Japanese Trawlers?

Bonzodog

Anyone know what the story is with the sudden appearance of the Japanese Trawlers in the Docks?

I seriously did not think that the Japanese went this far from home?

JIZZLORD

i noticed this last week. i was just as confused as you are

skelliser

There atlantic bluefin tuna boats, they fish way out in the atlantic in international waters for months on end, then meet up with a bigger factory ship which processes the tuna and heads back to japan via the artic, so im told. Apparently each tuna is worth a couple of grand a piece back in japan!
You usually see them around twice a year, in for supplies and a little R and R!

JohnCleary

Described quite well above, the Jap's make an appearance 2-3 times a year and almost always in convoy.

These are weird machines, single engined, long and narrow and no bow-thruster - a nightmare to manouvere in tight situations. The only way to get them out of Galway Harbour after their stay is for the Pilot boat to push the nose out by nudging it - bumper boats!

brianthebard

The one I saw didn't seem that big to be out for months on end though? How many are there?

They don't look like they could stay out at sea that long.

And how fresh is that tuna by the time it gets to Tokyo.

JohnCleary

Deleted User wrote: »

They don't look like they could stay out at sea that long.

Why don't they? If you think that because of a little rust on the anchor and some paint needing re-doing, ye obviously don't know much about boats

JIZZLORD

thar she blows, the boat from above

brianthebard

JohnCleary wrote: »

Why don't they? If you think that because of a little rust on the anchor and some paint needing re-doing, ye obviously don't know much about boats

Wow what a patronising condescending post, how enlightening of you! :rolleyes:
Think the one Jizzlord posted is the same one I saw, and to me it seemed quite small in comparison to a lot of boats that have been in the docks, so personally I was wondering how it could stay at sea for months at a time.

skelliser

ya they look quite small! but they are designed specifically for that job. There roughly the same size if a little bigger then the boats you see on deadliest catch and they deal with pretty bad weather!
must irish trawlers are half that size and head out maybe 100/150 miles into the atlantic, scary stuff imo! iv seen the celtic voyager(i think thats its name) in the docks a few times and she fishes off the coast of west africa!
you also see spainish trawlers in the docks from time to time and there a long way from home also!
There is a whole fleet of these guys out there maybe 20/30 of them and probably 3/4 massive factory ships and id reckon they process them for air freight back to japan or ice them and sail back in one or two weeks.

JohnCleary

JohnCleary wrote: »

Why don't they? If you think that because of a little rust on the anchor and some paint needing re-doing, ye obviously don't know much about boats

I took the picture to google the name later, not because of the rust.

My question was more around storage / size: for the catch, the fuel, the crew etc.

My image of a boat big enough to cross oceans routinely would be the Veronica.

Edit: or the Atlantic Dawn

skelliser

skelliser wrote: »

iv seen the celtic voyager(i think thats its name) in the docks a few times

The Celtic Voyager and the Celtic Explorer are both Marine Institute research vessels (based in Galway afaik)
http://www.marine.ie/home/services/researchvessels/



The Veronica and Atlantic Dawn (now Annelise Ilena, the boat was sold after the guy who built it died of CJD) would fish off Africa all right but I doubt they were ever in Galway, or come to Ireland all that often either. They are massive boats

JohnCleary

brianthebard wrote: »

Wow what a patronising condescending post, how enlightening of you! :rolleyes:
Think the one Jizzlord posted is the same one I saw, and to me it seemed quite small in comparison to a lot of boats that have been in the docks, so personally I was wondering how it could stay at sea for months at a time.

It's what's UNDER the water that usually decides that

Modern private vessels cross the Atlantic that are little bigger then 70ft - Why? Because of the design of the hull, stabilisers (sp?) etc...

As said above, those Jap boats' hulls were designed for big swells etc. long and narrow = piercing hull

Zzippy

skelliser wrote: »

There atlantic bluefin tuna boats, they fish way out in the atlantic in international waters for months on end, then meet up with a bigger factory ship which processes the tuna and heads back to japan via the artic, so im told. Apparently each tuna is worth a couple of grand a piece back in japan!
You usually see them around twice a year, in for supplies and a little R and R!

More like a hundred grand a fish! Sushi in Japan can sell for serious money, and you get a lot of sushi from one large tuna...
Don't see how they would back via the Arctic though, the Northwest Passage is still very dodgy for navigation, most years it doesn't open completely... more likely to go back via Panama

skelliser wrote: »

iv seen the celtic voyager(i think thats its name) in the docks a few times and she fishes off the coast of west africa!

The Celtic Voyager is the smaller of the Marine institute research vessels. The big one is the Celtic Explorer. They carry out marine research in Irish waters and further afield in the North Atlantic, but I don't think they go as far as Africa...

The Japanese tuna boats fish international waters in the Atlantic, although they have been known to fish illegally inside the 200 mile limit - think there was one arrested by the Navy a few years ago. There was also a tragic incident in Irish waters, maybe 10 years ago, when there was a small fire aboard one, and a couple of guys died from asphyxiation - the argon gas used for fire suppression meant there was no oxygen in the compartment they were trapped in, something like that...

skelliser

Zzippy wrote: »

The Celtic Voyager is the smaller of the Marine institute research vessels. The big one is the Celtic Explorer. They carry out marine research in Irish waters and further afield in the North Atlantic, but I don't think they go as far as Africa...

ya i mixed up the names, the only similarities between that and the atlantic dawn is the green hull! thats were my confusion arose!
i think and i'm probably wrong but the atlantic dawn was originally supposed to fish in our waters or closer to ireland but due to its size and capacity wasnt allowed under european rules so heads down off the coast of west africa.

In relation to exotic ships in the docks, anyone remember the dutch submarine that was in the docks! im talkin a few years ago now

vulcan57

As already mentioned, these boats are regular visitors to Galway and have been for a number of years. In the winter of 1996 one of them actually ran aground on the rocks at Blackrock or Towan Shoals, can't recall exactly which one. It was one of the first services for the, then newly established Galway Lifeboat. It was eventually towed off by the Arran Islands Ferry. Each Bluefin being worth a couple of grand may seem a lot but these fish can grow to 12ft in length and weigh up to 1500lb, although the average is between 300lb and 500lb.

FruitLover

Zzippy wrote: »

you get a lot of sushi from one large tuna

Sashimi.

cornbb

Someone told me that one of the boats in the docks was once a Japanese Naval ship in WWII and has been refitted for fishing, any truth to this?

Edit: apparently not, built in 1990 according to this: http://www.iattc.org/vesselregister/VesselDetails.aspx?VesNo=4597&Lang=en

Steyr

Deleted User wrote: »

The Veronica and Atlantic Dawn

They have been here, years ago for the Mackerel season when it was more plentyful around the Aran Islands.

For some excellent ship pictures from Galway Harbour see here:http://www.galwayships.com/


Its updated all the time.

leninbenjamin

Zzippy wrote: »

The Japanese tuna boats fish international waters in the Atlantic, although they have been known to fish illegally inside the 200 mile limit - think there was one arrested by the Navy a few years ago.

from what i've heard they use long lines (or something that would be illegal for an EU ship to use)? i.e. sit on the edge of our waters and let them out for miles into our seas? dunno if there's any truth to that but it was 'tought' to me as part of J.Cert Geography before.

Storm 10

Very nice pictures of the Japanese trawlers that have been in over the last few weeks on the website www.galwayships.com in the New Gallery and of Irelands entry in the Volvo Round the World yacht race

stevecrow74

Deleted User wrote: »

And how fresh is that tuna by the time it gets to Tokyo.

very fresh, they have blast freezers on board.....

JohnCleary

vulcan57 wrote: »

As already mentioned, these boats are regular visitors to Galway and have been for a number of years. In the winter of 1996 one of them actually ran aground on the rocks at Blackrock or Towan Shoals, can't recall exactly which one. It was one of the first services for the, then newly established Galway Lifeboat. It was eventually towed off by the Arran Islands Ferry. Each Bluefin being worth a couple of grand may seem a lot but these fish can grow to 12ft in length and weigh up to 1500lb, although the average is between 300lb and 500lb.

What a great post, brings back memories!

I'll also never forget when the Spanish Trawler which ran aground on what could now be called the shoreline of the Galway Enterprise Park - RTE were over it like a fly in sh1t... and McDonagh's feeding the audence with chips - nyom!!!

In fairness to that Jap Trawler, it was oficially deemed a genuine accident, which in my unexperienced, unknowledged and untrained (:D) mind i'd agree. However there was lots of speculation about the Spanish Trawler running aground just ouside Galway Harbour

-EDIT- For what it's worth, the RNLI were unfortunately no good in the situation quoted above. The only boat that had the power (raw now, none of that political lark) to pull her off was the O' Briens Aran Ferry - Pulled the filthy jap yoke off like pickin a snot from yer nose - no prob!


/drunk

Steyr

JohnCleary wrote: »

The only boat that had the power (raw now, none of that political lark) to pull her off was the O' Briens Aran Ferry - Pulled the filthy jap yoke off like pickin a snot from yer nose - no prob!

Oilean Aran, what a powerful beast, used to love having her waves hit our boat:D Also shows how shallow Galway Bay is in certain areas.

Zzippy

leninbenjamin wrote: »

from what i've heard they use long lines (or something that would be illegal for an EU ship to use)? i.e. sit on the edge of our waters and let them out for miles into our seas? dunno if there's any truth to that but it was 'tought' to me as part of J.Cert Geography before.

Yep, longlines, but they tow them behind the boat, so they would have to come into Irish waters to fish them there. Not saying it doesn't happen mind!
The longlines also kill a lot of sharks too

Robbo

Zzippy wrote: »

The longlines also kill a lot of sharks too

God bless those Japanese, keeping our coast free of Jaws, and to a smaller extent Jaws 2.

vulcan57

JohnCleary wrote: »

-EDIT- For what it's worth, the RNLI were unfortunately no good in the situation quoted above. The only boat that had the power (raw now, none of that political lark) to pull her off was the O' Briens Aran Ferry - Pulled the filthy jap yoke off like pickin a snot from yer nose - no prob!


/drunk

Not strictly true, although the lifeboat did not have the ability to tow it off, she did takeoff a number of crew members for safty sake and stood by while the attempts were made to tow the boat off. It wasn't so easy for the Oilean Aran either. The towing operation could only take place at high tide and three attempts on three tides were made before they were successful. Remember the Spanish trawler episode as well.

ValerieR

Does anyone remember that huge Italian military ship that docked in Galway in the summer of 1996 (+/- 1 year)?
Would anyone have pics of it?
It was so big that it scraped off the docks' wall coming in and the pilot boat had a tough time pushing it against the quay !
Thanks - Valerie

JohnCleary

vulcan57 wrote: »

Not strictly true, although the lifeboat did not have the ability to tow it off, she did takeoff a number of crew members for safty sake and stood by while the attempts were made to tow the boat off. It wasn't so easy for the Oilean Aran either. The towing operation could only take place at high tide and three attempts on three tides were made before they were successful. Remember the Spanish trawler episode as well.

Yeah sorry don't take that the wrong way - I just meant that the RNLI couldn't pull them off the rocks, not that they were of no use at all - You're most definately right, i'm sure the RIB was able to get right up beside the boat to take crew off, pass lines etc.

JohnCleary

ValerieR wrote: »

Does anyone remember that huge Italian military ship that docked in Galway in the summer of 1996 (+/- 1 year)?
Would anyone have pics of it?
It was so big that it scraped off the docks' wall coming in and the pilot boat had a tough time pushing it against the quay !
Thanks - Valerie

Don't remember that at all unfortunately, but according to http://www.galwayharbour.com/ 'Jumbo Spirit' was the widest ship to ever enter Galway Docks??

Steyr wrote: »

Oilean Aran, what a powerful beast, used to love having her waves hit our boat:D Also shows how shallow Galway Bay is in certain areas.

Remember the smaller, narrower, faster white boat that had (I think) 'Aran Islands' written along the sides in red? It was based from the docks, then went out to Rosaveel and has since been de-commissioned - Much more agressive wash off her due to the hull profile - We used to get the butterflies bobbing up and down off that wake

Steyr

JohnCleary wrote: »

Remember the smaller, narrower, faster white boat that had (I think) 'Aran Islands' written along the sides in red? It was based from the docks, then went out to Rosaveel and has since been de-commissioned - Much more agressive wash off her due to the hull profile - We used to get the butterflies bobbing up and down off that wake

I do indeed and im only 25, i think she is still working away in Asia.

Steyr

ValerieR wrote: »

Does anyone remember that huge Italian military ship that docked in Galway in the summer of 1996 (+/- 1 year)?
Would anyone have pics of it?
It was so big that it scraped off the docks' wall coming in and the pilot boat had a tough time pushing it against the quay !

Hi Valerie,

That was the Italian Frigate Zeffiro, she never scraped off the docks wall as she was long and slim, i was there at the dock gate when she came in on that sunny morning.

Here she is and its not my picture:

ValerieR

Steyr wrote: »

she never scraped off the docks wall

Ah, sorry - I thought she did touch the angle where the tankers normally dock. Must be the angle I was looking from ! :-)
405ft long - that was impressive though!
Thanks for the info.
Valerie

PS - yes, the weather was fab that day. It must have been when we still had summers !!! :-D

Steyr

ValerieR wrote: »

Ah, sorry - I thought she did touch the angle where the tankers normally dock. Must be the angle I was looking from ! :-)
405ft long - that was impressive though!

No problem , also you may remember they used a rope gun to fire the lines to the shore from the bow, never ever seen that done before.

Does anyone know anything about the Château Thierry other than it also being a village in north-east France?

It looks like a very small ferry / WW2 beach landing craft.
It was in the docks on Christmas eve, not sure if it is still there.