This 680 foot long ship with a crew of 220, is the largest fish processing ship in the United States.
The vessel is a “Mothership” operation, meaning she processes the fish harvested by a separate fleet of trawl vessels. The trawlers haul their nets and then transfer a 55-ton cod-end (the back end of their net that holds the fish) directly to the ship. As the trawler prepares the net, the Mothership navigates beside them, trailing a hawser from the stern ramp. The trawler then shackles the cod-end to the hawser and releases it. An empty cod-end is sent to the catcher boat, which resumes fishing while the Mothership hauls the net aboard and begins processing the fish. The ship will take 15-20 deliveries per day.
Stern ramp where fish are transferred from the fishing trawlers and hauled on board for processing.
Entrance to one of the fish holds from the main deck.
Looking down the hatch into the fish hold onto the concrete floor.
Any epoxy flooring system tried in the past was gone after the first of two five month stays in and around the Bering Sea. Obviously, the owner was skeptical about any industrial flooring system working in such a harsh environment.
Another view looking down the hatch.
A view from standing on the floor in the hold.
Another view of the hold standing on the untreated concrete floor of the hold.
Existing conditions of the hold floor.
Close up view of the typical conditions in the hold. The harsh conditions had caused the concrete to deteriorate. Aggregate was showing, blowouts and potholes everywhere on the floor where water pooled. This not only caused an acceleration of the deterioration, it caused an unsanitary condition to exist.
Another view of the existing conditions about a year prior to an ARR rehabilitation.
This is a picture of the original test patch installed so the owner could evaluate the performance of the ARR overlay for a season.
When in port after five months at sea, he sent his crew to see if the patch was still there. To his surprise, it was.
He sent his crew back down to the hold with hammers and chisels to try and remove the ARR test patch.
To his surprise again, they couldn't get it off.
The owner had an ARR overlay applied in just one of the fish holds.
The owner wanted to test the new ARR floor for two years to evaluate it's performance long term.
This is a view of the area of the hold floor pictured earlier after the ARR overlay was installed.
Over a year and a half later.
The ARR overlay looks the same as it did when it was installed.
Now the owner is convinced by the test of time that he has finally found a solution to his flooring needs for a cleaner environment, not only for the fish, but for the crew also.
Plans are already in place not only to fix the remaining holds on the ship but other areas of the ship as well. Whether it's wood, concrete, steel or polyester/fiberglass substrates, we have a solution that works. Give us a call.
