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In many areas of the world, boats with twin main engines
are seen to have advantages over single-engined boats. For the pair trawlers
of Hong Kong it is not a question of one or two engines ！ for many years the
fleet has used three engines per boat. Shun Fung Engineering Ltd., Cummins¨
major Hong Kong marine dealer, has been the pioneer in the Hong Kong
fishboat marine engine market. Otto C.Y. To, Deputy General Manager of Shun
Fung Engineering, explains that the three engine configuration evolved when
captains of the early powered fishing junks found that the large single net
tended to pull the boats toward each other requiring constant rudder angle
and thus reducing towing efficiency. To correct this, each boat added a
second smaller engine on the side from which the net was towed. This proved
successful and, in time, a third engine was added to balance the second.
This configuration gained further popularity for the security and additional
peace of mind on long sea voyages as it assured a "come-home" feature on the
vessels in the event of engine failure.
Today, over 90 percent of the approximately 3000 Hong
Kong fishing boats, including the pair trawlers, use Cummins Marine engines.
Typical of the six pairs of steel-hulled trawlers delivered from South China
yards to Hong Kong fishermen in the twelve month prior to June 2002 are the
41- by 8.5-metre Haitian 4 and the Haiyi. Like most Hong Kong fishing boats,
these are owner operated with Capt. Ng Wah Kwan owning the Haitian 4 and
Capt. Lam Kai Chung owner and operator of her sister ship the Haiyi. Built
at the Shantou Da Yang Shipyard in Shantou, Guang Dong province of South
China at a cost of about $6 million each (Hong Kong dollars), the boats were
being readied in Hong Kong for a trip to Taiwanese waters in early June of
this year.
Each boat is powered by a single 850-horsepower Cummins
KTA38 M0 mounted on the centre line and a pair of 500 HP Cummins KTA19 M
engines mounted to port and starboard. Capt. Ng explains that his family
owns eight vessels with a total of 20 Cummins engines. His previous boat was
a smaller Cummins-powered wooden vessel with a single 500 HP and two 425 HP
engines. On his new boat, the KTA38 M0 turns a 2.22-metre 4-blade propeller
while the two smaller engines have 1.93-metre props. All three props have
the same 1.73-metre pitch and all three of the right hand rotation engines
turn marine gears with a 7:1 reduction ratio with one of the outboard
Hangzhou Advance Gears having a right hand rotation and the other a left
hand rotation. The centre Reintjes gear is a right hand rotation. This
arrangement produces a 13-knot light boat speed and, together with the pair
boat, easily tows a net with a mouth approximately 30 by 20 fathoms in
depths from 20 to 80 fathoms at speeds around 3.5 miles per hour.
Each boat has three winches including an anchor winch on
the bow, a towing winch aft and a second winch on deck for hauling back the
second warp when it is handed off in the final stages of recovery from the
partner vessel. Each boat carries 50 tons of ice on a typical ten day voyage
with a capacity for 87 tons of boxed fish. A smaller freezer compartment has
been installed forward on the main working deck for a few tons of high value
fish that are sorted from the main catch by the ten person crew. Typically
the Hong Kong pair trawlers will make ten to twelve-day trips in the South
China sea, but each spring a two month closure is enacted for conservation
purposes. For this time, some of the vessels will go to Taiwanese waters and
deliver their catches to Taiwanese carrier boats. On the long run from Hong
Kong to Taiwan all three engines will be operating with the Robertson
Autopilot working with the Wagner steering to maintain a true course. From
the wheelhouse, Capt. Ng can keep watch on his heading with the JRC Radar
and of the working deck and engine room with a closed circuit televison
system. The GPS is also JRC while the echo sounder is a Koden. A shrine near
the engine room door honours the Budda¨s presence. Accommodation for the
crew is in bunk rooms in the raised fo¨c¨sle forward on the main deck, while
cabins and head for the captain and his wife are aft of the wheelhouse.
About ten years ago, one of Hong Kong¨s top fishing
masters took the advice of a designer to build a set of pair trawlers with
only one large engine each. A nozzle would be installed to give a 30 to 40
percent increased in thrust. After he took delivery of the new boats he
found that it towed the net well, but his catches were much smaller than
before. He kept trying to make the new boats work for five years before
finally installing two more engines in each boat which immediately improved
his catches. Similar attempts at building single engine pair trawlers for
Hong Kong fishermen have been equally disappointing. In recent years, the
sale of older Hong Kong triple-engined pair trawlers into South China has
resulted in the adoption of this practice over a growing area.
The economic success of many Hong Kong business people is
shown by the amount of gold they wear. The equivalent demonstration of
success for a Hong Kong fisherman is more pragmatically demonstrated in the
amount of stainless steel he has included in the construction of his fishing
vessel. By this measure, Captains Ng and Lam are clearly successful with
stainless steel covering the transom, hatch coamings, bulwarks and much of
the house work. If the Hong Kong economy is faltering, clearly no one told
the fishermen.
Photo captions:
1.
The 4.1- by 8.5-m Haitian 4
at anchor in Hong Kong with her sister ship, the Haiyi alongside.
2.
The
Engine Room
of the Haitian 4 with the 850 HP
Cummins KTA38 M0 flanked by a pair of 500 HP Cummins KTA19 M main engines.
3.
Captain Ng Wah Kun
showing the three sets of engine
controls in the wheelhouse of the Haitian 4.
4.
Pair trawler
Captains Ng Wah Kun and Lam Kai Chung
in
Hong Kong.
For further information contact:
Otto C.Y. To
Director/Deputy General Manager
Shun Fung Engineering Limited
Hong Kong
Otto.To@shun-fung.com
Courtesy of
A.
Haig-Brown & Assoc. Ltd.
1513 Sixth Ave.
New Westminster, B.C.
Canada, V3M 2C5
phone: 604 520-6748
fax: 604 521-5428
Webpage:
http://www.haig-brown.com
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