New Port Lincoln Build Purse Seiner Sailing ff

The largest fishing vessel built in Port Lincoln is now sailing the seas ready to go fishing.

The Apollo S is scheduled to leave next week to catch southern Bluefin tuna in the Great Australian Bight, but has already undergone extensive sea trials and been pilchard fishing.

The vessel was launched at the Port Lincoln shipyards in March 2003 after almost two years in construction involving more than 50 workers at peak periods and up to 20 subcontractors. Port Lincoln Marine Services operations manager Greg Turbill said the ship was built after different pieces of the hull section and other equipment were transported to Port Lincoln by road and even sea.

But the story of the building of the Apollo S goes back to late 1998 when fishing company Australian Fishing Enterprises first started work on the design of a new vessel. The new purse seiner was to be a replacement for AFE's main purse seiner the Maria Luisa. ”The design of the new vessel was based on the lay-out of the Maria Luisa, which was built in Sydney in 1972,” Mr. Turbill said.

Getting the design finalized and the construction drawings completed took three years with construction beginning in April 2001.

Mr. Turbill said some of the trades-people who worked on the vessel came from as far away as overseas, working on the hydraulics, electrical components and other projects. ”The construction of the vessel was fairly straight forward, but it was more difficult for some of the contractors who may not have worked before on such a complex fishing vessel,” he said.

The vessel features both bow and stern thrusters, common features on modern vessels that make it easier when berthing against wharves and also allow the skipper to stay well away from the net during purse seining.

Mr. Turbill said the vessel was believed to be the only one of its kind in Australia to have the capability of going to sea with two massive purse seine nets.

The large rear deck has two net bins allowing for a net with large mesh size to target a species such as tuna but also a second smaller mesh net for smaller fish such as pilchards.

Another unique innovation is the fitting of an on-board cork-line stacker consisting of a large hydraulically operated crane that stacked one side of the net neatly. Mr. Turbill said this safety innovation meant one less worker had to stand in the net bin, which could be a dangerous job.

The bow section of the hull was manufactured in Adelaide and transported to Port Lincoln by low-loader. The engine room compartment amazingly was built in Adelaide and then floated and towed across the Spencer Gulf to Port Lincoln. These two massive structures were then pieced together with the rudder and propeller nozzle trucked from Fremantle.

Local company Lincoln Steel Industries also delivered plate sections of steel for the hull units.

The vessel was launched from the ship yard at Billy Lights Point on the Easter long weekend, with a more formal ceremony taking place in June, which included the blessing of the vessel by Father Quinn.

The only other vessel built locally that is larger than the Apollo S was the Queenscliffe carry ferry completed at the shipyard in about 1993.