Chilean wellboat operator orders MAN 6L21/31 gensets

MAN Diesel & Turbo has won an order for three MAN 6L21/31 gensets to power a wellboat newbuilding for Chilean fish-farming operator Patagonia Wellboat.

The new wellboat will be built at Asenav – Chile's largest, private shipbuilder – in Valdivia, Chile. It will be the first vessel in a new generation of wellboats designed and developed by Asenav in cooperation with Patagonia Wellboat.

Engine delivery is scheduled for fourth quarter 2015 with vessel delivery from the shipyard expected May 2016. The order includes an option for a further, identical wellboat.

Chile has a well-developed fish-farming industry that frequently uses wellboats to transport the harvest from deepwater cages to holding areas near onshore processing facilities.

Patagonia Wellboats is a pioneer in transporting live fish and has a fleet of wellboats for the transportation of salmon and trout, the latest generation of which have all been built by Asenav.

Wellboats collect fish from where they are bred and transport them live to processing facilities near the market. The water in the wellboat's storage tanks closely replicates that of the fish-farm with all conditions, such as water temperature, CO2 levels and water quality, being carefully controlled. A wellboat typically holds about 1,400 cu.m of water and houses up to 180 tonnes of fish.

The order for the gensets is the latest in a long line of Chilean fishing and fish-farm orders for medium-speed MAN engines, where the 23/30 model has been particularly popular.

The MAN 21/31 engine has also established a solid foothold in other, major South American fishing markets with recent references that include three trawlers ordered by Norwegian-based fishing concern, Copeinca (Corporacion Pesquera Inca S.A.), built at Peru's SIMA Callao shipyard (Servicios Industriales de la Marina S.A.) and equipped with 6L21/31 main propulsion engines.

The L21/31 engine has a 1,290-1,935 kW output range and, besides applications such as large fishing vessels, is also employed by small to medium-sized tankers, cargo vessels, ferries, Ro-Ro vessels, coasters, tugs, workboats and supply vessels.