SWDiesel-Powered 'Arctic Storm' Is Largest U.S. Factory Trawler

The Arctic Storm, originally a U.S. Navy tanker built in 1943 in Tacoma, Wash., has been converted into what is now the largest U.S. factory trawler.

The 5,000-gross-ton vessel, 328 feet long with a 48-foot beam, was converted by Wright-Schuchart Harbor Company of Seattle in combination with a Korean shipyard which built the entire stern section with machinery plant.

The vessel relies on SWDiesel for its power generation from propulsion to electricity and hydraulics. Propulsion machinery consists of a turbocharged, intercooled 16 SW 280, 750 rpm, 6,100-hp diesel engine which drives a single, free-rotating CP propeller in a Kort nozzle and the main shaft generator. The auxiliary plant consists of a six-cylinder SW 280 diesel engine, while the standby generator is powered by SWDiesel's six-cylinder FHD 240 engine.

The 13.7-foot propeller is powered through an Ulstein 2400 AGSC 35/85 vertical gear with hydraulic clutch. A PTO on the Ulstein gear drives a Reliance SDG-8 5004.4 shaft generator of 1,800 kw at 1,800 rpm.

SWDiesel supplied the complete engine modules including duplex oil filters and Alfa-Laval purifier system for the lube oil system of the main engine as well as the complete monitoring system with replaceable monitor modules.

The Arctic Storm, with its crew of 80-85, is now fishing in Alaska's Bering Sea, where it catches pollock and processes it into surimi. The trawl winches and net reels are powered by a low-pressure hydraulic system of Hydraulik Brattvaag. The trawler can handle up to 300 tons of pollock per day, processing it into 60 tons of surimi with fish meal as a by-product.

Both the fish meal plant and the water desalination system, capable of distilling 350 tons of water in 24 hours, were provided by Atlas Danmark.

Det norske Veritas supervised the reconstruction of the stern trawler.

For further information and free literature on engines from SWDiesel, Circle 45 on Reader Service Card

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