Capable of Fishing 76,800 Hooks Per Day, Jensen to Design One of the World’s Largest Longliners

Jensen Maritime Consultants said today it has won a contract to design a longline fishing vessel that, once completed, will be one of the world’s largest.  The contract was awarded by the Alaskan fishing company, Alaskan Leader Fisheries and will be the fourth longline vessel in the companies fleet.

Called the Northern Leader, the vessel will measure 184 feet wide by 42 feet wide and be equipped with more than 38,000 cubic feet of freezer space with the capacity to store 1,867,000 pounds.  To fill her up, the Northern Leader will use a Mustad Autoline Super Baiter allowing the crew to bait an astounding 76,800 hooks per day and process up to 153,000 pounds.

“Jensen is very pleased to bring its more than 50 years of naval architecture and marine engineering services to Alaskan Leader Fisheries and their new longliner project,” said Johan Sperling, company vice president. “Jensen’s heritage lays in the fishing industry and it continues to remain a very important part of our business. But the real strength of Jensen lies in the diversity of the product offerings. Our experience is allowing us to inject new technologies into this industry that were developed for the workboat industries – most importantly, the new propulsion package being delivered on the Northern Leader.”

In addition to the vessels impressive fishing capabilities, the Northern Leader will be designed to be fully diesel-electric with emphasis on minimal environmental impact and lightest carbon footprint. The vessel’s propulsion will be powered by two Schottel Z-Drive rudder propellers and a Schottel tunnel thruster.  The diesel generating system, provided by NC Power Systems of Seattle, will consist of four Caterpillar C32 gensets rated at 715 kW each, two Caterpillar C18’s rated at 425 kW each, and one Caterpillar C9 rated at 238 kW.

Jensen says it’s design services will include the complete marine-engineering services for the vessel, from the concept design phase all the way through production engineering and 3-D modeling.

“The full services we are able to provide has been enhanced by our association with Crowley, which acquired Jensen in 2008,” said Sperling. “Crowley has provided a foundation that has allowed Jensen to grow and become a recognized full-service naval architecture firm, providing sophisticated, state of the art engineering solutions for all of their clients, including Alaskan Leader Fisheries.”

The vessel will be constructed J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corporation and is expected to be delivered in late April, 2013 to her homeport in Kodiak, Alaska where she will be used to support longline fishing in the North Pacific, Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands

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