Bangladesh: WFSL Completes Construction of Its First Deep-Sea Trawler

Western Fishers Shipyard Ltd (WFSL), a joint venture between Western Marine Shipyard and Fishers Shipyard Ltd, has pioneered the construction of a deep-sea mid water fishing trawler in Bangladesh with its recent launching of indigenously built FT Agro Food-1, the Daily Star writes.

According to the company’s managing director Sakhawat Hossain, the design features, originating from Icelandic model, enable the vessel to operate in extremely fierce weather conditions such as that characteristic of the Bay of Bengal.

With a pulling capacity of 26 tonnes, facilitated by 1,850 BHP engine and a generator of 800 kilowatts, the 42-metre vessel has a freezing capacity of 300 tonnes of fish. The trawler also accommodates a processing deck, a chilled water maker, a blast and a store freezer necessary to maintain freshness of caught fish.

In respect to other technical particularities, as reported by Western Marine, the vessel with a draft of 4.3 metres also features an anti-roll-tank, a Kaplan propeller, a Kort nozzle, a bulbous bow and a bollard pull.

With this step, WSFL once more proves that it is specialized in building fishing trawlers, thus reducing local dependence on imported vessels.