WEGEMT 20th GRADUATE SCHOOL

FISHING VESSEL TECHNOLOGY

DESIGN AND LAY-OUT OF SHIP FACTORIES

by

F. G6mez Giraldez

INNAVES - VIGO

Madri4 April 1994

FISHING VESSEL TECHNOLOGY - 20th WEGEMT SCHOOL
MODULE 1.- SHIP DESIGN
Design and Lay-out of Ship Factories
Dr. F. G6mez Giraldez
INNA VES VIGO

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODU CfION ........................................ 1

FREEZING VESSELS ..................................... 3

FRESH FISH VESSELS .................................. 13

CONTROLLED ATMOSPHERE ............................. 16

 DESIGN AND LAY-OUT OF SHIP FACTORIES

First of all it should be painted out that the title of this conference "GENERAL
ARRANGEMENT OF FACTORY PLANTS" is very general and includes infinite kinds of
different plants impossible to go into, due to the limited timetable imposed by the
Organization. We will therefore have to concentrate on a limited type of vessels from our
own fishing sector, with which we are most familiar, especially those dedicated to bottom
fishery for freezing on board, or for storing the fish as fresh on board vessels of industrial
size.

On the other hand, it should also be mentioned that in order to focus on the excellent
commercial possibilities within this sector, the two following basic factors should be initially
analyzed:

A) Raw material, species captured, variety and different sizes.

B) Products to be obtained. It should be remembered that the definition of a product is

always seen from a commercial point of view, and any variation as regards its future
commercialization should be known beforehand; so, a fish fillet stored in the hold in
blocks will not be the same product as a fillet which is stored in the hold packed in
consumer size boxes. In these cases there is a significant difference as to the
requirements of space necessary in the factory plant, machines to be installed and
crew.

A first approximation to the type of vessels we are studying shows a notable

difference between Spanish and other Europe-an vessels. Generally speaking, Spanish freezer
vessels, including as such both vessels flying Spanish flag, as well as those of joint societies
with other nations, are directly affected by the crisis of the fishing prounds, and their catches
include a great variety of species and sizes, and it is not unusual that during the year they
Change their type of fishery, capturing cephalopods or crustaceans instead of fish, whereas
the other European vessels mainly concentrate on specific species. En view of this, factory

1
Plants On board Spanish vessels have to be more versatile, counting in many cases with three
or four processing lines, some of which during the course of the years are not even operating
due to the fact that the vessel has centred its activities on other fields which were not taken
into account when the owner had the vessel constructed. Whereas the difficulties in this case
are due to the type of raw material, it is nornal in other European countries that the
difficulties have. their origin in the final stage of the process which is that referred to the
processing of the product and the final presentation to the consumers: sophisticated machines
for grading, packaging, controlling etc. are normally found on board other un-Spanish
vessels who have advanced more in the process towards obtaining a product mare attractive
to the final consumers.

On the other hand, a third common factor should be taken into account when
designing the plant:

Q) How does the catch arrive into the factory plant: Do the fish enter one after another
as on longliners, or do they enter periodically in great bulks as in the case of trawlers?
In the second case, an accumulation takes place at two points, which will later be
examined, and which does not occur in the first case.

So, we should always ask the owners these three first questions: species, products and
fishing method. In order to proceed with the project we should have some elementary
notions
about the deterioration process of fish.

Soon after catching the fish begin to stiffen. This is called rigor mortis and lasts a
ljimited time. Afterwards the fish are limp again. Some of the enzymes present in the
fish can
continue to function; for example, in ungutted fish the enzymes in the gut begin
to digest the
walls and later the surrounding tissue. The term used to describe such enzymatic
reactions is
autolysis. On the other side bacteria are naturally present on the skin and in the
gut and begin
to multiply in the flesh and causes spoilage; this spoilage is not noticeable the first
days, but
thereafter rapidly increases, becoming the most important spoilage in iced fish.
Freezing of
the fish can effectively stop bacterial growth, although some autalytic process
can continue

2
slowly. Other changes that can become important are oxidation of the fats and changes in
proteins which can alter the texture and cause decoloration of the fish. During extended
storage of frozen fish theses changes can also be appreciated.

As a general rule, all these effects occur more rapidly at high temperature. For this
reason, lowering the temperature either by chilling or by freezing is the most important single
measure that can be taken to slow down deterioration of the fish.

When a fish dies, some of the enzymes in the muscle continue to perform their
functions; one of these is to maintain the muscles in a state of readiness to contract. Since the
circulation of blood stops, only the energy stored in the muscle tissue as glycogen is
available. When this is used up, the enzymes concerned stop working and attempt to contract.
The proteins form bonds with each other, and the whole fish become hard and stiff. The
backbone prevents the muscles from shortening in the whole fish, but if a fillet is removed
before rigor, it will shorten, perhaps by as mush as 40% of its original length.

The breakdown of energy reserves, glycogen, during rigor results in the formation of
lactic acid. This increases the acidity of the muscle and the development of toughness and
also retards the growth of bacteria. As the quantity of glycogen depends on the catching
system, this is the first parameter that we should consider if our aim, upon projecting the
plant, is to achieve the best possible quality: long trawling time causes exhaust of the fish and
the consumption of the glycogen what will cause a shorter rigor time. This is also the reason
why longlining give a better quality than trawling. The second parameter we must have in
mind is the temperature: The warmer the fish are, the shorter will be the time it takes to go
into and to pass through rigor.

Now we should differentiate two cases: freezers and fresh fish vessels:

FREEZING VESSq~lS

Whole fish should be frozen before the fish enter into rigor, since backbone will

3
prevent the shortening of the fish. Otherwise if the rigor occurs before freezing, we postpone
the problems after the thawing since the resultant fillets will gape.

As regards filleting, it should preferably be done after rigor, but that causes problems
of accumulation and is sometimes made before rigor. In this case freezing must start before
rigor starts, to avoid shortening, and therefore any delay in processing must be avoided.

Before freezing the following processing tasks must be carried out:

1) Reception. On trawlers, a good design of this area is important to avoid deterioration

of quality. The standard design of this area includes a tank with a inner ramp that
slopes downward and forward. Doors at the foot of the ramp lead to the sorting
conveyor. The ramp structure must be divided fore and aft in several sections to
reduce bruising and chafing of the fish when they move with the roll of the vessel.
This deterioration can be severe if fish with rough skins are present in the catch. On
the other side the ramp must be easy to clean. Seawater sprays can be fitted at the top
of the ramp to lead the fish towards the dooms. Some ships have the possibility of
chilling the catch in theses tanks, but this system is only possible when the catch has
a low percentage of waste and by-catch.

2) Selection. The catch is falling down through the doors on to the main selection
conveyor. Waste and by-catch is lead from this conveyor outboard thaugh a side
hatch. The level of this hatch is usually very near the maximum draft and if the crew
forget to close when they leave the factory, there is a risk that water might enter the
vessel which, in some cases, has even caused the vessel to sink. That is why waste
should be conveyed up to the main deck. The fish to process are led towards the
suitable line in the factory. Then the fish enter into the following step.

3) Heading and gutting. The freezing of ungutted fish saves time and labour, but the
fish when thawed yield badly bloodstained fillets with off flavours because of the
presence of blood in the flesh. When fish with guts in is delayed for more than six
hours in warm surroundings, there is often some autolytic breakdown of the belly

4
 walls, resulting in decoloration of the flesh and development of off odours.
Furthermore, problems of spoilage and cleaning can arise when fish frozen with guts
in is thawed. Gutting of fish must be done carefully. The fish should never be thrown
about or trodden on, if we want to avoid bloodstains that cannot be removed. On
board of same freezer trawlers, gutting and heading operations are combined and can
be done with the same machine.

4) Filleting and peeling. Once the fish has been headed and gutted, it is mostly filleted.
For this purpose there are several machines for fileting round fish with a range of
sizes. So far flat fish can not be filleted efficiently, mainly if the catch has different
sizes. Therefore it is normal to find on board filleting tables where this operation is
carried out manually. Some fillets are peeled. Regarding peeling two systems are
available. One is mechanical based on rollers which tear the skin off. The other
system uses the principle of adherence by passing the fillet on a drum which has a
cold surface on which the skin will stick.

5) Washing and bleeding. Even when the fish is gutted, the fillets from the thawed fish*
can sometimes be badly bloodstained, because the fish has been frozen before it has
bled sufficiently. When fish is frozen immediately after gutting, the blood has
insufficient time to drain out of the veins and is frozen on to the tissue. Gutted fish
should be allowed to bleed for 15/30 minutes before being frozen, and it should be
immersed in chilled sea water during this time. The washers in use on some freezer
trawlers were designed for washing fish for a period of only 2-3 minutes. This small
amount of bleeding that occurs during washing is unimportant for the fish going into
ice, since the bleeding continues in the fish room, and the blood is washed away by
melting ice, but when fish for freezing pass through such a washer, the bleeding time
is not sufficient. Spanish vessels do not normally have bleeding tanks on board, and
products have sometime suffered a price reduction on some special markets for this
reason.

6) Trimming. Before packing all the fillets must be checked to separate broken pieces
and to remove possible parasites. The best system for this is using a light to examine
the fillets against it.

5
 7) Sorting, batching and Packing. If the fillets are to be frozen in consumer
packs,
probably the owner will decide to prepare the packs with classified fillets. In
this way
total price of the fish will be higher. To get this result, a machine able to weigh
on
board is necessary. Such a scale should be a "marine" type, capable of compensating
the actual acceleration of the ship with reference to the gravity by using
normally a
control weight "kown" by the scale that adjusts the apparent weight
and automatically
converts it into the unknown weight. A sorting machine used in
connection with the
scale can prepare the batch with high accuracy.

8) Freezing systems. Fish must be frozen quickly, and the temperature

reduced to that
of the store in which they are to be kept. Most modem freezers
are capable of
cooling in four hours or less, provided they are correctly designed,
in good working
order and used in the manmer recommended by the maker.

The following figure (figure 1) shows the difference in the cellular

tissues during slow
and quick freezing:

CELLULAR TISSUE DURING FREEZING

Slow freezing; B

Quick frezing; A

6
 The following freezing rates have been observed:
1. Extremely quick freezing ............ 30 cm/h; as A
2. Very quick freezing ... 10-30 am/h; as A
3. Quick freezing ................. 1-10 cm/h; as A
4. Normal freezing .............. 0,3-1 cm/h; as A/B
5.. Slow freezing ................. 0,1-0,3 cm/h; as B

Figure N2 2 shows the temperature during a Perfect Freezing Process, Theoretical

Process and Practical Process:

FIGUJRELNt

PERFECT FREEZING PROCESS

am

THEORETICAL PROCiSS (Constant ergy exchange/rmtmchange?)

- 7

7
 PRACTICAL PROCESS

-0

For big trawlers we can find four kinds of freezing systems:

a) Vertical plate freezers are hollow plates made up

from sections of extruded light
alloy and are connected by flexible hoses to the inlet
and outlet headers. Fish is loaded by
gravity and cannot be layer packed inside the black.
The refrigerant is circulated through the
plates by means of a pump. There is also provision for
the circulation of hot liquid refrigerant
to defrost the plates just before the frozen blocks of
fish are discharged. Vertical plate freezers
are loaded from the top but disc~harge of frozen
blocks can be done from the bottom. The
normal freezing time for 50 Kg. blocks is 3-4
hour, depending on the temperature of the
refrigerant inside the plates. That means an avenage
up to 60 tans per day using ten 20--station
freezers. This system is therefore used far heavy
fishing.

b) Horizontal plate freezers. For freezing fillets

or pieces of fish already packed this
system is used, which works on the same principle
as the former. The main difference is that
a person can arrange the fillets or packs by layers
beforehand, in order to get the best position
of the fish during freezing. The way of loading
and unloading is very hard and labour

8
consuming which has encouraged to project automatic systems, which are presently being
installed on board new vessels.

c) Blast freezers. Here the heat transfer is based on the convection principle using a
draft of air moved by fans which freezes passing through the refrigerating plant. The product
is placed on trays which are introduced into the cabins using trolleys. This system is very
common in the Spanish fleet since it is suitable for freezing whole round fish which would
loose the natural round section if a contact freezing system was used. The heat capacity of
this system is lower than in the case of plate freezers.

d) Individual quick freezers (IQF). For small piece like prawns having similar
freezing time, it is more convenient to use a continuous freeze in which the product is
conveyed through the draft of air moved by means of fans.

EnclosureN'J1 shows an example of the layout of a factory plant which includes 3

different freezing systems: TOF, plate freezer and blast tunnels. This vessel works with
processing of prawns, fillets (with or without skin), whole fish (headed and gutted) and flying
squid.

9
 The following tables (Tables 1 and 2) indicate the thermophysical properties of some
fish and fish products and freezing times observed for a number of fish products:

TARLE I

Bsic Data for Freezing fnd Thnawi,

Themnop•lysal propeties of some fish aad sha products

SPOaTM kd
P901111 cow ale
now dres~ Anw fosu Itato badto
Irowiftlaw-

kgtc 19c ir'c k-C iq 6k

Ilahddcd Cod 78 a.82 3.44 0.43 1.81 63 265

1101ibut 75 I.80 3.36 0.43 1.81 61 256
TUna 70 0.76 3.19 0.41 1.72 56 235
11ehiq (kippeed) 70 0.76 3.19 0.41 1.72 56 23S
flowng (nked) 64 0.71 2us 039 1.64 S4 214
Saks..o 64 0.71 238 0.39 1.64 51 214
£2Md1 o. 2AM 0.348 .60 so 210

llsddodck Cod. O n 80
so 3.3 0.44 1.8S 64 169

Machatmd 57 0.6 2.77 0.37 1..5 46 193

Waterflce 100 LOG 4.20 0.30 2.10 80 336

Ranm-rk. Shurip is to be comptard to white fish, e. 8 . Haodc n Cod. The data shomr (he higher the
fat content, the iowuw the wlettr afent and (heutre The bower (he heat mortenL

10
 TABLE2

Freezing Product Operating Freezing

Product method initial temp temperature time

*C OC h rmin

whole cod vertical 5 -40 3 20

block 10 an thick plate
whole round fsh air blast 5 -35 5 00
12.5 can thick eg cod, 5m/s
salmon, frozensingly
whole herring Vertical 5 -35 3 2D
block 10 cm thick plate
whole herring airblast 5 -35 1 40
5 cm thick on metal tray 4m/s
cod fillets hoizontal 6 -40 1 20
block 5.7 an thick plate
in waxed carton
haddock fillets uirblast 5 -35 2 05
5 an thick on metal tray 4 m/s
haddock fillets motinuous 5 -35 0 20
2 cn thick on flat air bast
metal belt 10 MI/s
haddock fillets horizontal 5 -40 1 05
block 3.7 an thick plate
in waxed cartons
kippers in pairs horizontal -40 2 15
interleaved pack 5.7 em plate
thick in cardboardcarton
whole lobster hoarintal 8 -40 3 00
500 g plate
whole lobster quid 8 -80 0 12
5mg nitrgen spiy
scampi meats airblast 5 -35 0 26
1.Scm thick 3m/s
scampi meats coninuous 5 -35 0 09
1.8 an thick on flat airblast
metal belt to m/s
shrimp meats liquid 6 -80 0 05
nitrogen spray

9) Glazing. To prevent changes of aroma, taste and colour of the fish during storage and
also to prevent dehydration and oxidation, the product should be covered by ice. To
get that the fish is immersed or sprinkled with water which freezes. Latent heat is then

11
 taken from the fish, and therefore the fish and ice should be frozen down again.
Eventually, the final product increases the weight by a percentage. Typical glazing
percentages are the following:

Shrimps IOF .......................... 5 20

Shrimps Block ......................... 15%-30%
Whole fish............................. 3%-5%
Fillets ............................... 5%-2o%
Block fish ............................ ,%3

10) Labelling and packaging. Each block of frozen fish should be identifiable
throughout the time in cold store, both on board and ashore. The labels should
indicate species, size and date of capture of the fish. This last will enable
supplementary information to be extracted from the catching record if required, for
example the ground on which the fish were caught, depth and temperature of water,
the amount caught that day, and the intrinsic quality.

In the case of small pieces like fillets or prawns there is a tendency towards packing
in consumer packages. This requires space for several stations to prepare the batches
and to layerpack. This work is done before freezing, and normally the system used
in this case for freezing is the contact plate freezer.

11) Others In addition to the above-mentioned, the following processing machinery

the
is in many cases installed on board big trawlers: automatic devices for moving
the
trays to the freezers, washing machines for trays, automatic boxing for the
carton
packages, platforms for transporting the pallets to the holds, etc. Normally,
the catch
is not further processed on board, but factories where prawns are cooked, or dedicated
to the production of surimi can be found, but this will not be dealt with
in this
conference.

12
FRZESH FISH VESSELS

All fish should be rapidly chilled. Quick and efficient chilling of the catch to the
lowest practicable temperature without actually freezing the flesh is essential if spoilage is to
be kept to a minimum. Rapid chilling also aids bleeding and results in more attractive fillets
and slices. Ice is the ideal cooling system for this purpose.

Although pure ice melts at 00 C, the temperature of the fish stowed in crushed ice may
be slightly lower. This effect is due to the salts present in the flesh and in the sea water on
the surface of the fish which cause some of the ice to melt and extract heat from the
surroundings. The process of spoilage also produces some heat which is absorbed by the ice.
It is therefore essential to have plenty of ice in the right places.

Ideally, fish should be in contact only with ice and not even with other fish. Fish
touching one another do not cool as rapidly as when each is buried completely in ice. Apart
from this, if a fish is stowed in contact with a smooth surface such as a pound board or a box
side, air may be excluded. Some types of spoilage bacteria, when they are deprived of air,
rapidly produce foul smelling substances which spread through the flesh. Small pieces of ice
enclose innumerable pockets of air between them, and fish properly stowed in ice therefore
do not spoil in this way.

It is the meltwater flowing over the surface of the fish which does most of the cooling.
In practice, cooling by ice is more effective, the higher the temperature of the surroundings.
The temperature of the meltwater rises slightly as it flows over the fish but, if there is enough
ice between the fish, the water is cooled again. With flake ice, the shape of the small flakes
gives more rapid cooling because of better contact between fish and ice.

Besides contributing to the cooling, the flow of meltwater also washes away bacterial
slime, spoilage products and any residual blood and thus helps to preserve the fresh
appearance and smell. Fish, especially small fish, should never be packed so tightly that the
flow of meltwater is hindered. Paper or plastics film laid over the top layer of fish in a box
prior to topping off with ice also prevents the free passage of meltwater through the fish. The

13
same result is achieved with boxes which drain through the outer, and not through
bottom
holes. It is very important to ensure that there is a free drainage of meltwater
to prevent the
fish being immersed in dirty water.

Although it is desirable to keep the fishroom temperature above 0" C so that

a good
flow of meltwater is maintained, the weight of ice necessary to ensure that
the fish will
remain covered, and that the fish temperature will not rise, will be large. The temperature
of
single fish that are not completely surrounded by ice usually lies between that
of melting ice
and that of the air of the fishroom. Therefore it is necessary to maintain an
average air
temperature between 10 and 2? C.

The following graph (figure N2 3) shows the fall of the temperature during chilling
of
hake, measured in the hold at the backbone of the fish. It should be noted how
the chilling
speed changes, according to the size of the product:

13 -

12

11

S 4

4
2
2

-i tiC mid

-2 - I

Chilling of hake

14
 Normally temperatures substantially below 00 C, which are liable to result in slow
freezing of the fish, are avoided. It is possible, however, to reduce the temperature of the
contents of the fishroom to a point slightly below that obtained with melting ice (down to -

20 C), thereby extending the storage life of the fish. 'he extension results mainly from
reduced bacterial activity, but the fish are partially frozen which has a detrimental effect on
the texture if the fish. Thiis is called superchilling and is not used in the Spanish fleet because
of the worse sensorial quality.

All these details are to be considered when projecting the factory for fresh fish vessels.
Relevant parameters like quantity of ice, space for the boxes, way of boxing, isolation of the
flshroomn, bilge system of the hold,, etc. are involved with the way to stow the fish inside the
box.

Mainly the following steps should be considered:

a) Gutting
Before boxing the fish must be gutted, which should be done as soon as possible after
catching. Guts and inedible or undersized fish should not be thrown back on top of
the edible fish awaiting gutting, but into a different space. A separate conveyor is
usually installed to transport the offal overboard.

In gutting, the aim is to remove the whole of the contents of the belly cavity without
cutting into the edible flesh more than necessary. An experienced fishernan can gut
3-12 fish a minute, depending on the size of the fish. Using an arrangement as shown
in enclosureNQ2± four or five fishermen can be dedicated simultaneously to gutting,
and after gutting, the fish are thrown down in bins in front of the gutting station,
where the fish are classified according to species and size. Additionally another man
is attending the main classification conveyor which is fed directly form the reception
tanks.

For round fish, when the catch is homogeneous in species and sizes, a gutting machine
can be used which with 2 persons gives the same production as 6 persons gutting

15'
 continuously by band.

b) Bleeding
Usually the whole catch is gutted and sorted in the bins before washing and boxing.
That give us a goad opportunity for bleeding in the bins, just supplying clean sea
water to the bins.

c) Washing
The use of a machine for this task has several advantages over a tank, since the
machine eliminates the need to handle fish in baskets and ensures a continuous rate
instead of intermittently in larger quantities. These machines are based either on bins
with a conveyor inside or on inclined rotating drums.

d) Boxing

Following the above principles, the fish can be conveyed to the boxing station where
also ice must be available. A marine scale can load a uniform proportion of fish and
ice, and give a better accuracy to the target weight of each box. After filling, the
boxes are to be sent to the hold as soon as possible. Sometimes the boxes are
transported in groups to avoid the hard work of sending them one by one. In such
cases, an isolated and refrigerated pre-room should be installed in the factory plant
to avoid warming of the fish. A lift either for boxes or for pallets can be installed for
transporting the boxes to the hold.

USE OF CONTROT LED ATMOSPHERE ONHOARD OF FRESH FISHVESSFlS

As explained above, the growth of bacteria has an initial stage of delay, which could
be prolonged using methods as described above: quick chilling etc. After this initial
phase
bacteria have an exponential growth. If the atmosphere surrounding the fish could
be
changed; the bacteria growth rate would change. Generally CO slows down this growth
2 and

16
has been used to prolong the shelf life of many perishable products like meat, fruit and
vegetables etc. The use of this system for fish is more complicated, and a mixture of
different gases has to be used, and although same experiments have been carried out on shore
on a smaller scale, the use of these modified atmospheres for fish an board has not been
widely studied. At present, we are developing an "AIR" Research Programme, denominated
"ASSURING THE QUALITY OF FRESH FISH ON BOARD AND ON SHORE BY MEANS
OF MODIFIED ATMOSPHERE. DEVELOPMENT OF EQUIPMENTS, PACKINGS AND
METHODS", with the following scientific objectives:

1) Definition, including the manufacture of prototypes, of the following equipments:

a) Containers for staring fish on board with Controlled Atmosphere (CA).

b) Equipment for modifying the containers atmosphere (MA) and for
automatically controlling of the MA in order to reestablish the suitable
conditions.
c) Equipment for obtaining oxygen from air.
d) Machine for packing on shore in industrial units (10-20 kg)
e) Suitable non polluting boxes for using with the machine.
f) Palletizing system for transporting the boxes on shore.

2) Adaptation to vessels conditions of the machines already used ashore for packing with
AM in plastic boxes of consumer sizes.

3) Definition, after carrying out trials on board a representative vessel, of the system for
moving the container on board, in order to rationalize its loading, stowing in the hold
and unloading. In case the container is fixed to the ship structure, the study will be
related to the pallet stowed inside the container.

4) Definition of the suitable modified (MA) and/or controlled atmosphere (CA) for the
maintenance of the lean and fatty fish, crustaceous and molluscs, studying seasonal
parameters.

17
5) Definition of the procedures for handling the fish previous to the packing on board
and the repacking on shore.

6) Definition of the controls to fulfil for the correct preservation of the fish on board and
ashore.

7) Definition of the procedures and forms for the possible implementation of a quality
management system.

The research programme is at present in the middle of its period, and two trips on
board a trawler fishing at the "Grande Sole" west of Ireland have been cardied out. The
results obtained are very promising, and it is expected that a prolongation of the storage life
of about one week, at least, will be obtained, obtaining at the same time a substantial
improvement of the quality of the landings, if the durations of the trips is maintained. The
effects of using such a system on board will highly affects the design of future vessels. The
size of the hold, and also the overall dimensions of the vessel, the range, stowage capacity
etc. will be affected, especially for vessels whose fishing grounds are at great distance from
their base port. The system for evaluating the catch prior to the application of modified
atmosphere will also be affected, although in principle, the space dedicated to the factory
plant would not have to be changed. New machines will have to be installed for obtaining
the different gases, either directly from the air by means of filters, or using bottles. The gases
obtained will be mixed using automatic mixing systems. The design of the hold will also
be affected in order to meet the requirements of the rules to secure an acceptable safety
standard on board. The shipping register societies are at present working out these new rules.
Possibly, within a year the parameters affecting constructive elements will have been settled
in order to offer this new technology for installation on board of fresh fishing vessels

-- 0=

18
ENCLOSUREF

I AL
 ENCfLSqURF NQ 2

I-UI
I
0~
I;IIEy

-1 t
1 '1
 WEGEMT 20th GRADUA TE SCHOOL
FISHING VESSEL TECHNOLOGY

QUALITY AND HACCP CARE SYSTEMS

ON BOARD FREEZER TRAWLERS

by

F. Veenstra

Netherlands Instititefor Fisheries

Department of Technological Research

Madrid, April 1994

 FISHING PESSEL TECHNOLOGY - 20th WEGEMT SCHOOL
MODULE 1.- SHIP DESIGN
Quality and HACCP care systems on boardfreezer trawler
Mr. F. Veenstra
Ned•erlands Insaftit for F'ihmri

ABSTRACT

The food industry has made enormous strides in recent years in improving the quality
and packaging of its products and consumers now expect much hLi r Aards. If the
aone d even better, then it must
fish industry is to maintain its competitive position, let have built a reputation on
pay attention to these matters. Of course many in the industry
has not been very good so far.
offering quality products but the general iineeforfish the health
Since the EC is creating a true common market, uniform staunaruu forcefor for the whole
conditions of fishery products have been drafted and have come into
Community. Because the quality of the fish caught,. processed and landed ashore is vital for
of fish on board must
the total quality assurance chain, improvements m the handling
receive continuously axtention.and the fishing vessels have to comply with the new rules.
Besides market conditions will continue to change and the need to make use of undervalued
species will grow, long term strategies must be developed to maximise the opportunities
with consequences for a new class, distant waters factory vessels, also complying with the
on the
higher standards of safety, living and working aboard as well as the lowest impact
marine environment
In the past years the fishing industry and trade have been facing increasing expectations
product and process quality, safety
and demands from markets and society with regard to The new EC council
and working conditions and preservation of the environment. well-being of
directives, concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the on the market of
the workers, and the health conditions for the production and placing
in implementing it.This means
fishery products and public health, have given a legal push source and that for
an increasing awareness that the primary responsibility lies at the
has been extended. Of course
(fishing)vessel designing the set of requirements recently some of the
from a competitive point of view various companies have already dealt with With the Dutch
requirement. However, a quality integrated design approach is still absent.
fresh fish fisheries have gained
beamer 2000 projects RIVO-DLO and the Dutch still to be designed
experience with these quality aspects, but the Dutch freezer trawlers are
and built along the lines of proven comparison ships with step by step improvements,
characterised by a large up-scaling in the past decade.
quality
While the skipper-owners did not directly belong to the enterprises adopting were already
measures and implementing quality systems, the shipbuilding industry
environment
confronted from the very beginning with the shore side legislation on working waste and emissions
and preservation of the environment. Most fishery processes produceon board the trawlers.
which pollute the environment, are labour and energy intensive, also
In this contribution the requirements dealing with safety and working conditions,
the determining
HACCP and hygiene care systems and the environment are discussed and of the Dutch freezer
requirements integrated in recommendations for a conceptual redesign
trawler.

Lecture Notes. 20th WEGEMT

F.A. Veenstra. *Quality and HACCP care systems on board freezer trawlers",
School on Fishing Vessel Technology, Polytechnical University of Madrid. April 18 to April 27. 1994
Graduate
 DUTCH FREEZER TRAWLERS

In the Netherlands two types of fishing methods have been extensively developed and
have become economical profitable during the past decades, namely trawling for demersal
fish and trawling for pelagic fish. For the Dutch offshore fishing, the main categories of
fishing vessels are:
a) deen sea stem twers. using the pelagic method of fishing (about 15 vessels, length ca.
110 metres, main power ca. 7500 kW (10.000 hp);
b)tbeaawlers. using the demersal fishing method (350 vessels, length ca 40 m, main
power 220-3000 kW (300- 4000 hp));
c) multi nrose trawlers , beam trawling for flatfish and shrimps, pair trawl fishing or
otherwise (100 vessels, length ca 24 m, main power up to 220 kW (300 hp)).
The beam trawlers are fishing mainly for flatfish by means of two bottom trawls towed
by derricks connected to the front gallows. The other Dutch fishing method is super
midwater trawling with large deepfreezer stem trawlers. About ten deep sea trawlers are
Dutch owned and operated by the 'Group'. With main dimensions up to 120 m length, a
beam of 17 m and a depth of 11 metres these trawlers belong to the group of the largest
pelagic fishing vessels in the world. With the super midwater trawls the vessels are fishing
in the North Seas and Atlantic Ocean areas, even at depths of 1000 m. In the enclosures
the main characteristics have been given of these super trawlers. By means of fish pumps*
the caught schooling fish is pumped on board, directly out off the midwater trawls,
dewatered on deck and transferred into and temporary stored in tanks with precooled sea
water. Depending on the storage time in the tanks the temperature of the fish decreases
down to just 0 + degrees Celsius. From the tanks the fish is pumped by a vacuum pump,
again dewatered and transported to a sorter to shift the fish in classes, followed by hand
sorting on species, quality and offal. The next step in the routing is vertical plate freezing,
in which the fish is frozen in batches of ca. 22 kgs with a capacity of 250 tons a day. After
packaging and labelling the cartons are stored in the freezer holds on pallets. The store
capacity is about 170,000 cartons.
The design requirements of these trawlers are characterised on fish finding, midwater
trawling over the stem, processing/routing of batches fish and landing the frozen fish
products ashore.
The work on the processing deck is labour intensive, monotonous and with high noise
levels, not complying any longer with the new Dutch legislation on working conditions.
Besides, the fishing grounds are becoming more distant, so the crew is longer at sea and
the labour costs are forming a substantial part of the high exploitation costs. In order to
reduce these costs and still attract young and well trained fishermen, the fish processing
must be mechanised/automated considerably. Also the owners intend to diversify the on
board fish processing and to upgrade undervalued speciesas well. Consequently the freezer
trawler will become a 'factory vessel' in the definition of the EC directives. To meet these
rules the Quality Concept must be introduced and established, on safety and working
conditions as well as on HACCP.
HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point. A specific non traditional
inspection approach to control biological, chemical, physical, and/or economic hazards in
foods. It is a two part process done on a commodity-by-commodity basis. The first part
deals with defining the consumer hazards relative to the intended end use of the specific
food commodity. The second part deals with the flow charting each operational step of a
food manufacturing process. Defining the hazards associated with each step and assessing
its relative importance, determining the preventive measures that can be used to reduce the
hazard to acceptable levels.
/,: F.A. Veenstra,. Quality and HACCP care systems on board freezer trawlers", Lecture Notes, 20th WEGEMT
Graduate School on Fishing Vessel Technology, Polytechnical University of Madrid, April 18 to April 27, 1994
Safety and working condition
New regulations and directives to comply with
Ship safety means freedom from danger or risk for crew, ship and environment. Unlike
merchant marine vessels, trading internationally for which safety regulations are
compulsory, safety regulations for fishing vessels have been left to the discretion of each
national administration depending on the applied fishing methods, fishing grounds and fish
processing. However, in the last IMO meeting in Torremolinos, a 16 -year gap was
bridged between the original Torremolinos fishing vessel safety talks and the International
Convention for the Safety of fishing vessels 1977 coming into force. This Conference
adopted a Protocol to the 1977 Convention which updates the parent Convention and takes
into account the technological evolutions in the recent years. This protocol amends and
absorbs the parent Convention and also applies to fishing vessels of 24 metres and over,
including those vessels also processing their catch. The trend to exploit deep water fishing
grounds on a larger scale and to conduct fishing operations in distant waters, demands
safer and more comfortable living and working conditions for the fishermen. This has
made it necessary for the fishing industry to design and build a new generation of modem
and more sophisticated fishing vessels. The general trend in modem designed fishing
vessels, if they are economically profitable, must include improvements in machinery and
fishfing gear; improvements in safety features as a whole and better working conditions for
fishermen.
Safety provisions addressed by the new Protocol include automatically controlled
machinery spaces, improved life-saving appliances, immersion suits and thermal protective
aids, satellite communication systems and other components of the global maritime distress
and safety system. This amended Torremolinos; will enter into farce one year after 15 States
have ratified the Protocol with at least an aggregated fleet of 14,000 vessels, which is
approximately equivalent to 50 per cent of the today's world fishing fleet of vessels of 24
mn metres in length and over. An important innovation is contained in this new Protocol
dealing with the possibility for regional arrangements to establish harmonised requirements
for vessels 24 metres in length and over, but below the length application of the chapters
dealing with:
a) Machinery and Electrical installations,
b) Fire Protection, Fire Detection, Fire Extinction and Fire Fighting,
c) Radio Communications.f
Although in the new Protocol also a chapter is incorporated dealing with Protection of
the Crew, the IMO concentrates mainly on the intrinsic safety of vessels and emergency
equipment (global safety aspects) and deals to a much lesser extent with the safety and
health of the fishermen at work (personal safety aspects). This is dealt by EC legislation
laying down minimum health and safety requirements on fishing boats. This directive has
received a second reading approval from the European Parliament (directive 9311031EC).
This decision clears the way for final approval by the ministers representing the 12 EC
member states, although the member states insisted that the directive should apply to
existing boats over 18 metres in length, rather than 12 metres, as originally proposed by the
Commission. But then the member states should bring in rules under framework of the
directive for smaller boats. Sixty to seventy per cent of the fishing fleets of the member
states are shorter than 12 mn between the perpendiculars.

P.A. Veenstra. "Quality and HACCP care systems on board freezer trawlers" L-ecture Notes. 20th WEGEMT
Graduate School on Fishing Vessel Technology. Polytechnical University of Madrid, April 18 to April 27. 1994
 In the here concerned directives the following issues are not covered completely:
a) food standards (provision and preservation)
b) appointment of a safety representative on board fishing vessels with a crew exceeding
five persons
c) casualties investigations and statistics
d) labour inspection.
Regarding the importance of hours of work, the Commission urges the necessity to
find solutions to resolve issues to exorbitantly long working hours in the fishing industry,
based on the ILO Recommendations (1920), in particular collective agreements should
specify minimum rest periods on board the vessels and between trips. In general terms the
EC directives kept their definitions in line with those used by the ILO and [MO.
As long as the above mentioned Protocol and EC directives are under discussion, in the
Netherlands the Dutch Inspectorate is controlling the design, building and surveying of
fishing vessels according to their own national rules, derived from the international Safety
of Life Conventions (SOLAS). Besides, the designers and shipbuilders make use of codes
of practice and guidelines, to.
a) Code of Safety for fishermen and fishing vessels (IMO,FAOILO) and/or
b) the Rules of the Classification Societies.

Safety and health designl requierements

Anyhow, the designer and owner nowadays have to deal with requirements regarding
safe and ergonomic work place and equipment, decent living and working conditions ona
board.
The consequences for the Dutch freezer trawlers is, that the muting of the fish from the net
till the storage of the cartons in the fish hold should be redesigned from this point of view.
The starting point for this project was the RIVO-DLO and TU-Delft analysis the
recorded accidents in the offshore fishing over the years 1983-1988 as reported of to the
commissioner, Directorate-General of Labour (Ministry of social Affairs and Employment.
The accidents in the Dutch offshore fishing were investigated using the records of the
Radio Medical Service (RMD, Scheveningen Radio), registration of occupational accidents
with the Directorate-General of Labour (DGA) and the files of the shipping Inspectorate
and the Social Insurance Fund for fishermen in Partnership (SEM). Based on some 600
accidents, a fairly clear picture has been obtained of collisions, accidents during
board and additional the workload have been looked at in the wheelhouse, on the work on
working
deck, at fish processing, in the engine room and in the fish hold. A characterisation of the
reported accidents (admittedly an incomplete record), combined with additional
research makes it possible to analyse the various kinds of accidents in detail, andpractical
way one is better able to address the question why accidents occur (in retrospect). in this
In this
way an overall picture of the problems emerges, and the matter is taken out of the sphere of
'yes he did/'no he didn't', while naval architects are handed material
which, in some cases
can be converted in hard design requirements or recommendations, may be implemented in
the final vessel design. In the analysis of the accidents a distinction was drawn between the
various fishing methods and the size of the ships.

7) F.A. Veenstra, "Quality and

HACCP cae systems on board freezer trawlers". Lecture Notes, 20th wEGEMT
Graduate School on Fishing Vessel Technology, Polytechntical University of Madrid, April 18 to April 27. 1994
 After the detailed analysis of accidents the causal problems are sorted into controllable
areas, after which it may be decided which can or must and which cannot be worked out.
Besides, in this way not only residual risks become visible, but also which problems need
technical solutions (partial or overall redesign) or solutions on the human and/or
organisational level (human error, training, attitudes). For the beam trawlers this had been
worked out extensively in the Beamer 2000 projectwhile for the deep sea trawlers only the
accident analysis and characterisation have been gven:
GROUP TYPE DESCRIPTION
capsizing F capsizing due to unequal strain on tow warps
2 capsizing due to too high an attachments of tow warps
3 capsizing due to top-heavy gear and catch
cables and blocks 4 caught by winch head
5 pinching of fingers/hand, injury to trunk or limbs
6 hit by breaking cable or detached hook
7 lashed by cable or chain
swaying and shifting 8 hit or crushed by swaying, falling or shifting cod end or gear
nets 9 caught between net and bulwarks
10 dra4ged along by cod line or net
equipment,fish, cuts during gutting
repairs 12 bites or stings from fish
13 injuries from hand tools
falls -7 - f /sl m "pi ptring on heavin deck
fish boxes 17 fish box or pack crushing hand or foot
miscellaneous IT5 caught in doorways and hatchways
16 accidents during domestic work
18 miscellaneous or unknown

Table 1 - Occupational accident types in Dutch offshore fishing

In the analysis of the accidents an attempt was made to link accident types to other
factors, such as type of fishing gear, nature and gravity injuries, and seasonal effects. a
relationship may be anticipated between type of vessel, fishing method and size of vessel
on the one hand, and types of accident on the other.
The most common types of accident are given in table 2, including the workload
associated with the various activities in the fishing process and the aggraving circumstances
on board seagoing vessels.
OCCUPATIONAL WORKLOAD associated AGGRAVATING
ACCIDENTS with the main activities CIRCUMSTANCES
*falling *gear handling on the aftdeck *noise; exposure to noise levels
the stem more than 80 dB(A)
*being struck by swaying and and
shifting bulks *cod end or door handling on *ship's motions; hampers work
the stem and increased the risk of falling
•crushing by a fish box or pack
*fish processing on the -working rhythm; shifts of 4
*being hit by a lashing cable tweendeck hours on/4 hours off

L *fish storage in the fish holds

1___ I

Table 2 - Most common occupational accidents with location and aggravating

circumstances

F.A. Veensba. "Quality and HACCP care systems on board freezer trawlers", Lecture Notes 20th WEGEMT
Graduate School on Fishing Vessel Technology, Polytechnical University of Madrid. April 18 to April 27, 1994
 The largest problem, in seriousness and number, are the accidents related to falling. On
the working deck, at hauling of the nets and catches, even more worse than in the
processing area, although here the equipment has been installed such a way that a free
corridor is hampered. As on board of the beamers also working with cables and doors is a
serious cause for accidents. A limited number but extreme seriousness are the accidents
with the net drums behind the accommodation area. The vision line from the wheelhouse to
this deck area is very bad. Also accidents caused by swinging and moving objects on deck
are a serious threat to the well being of the crew.
Working with the frozen unpacked blocks of 22 kgs often results in pinching of the
fingers/hand, injury to trunk and the limbs, also when discharging the cargo in the home
port.
In redesigning the freezer trawlers the results of these accident analysis must be worked
out.

Quality Assurance of landing fish

New EC Directive on Fish Hygiene and Hygiene on board Fishing vessels
Two EC Directives came into force on 1 January 1993.
a.) EC Directive (91/493/EEC) on health conditions for the production and placing on the
market of fishery products;
b) EC Directive (92/48/EEC) laying down the minimum hygiene rules applicable to fishery
products caught on board certain vessels in accordance with the article 3(1)(a)(i) of
91/493/EEC.
These directives set hygiene requirements for the handling of all sea water and fresh
water fish and their roe, farmed fish and also crustaceans at all stages from catching
through landing, first sale, preparation and processing, but not including retail sale. It also
covers processed shellfish but live shellfish are covered by a separate directive
(91/492/EEC). It covers onshore plants as well as fishing vessels, however some
exceptions have been made for the so called •y. tactory
A vessel means any
vessel on which fishery products undergo one or more of the following operations
following by packaging: filleting, slicing, skinning, mincing, freezing or processing.
Vessels which only cook shrimps and molluscs or which only freeze fish are no factory
vessels, which is the state of the art for most of the existing Dutch freezer trawlers.
o-wever, in various new building plans for the super trawlers one wants to diversify the
on board process and to mechanize the routing to a large extent. This means that the new
vessels are becoming factory vessels in the meaning of the EC Directives.
The existing freezer trawlers have to comply with Directive 92/48/EEC, which provides
for example that the processing and storage sections for fishery products must be clean and
that the fishery products must be protected from contamination, sun and heat For vessels
designed to keep fishery products on board for more than 24 hours the holds or tanks for
storage must observe the temperature requirements of the directive.
The equipment and the layout of the existing Dutch trawlers are more or less matching
the rules of the directive, but more attention must be paid to the use and maintenance of the
processing equipment. The more urgent, while the frozen products from the Dutch trawlers
already have to comply with the hygiene standards for processing plants ashore. Besides
the temperature of the frozen products must be maintained at a constant temperature of- 18
degrees C throughout the whole fish. This means that the time-temperature history of the
frozen products must be registered in a database and be kept for at least two years to show

F' F.A. Veenstra, "Quality and HACCP care systems on board freezer trawlers", Lecture Notes, 20th WEGEMT
Graduate School on Fishing Vessel Technology, Polytechnical University of Madrid, April 18 to April 27, 1994
the legal authorities on request. The registration is in such a way that the data match the
fishery products properly.
Regarding packaging of the products, this must take place under adequate hygienic
circumstances and the processing area must be kept in a satisfactory state of cleanliness and
repair, so that they do not constitute a source of contamination for the products. Packaging
materials and products, liable to enter into contact with fishery products, must comply with
all the rules of hygiene. They must not be such as to impair the organoleptical
characteristics (smell, taste, stability) of the fishery products and must not be capable of
transmitting to the fishery products substances harmful to human health and being strong
enough to protect fishery products adequately. By applying the HACCP concept this can be
controlled properly.
However, to ensure that the conditions of the directives are met, a quality officer must
be identified on board the vessel. This person in particular is responsible that the critical
control points are being dealt with as stated in the quality assurance plan and samples are
being taken and sent to a recognised laboratory for analysis to check the effectiveness of
cleaning an desinfection or for new built vessels a small laboratory must be planned on
the processing deck.

HACCP care system

HACCP is an acronym for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point theory. It is a
logical, simple, but highly specialized system of food control designed in a systematic
fashion for preventing public health and other problems from occurring. The technique
applies to production through consumption and is unique from a regulatory perspective in
that it is a non traditional type of non continuous inspection representing innovative state of
the art technology. HACCP has been evolving in the USA food industry since the seventies
and is still an evolving concept The theory behind the HACCP concept is, that if properly
implemented, governmental inspection frequencies can be reduced in facilities or on
products employing HACCP as opposed to those operating solely under Good
Manufacturing Practices (GMP) or when examining food products for which there is an
unknown production and control history. One of the (costl/benefits of a properly operating
in-plant HACCP system is that the system separates the essential from the superfluous
aspects of microbiological control and negates the need for a great deal of microbiological
resting during production with such procedures being generally restricted to verification.
The HACCP approach is a two step system requiring extensive technological knowledge of
the production, processing and end-use of the specific food products to be covered:'The
first step of the process is to conduct a comprehensive hazard analysis of the food relative
to its intended end-use, including considerations of raw materials, ingredients, role of
manipulative processes to control hazards, consumer populations at risk, and
epidemniological evidence relative to the potential safety considerations of the food. This
hazard analysis, sometimes referred to as a "structured Hazard analysis", can be conducted
in accordance with existing formal procedures. The second step of the HACCP process is
the determination of each step of a processing operation; the hazard(s) associated with each
step; definition of the preventive measures that can be achieved at each processing step in
order to minimize the hazard(s) to acceptable levels; identification of the critical control
points where the hazards can be controlled; determination of monitoring procedures either
by observation and/or physical measurement, which can be relied on to demonstrate control
of hazards; and initiation of necessary verification procedures (including records to be
shared with a regulatory agency having jurisdiction) to ensure effectiveness of the controls.

F.A. Veenstra. "Quality and HACCP care systems on board frveeze trawlers". Lecture Notes, 20th WEGEMT
Graduate School on Fishing Vessel Technology, Polytechnical University of Madrid. April 18 to April 27, 1994
 Generally speaking a HACCP concept must be premised upon the seven basic
principles, which are given down below and extended with a partial filling in for an
average Dutch freezer trawler. In the enclosure an example is given of a flowchart
(diagram) for the HACCP production of frozen fish fillets and the critical control points.

HACCP Identification HACCP on board

principles Dutch freezer trawler
1.assess hazards 1.associated with growing, harvesting, raw 1. catching,cooling, RSW
material ingredients, processing, manufacturing, tanks, processing, freezing.
distributing, marketing, preparation, consumption storage, landing of pelagic
of food species (bening mackerel,
horse mackerel, whiting)

2.determine Critical 2.required to control the identified hazards 2.catching conditions,

Control Points (CCP) precooling, cleanliness of
equipment, personal hygiene,
cleanliness conveyrs, dine-
temperature control, freezing
capacity, functioning of
equipment. temperatue control
3. establish the critical 3. to be met at each identified CCP 3. time, temperatue sea water
limits (t = 0, t water = 0"Q,
temperature fish (t= x, t fish=
OC); temperature fish, storage
(- IS'C, - 20'C,
berring);temperatoze fish at
landing (- 18"C(mmporarily
-15"C), - 20"C herring

4. establish procedures 4. to monitor CCP's 4. every haul; every tank; clean

equipment every 4 hours;
temperature registration after
discharging the frostens;
temperature fish holds
continuously; temperature
registration of landed fish
5. establish corrective 5.procedures to be taken when there is a deviation 5. change catching/haufing
action identified by monitoring a CCP time; change precooling
process; remove fish out of
equipment; increase freezing
time; change temperature in
fish hold; pallets fish
insulating
6. establish effective 6. to document the HACCP plan 6. computer database with
record keeping printing facilities
7. establish procedures 7. that HACCP system is working correctly 7. Dutch government verifies
for verification proper monitoring and
I validation of the plan

Table 3 - HACCP concept and application on board freezer trawlers

F.A. Veensra, "Quality and HACCP carm systems on board freezer trawlers', Lecture Notes, 20th WEGEMT
Graduate School on Fishing Vessel Technology. Polytechnical University of Madrid. April 18 to April 27, 1994
 For a successful HACCP care system it is very important that the crew should be trained
in basic principles of hygienic work and the HACCP concept, which involves good
communication between the quality officer in charge and the rest of the crew.. Besides the
procedures of processing, monitoring, controlling etc. must be very clear to everyone and
recorded properly. Therefore it is not sufficient having only a HACCP flowchart, but also a
detailed planning document with specific operating protocols. These documents focus and
delineat the objectives regarding a given goal by descnibmg the problem and the necessary
steps for its investigation, assigning responsibility for completion, and establishing
methods and time schedules for the systematic completion of the protocol. This plan also
provides criteria by which the success or failure of the protocol can be evaluated. Besides,
when the quality officer is on leave, his task can easily be assigned to his colleague.

CONCLUSIONS
Both directives, the one regarding the safety, health and working conditions as well as
the health conditions for the production and placing on the market of fishery products, axe
inevitably resulting in redesigning the existing fishing vessels. Depending on the fact
whether the vessel is a factory vessel or not, the layout and equipment have to be
reconsidered properly, the most cost-effective is then a new building. For the Dutch freezer
trawlers already some work has been done. In former RIVO projects, some on contract
basis for the industry (HACCP fact finding on board the SCH 23) and others
commissioned by the Ministry of Social Mffairs and Transport (accident analysis and
solutions).
Although the new IMO Protocol and the EC directive on safety haven't been ratified
yet, these rules will inevitably have an impact on the new design in the very near future. A
meason for RYVO to design a new freezer trawler concept in accordance with the safety and
quality integrated design approach of the Beamer 2000 projects.
This output can be claimed to be both safe and to increase a processors profit by an
unconditional assurance of uniform quality; more constant product quality through highly
effective automatic handling procedures
The conceptual redesigning is done in cooperation with the Technical High school for
Marine Technology at Haarlem and is in full progress now.
In this predesign also the state of the art of the on board energy saving possibilities will be
implemented as well as the lowest noise and acceleration levels attainable. Former research
projects where RIVO had been very active and where by means of new buildings it is
proven that good working conditions in this sense are cost-effective.

F.A. Veenstra, *Quality and HACCP care systems on board freezer trawlers", Lecture Notes. 20th WEGEMT
Graduate School on Fishing Vessel Technology, Polytechnical University of Madrid, April 18 to April 27, 1994
 New (re)design reqnirements for freezer trawlers
The design requirements must comply with the following laws, regulations, directives,
code of practice and recommendations, which are being worked out now:

(new) laws, authorities contents

regulation,
recommendation
for Dutch freezer
trawlers
SAFETY AND *IMO resolution A 168 -safety aspects on design,
WORKING *Dutch shipping Inspectorate construction and equipment
CONDITIONS (into force, > 1970) -stability
-FAO, IMO, FAO -life saving equipment
(recommendations, 1974) -nautical equipment
*Torremolinos International -mechanical and electrical
Convention (1977, not ratified) equipment
*New Protocol Torremolinos -safety manual for work on
(1993; adjustions on protocol board fishing vessels
1977, to be ratified soon)
*EC Directive 93/103/EC
•Classification societies
HACCP CARE -ECDirective 91/493/EC non traditional inspection
SYSTEMS *EC directive 92/48/EC approach; control biological,
chemical and physical and/or
economic hazards in fishery
products. Total Quality
Assurance Management
ENVIRONMENTAL *National Environmental Plan -less emission and waste
ASPECTS Dutch Government -energy saving aspects
-processing upgrading
•MARPOL, annex IV undervalued species
Table 4 - Set of (new)design requirements for the Dutch freezer trawlers

ENCLOSURES
-main characteristics of a modem dutch freezer trawler
*a characteristic flow chart for the production of frozen fish fillets

F.A.Veenstra, "Quality and HACCP cae systems on board freezer trawlers", Lecture Notes, 20th WEGEMT
Graduate School on Fishing Vessel Technology, Polytechnical University of Madrid, April 18 to April 27, 1994
REFERENCES
Veenstra, F.A. and J. Stoop. Beamer 2000 Safety integrated (re)designing THE
KINDUNOS METHOD, 1993. ISBN 90-74549-02-0
EC Directive (91/493/EEC) on health conditions for the production and placing on the
market of fishery products
EC Directive (92/48/EEC) laying down the minimum hygiene rules applicable to fishery
products caught on board certain vessels in accordance with Article 391)(a)(i) of Directive
91/493(EEC)
EC Directive (91/492/EEC) on health conditions for the production and placing on the
market of live bivalve molluscs
Hoefnagels, W.A.M., J. Stoop, F.A. Veenstra, K. Bouwman. Safety in the offshore
fisheries (in Dutch), 1990. ISBN 90-53070122-9

F.A. Veenstra. "Quality and HACCP care system on board freezer trawlers". Lecture Notes, 20th WEGEMT
Graduate School on Fishing Vessel Technology, Polytechnical University of Madrid. April 18 to April 27, 1994
 Description of a characteristic dutch stem freezing trawler.

The dutch stem trawler fleet exists of less then 15 modern ships of a characteristic design.
All ships have been laid out for pelagic midwater trawling, especially upon the species
herring, mackerel and horse-mackerel which are sorted and froozen aboard. The ships are
able to operate world-wide allihough up till now the most common fishing areas are still the
North-sea and around the British and Irish islands.

The ships measure between 80 and 120 metres in length and 14 till 18 metres in breadth.
Accommodation has been provided for 30 - 50 persons in a deckshouse placed aft of midships.
The deckhouse is comfortable and special attention has been paid to reduction of noise and
vibration levels. The deckshouse far aft combined with a large front deck adds to the typical
look of the dutch stern trawler.
The following description is based upon a large stem trawler of 110-120 metres length.

The fish are delivered in the fish bins on the relatively small aft deck with traditional
methods, or, on the latest vessels, with a large fish pump coupled on the net. Typical for the
dutch trawlers is that there is no slipway. The fish bins can be discharged through hatches
into one of the R.S.W. (Refrigerated Sea Water) tanks under the aft deck where the fish is
pre-cooled till about 1 degree Celsius. There are between 8 and 12 of these tanks with a total
capacity of about 500 M3 . From the R.S.W. tanks the fish are transported with belt conveyors
or a vac-press pump system to the sorting belts on the tween deck level where they are sorted
to species and size. The fish can either be frozen directly after sorting or first be filleted and
then frozen. The vertical plate freezers are mostly being used to freeze the fish directly
without filleting first, they are also placed on the tween deck. Transport between sorting
tables and freezers is carried out by conveyor belts. The filleting machines and horizontal
plate freezers are usually situated on the main deck level, above the vertical plate freezers.
The total freezing capacity is about 250 - 300 tons a day, this is a batch proces in 6 turns of
about 4 hours.

The refrigerated fish hold.

From the plate freezers the frozen fish blocks weighing about 25 kilograms are transported
with conveyor belts to the packaging room on the tween deck where they are packed in
cardboard boxes. These boxes are transported with conveyor belts to the refrigerated holds
measuring up to 6500 m3 .The holds are situated in the fore ship end from weather deck level
down to the tanktop, the temperature inside is being kept at about -28 degrees celsius. The
holds of the latest ships are fully equipped to store palletized cargo to reduce unloading time.
The cargo can be discharged either through the conventional hatches on the front deck or
through a side ramp using forklift trucks.

Fishing eguipment
The trawling winch is positioned on the aft deck just behind the accommodation. The winch is
driven electrically and exists of two main shafts on which two net drums, two main drums
(trawling lines) and four auxiliary drums are coupled. The main drums are able to pull about
650 kN (max) for which 36 mm diameter wire is often being used.
Machinerv
The ship is powered with a four stroke medium speed diesel engine of about 7000 kW placed in
an engine room in the aft end of the ship. This engine room also contains the diesel generator of
about 2000 kW and the refrigerating plant. Both main engine and generator run on heavy
fuel oil. The main engine is coupled on a reduction gear box with one or more power take offs.
About 4000 kW is used to drive the controllable pitch propeller running in a nozzle. The ship
has a cruising speed of about 16 knots. The power taken by the PTO is also used to feed the
electrical circuit of the ship. The trawling winch and refrigerating plant are both driven
electrically.
The navigation- and fishfinding equipment exists of sophisticated tools like radar, sonar, echo
sounders, track plotters, satcom, satnav and radio equipment

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