Built in 1998, the New JMC-designed trawler now fishing herring off New England

After two long years of design and construction, the F/V PROVIDIAN was christened on September 25th, 1998, at the Stinson Seafoods facility in Bath, Maine. Originally conceived as a catcher boat to support shoreside facilities in Alaska, she is now engaged in the herring fishery off the Maine coast.

The delivery of this vessel has been more contorted than most vessels. The design process started in late 1996, with the Owner, Walt Raber, coming to Jensen Maritime Consultants of Seattle, WA, with the desire to design an ultra-modern, high capacity combination RSW trawler/crabber to fish in Alaska. The vessel would replace one he had lost several years earlier. The new vessel would have to be designed to take the worst that the Bering Sea could throw at her, while providing a safe and steady working platform for the crew. Walt and the design team at JMC worked closely together to ensure that the vessel would meet all of his requirements.

A contract was signed with a shipyard in Bayou La Batre, Alabama in December of that year, with the shipyard promising delivery for late summer of 1997. As the delivery date approached, it became apparent that the original shipyard would not be able to complete the work as intended. Raber paid off the shipyard and pulled the vessel out of their facilities. A month later, the yard went bankrupt.

Walt and his son, Ryan, continued to work on the vessel, bringing in crews from as far away as Seattle in an attempt to complete the vessel within a reasonable budget and time frame. Walt's wife, Leslie and daughter, Suzanah, along with Ryan's fiancée Michelle LeGree, provided moral support through-out the construction process. Their efforts were also aided by understanding suppliers and the owner of a new yard in the area, Rusty Bosarge of Boconco Shipyards. He provided dockside facilities and crews to continue the construction of the vessel. Capitol Diesel also assisted in obtaining long-term financing with Detroit Diesel Capitol Corporation, as well as supplying the two Detroit Diesel main engines and four diesel generators for the vessel.

After another year of construction, the vessel sea-trialed in late August. During sea-trials, the vessel operated smoothly and without vibration, obtaining a maximum speed at 70% power of 12.9 knots lightly loaded, and 11.9 knots with all the holds tanked down. Final outfitting was completed in early September, and the vessel left the Gulf of Mexico for the Gulf of Maine. A quick ride along the Gulf Stream, and the vessel finally docked at its new home in Bath, Maine the day before her christening.

The PROVIDIAN is unique in several ways. The first impression one gets coming alongside is the overall size of the vessel. Just shy of 113 feet in overall length, she measures 40 feet in beam and 18 feet in depth. With her sea water tanks empty, and light of fuel, she can have a freeboard close to eight feet. Originally designed as a replacement vessel for the Alaskan fisheries, her length is limited to the additional 20% increase above the length of the vessel she replaces (in accordance with the Alaskan fishing moratorium regulations).

The Rabers desired to pack as much as they could into this length, both in terms of vessel capacity for shoreside delivery and in crew comforts. The beam and depth give the vessel the capacity to hold over 20,000 cubic feet of refrigerated fish in two pairs of RSW holds. Fuel capacity with all the tanks full is over 50,000 gallons.

Another unique feature is the lay-out of the vessel. The twin engine powerplant is located aft, with the forward refrigeration machinery space accessible through a large centerline tunnel. The main engines, Detroit Diesel 16V-149 DDECs, each producing 1490 SHP at 1800 RPM, are located deep in the engine room, with the ZF gears placed in streamlined pods that project from the bottom of the vessel. The pods allow for access around the engine as well as providing for a clean water flow to the propellers.

Three Detroit 8V-92 TA Spectrum 350-kw generators are connected in parallel to supply the necessary power to the ship's machinery. The system is designed to operate on two generators, with the third as an automatic back-up. A smaller Detroit 6V-71 125 kW generator supplies the hotel load when dockside. All RSW piping and pumps are located in the centerline tunnel, with the pumps located in the lower level, and the valving located in the upper level.

Outboard of the tunnel are the two pairs of refrigerated sea water holds. Refrigeration machinery, including a 200-ton Mycom/North/Cold Sea system, is located in the forward machinery room. Fuel tanks are located forward of the holds in a pair of deep tanks, below the holds in double bottom tanks and in saddle/wing tanks aft in way of the engine room and lazarette. The fresh water tank is located forward, near the accommodation spaces.

All accommodation spaces are located forward in a multiple level deckhouse. Coming off the main deck, one enters a wet-room with an attached head, and from there can proceed either below to the machinery room and then aft to the engine room, or into the mess/galley area. Forward, and several steps down, is the Commodore's Lounge - the spacious crew's lounge, fitted with TV and stereo equipment. Off of this lounge is the Engineer's Stateroom.

From the mess, one goes forward and half a deck up to the first deck, where two two-man staterooms and a crew's head are located. One then can proceed aft and up another half-level to the Officer's deck, where the Skipper's and the Owner's staterooms are located. There are two additional heads on this deck, one directly off the common hall, and the other connected to the Owner's Stateroom. Above this deck is the spacious Pilothouse, amply outfitted with an electronics package provided by Lunde Marine Electronics and other sources. The Pilot House has a commanding view forward and aft, allowing the Skipper to keep all fishing activity in view.

The proportions give this vessel a huge working deck. Aft of the deckhouse, there is almost 70-ft of clear deck, most of it measuring 40-feet wide. Directly aft of the deckhouse are two wings, where the hydraulic machinery and bait freezer are located. Low-pressure Hydraulic Brattvagg winches are located on the deck above, with separate hydraulic systems providing power for each side. A high pressure system, provided by Aurora Crane, supplies power to the deck crane, gilson winches and the other miscellaneous power needs. Large gantry towers aft provide access below to the engine room, as well as uptakes for the exhaust and support for the trawl block arms and the third wire winch platform.

Unique to this size of American vessel is the installation of a fish pumping system, as catch from its 500-ton cod-end would be somewhat unmanageable if it had to be hauled on deck. Once the net is filled, the end of the net is pulled alongside the vessel and a fish pump is attached to the cod end. The fish are then pumped in the holds for transport to the plant. Fishing gear is supplied by Swan Nets with NETS trawl doors, and the fish pumping equipment is supplied by MARCO. Dantrawl also provided additional equipment to fill out the fishing complement.

Another notable feature of the new fishing vessel is the finely constructed bulbous bow. Constructed from rolled steel, the bulb presents a smooth hydrodynamic profile, helping to dampen pitching motion in heavy seas and provide for some reduction in vessel resistance when underway.

While the construction process was long and at time frustrating, the net result is a state of the art fishing machine, with tremendous capacity, power and sea-keeping ability. A plaque mounted in the Pilot House commemorates the struggle: