg (Maritime) to integrate the vessel in large chunks, as one source for machinery, engineering technology, and electronics, for a lot of reasons,” said Johnson. “We've been customers of what is Kongsberg Maritime now for our entire business life… it is a relationship that works well for us and for them.”
Ristesund says that Arctic Fjord contains a “comprehensive package, with almost everything that we can deliver from Kongsberg Maritime.”
It also helped that Kongsberg Maritime knows the fishing businesses well. Johnson says that his crews are “always a bit sceptical about any change or new thing”, but that Kongsberg Maritime’s familiarity with their existing systems made it easier for the crew to adapt, particularly for all the new automation systems that were added.
Arctic Fjord contains a “comprehensive package, with almost everything that we can deliver from Kongsberg Maritime"
“It is hard to catch fish, and anything that we can do to make that one step easier for them (the crew) is an improvement in what we’re doing,” said Johnson. He adds that the feedback from Arctic Fjord’s crew has been positive.
Arctic Fjord features sonars, sounders, and monitoring systems from Kongsberg Discovery. These systems can pinpoint schools of fish, or even individual fish, identifying each by type and size, while live cameras and gear monitoring systems show how nets are deployed and verify the catch in real-time. This helps to reduce by-catch while ensuring the most efficient operation.
“We are very proud that this innovative vessel has been recognised as a leading example of the next generation of trawler designs,” said Atle Gaasø of Kongsberg Maritime.