Two More Scottish Pair Trawlers Install Scantrol ISYM Pair Trawl
Two more Scottish pair-trawlers have installed Scantrol Automatic Symmetry Control to increase fishing efficiency. The iSYM Pair Trawl is the latest addition to the innovative pair-trawlers “Starlight” and “Starlight Rays”.
The installation follows the success of the first two Scottish vessels to install the system, “Harvester” and “Ocean Harvest”, new builds from Karstensen Shipyard in Denmark in 2008.
State of the art equipment
Skipper of “Starlight Rays”, James Thores, has been a fisherman for more than 30 years and a skipper for more than 20. He has shown commitment to fishing efficiency continually investing in state of the art equipment for the boat. In 2001 “Starlight Rays” became the first vessel to become accredited to the Seafood Scotland Quality Vessel Scheme.
The latest addition to the vessel and its partner ship “Starlight” is Scantrol’s iSYM Pair Trawl installed in April 2009. Experience from the Faroe Islands, where 18 pair trawlers have already installed the new technology, shows that the system has increased efficiency by up to 50 percent reducing fuel expenses dramatically.
Complete control
Starlight and Starlight Rays operate in a master-slave relationship. The Pair Trawl system gives the skipper the opportunity to operate the slave vessel automatically to follow the master vessel at a fixed distance and copy its winch positions. This ensures that optimal shape and direction of the trawl is always maintained.
Information from the winches and navigation data are transmitted between the two vessels and presented on the trawl screen thus giving the skipper complete control of the other vessel during trawling.
Starlight Rays (left)
Skipper: James Thores/Scott Thores
Operating from: Peterhead
Built: Eyemouth
Length: 24 meter
Engine power: 1000 hp
Fishing range: 260 miles
Species: Cod, coley, monks, halibut, haddock
Starlight (right)
Skipper: Alec Baird