Home   News   Article

Macduff Shipyards completes Fruitful Vine vessel for owners


By Kyle Ritchie

Easier access to your trusted, local news. Subscribe to a digital package and support local news publishing.



Click here to sign up to our free newsletters!

Macduff Shipyards has recently signed over its latest new build fishing vessel Fruitful Vine (BF 240) to owners Nicol Fishing.

This new build replaces its previous fishing vessel of the same name, which was built by the yard in 2010 and is intended to fish around the coast of Scotland, occasionally pair trawling alongside the family's other fishing vessel, the Steadfast Hope (BF 340).

Fruitful Vine is a sister ship to the Orion and was originally planned to be built from the yard's previous 24.5 metre hull model but during the early design phase a decision was taken to remodel these vessels' bows based on the preliminary results from a tank testing program which the yard and Macduff Ship Design were running for another project.

Fruitful Vine is the latest vessel completed by Macduff Shipyards.
Fruitful Vine is the latest vessel completed by Macduff Shipyards.

A Macduff Shipyards spokesman said: "A quick study was conducted by the Wolfson Unit in Southampton using CFD technology to compare the proposed new bow against the previous model with the results showing a net decrease in hull resistance at steaming speeds, as anticipated.

"Following this the hull form was faired and finalised by Macduff Ship Design which then produced a full set of steel construction plans along with conducting the incline experiment and producing the vessel's stability booklet.

"The fabrication of the hull was carried out in Macduff with the construction reviewed and verified by Sea Fish Industry Authority and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency."

The hull of Fruitful Vine is built completely from steel, apart from the wheelhouse and masts, and features a double chine hull form, transom stern and modern bow designed to cut cleanly through the sea with less energy leading to a reduction in fuel consumption and emissions along with increased crew comfort.

The wheelhouse of Fruitful Vine.
The wheelhouse of Fruitful Vine.

The spokesman added: "In broad terms the layout of the Fruitful Vine is similar to some of the other recent new builds produced by the yard.

"Below deck features the cabins, engine room, fish hold and a large freshwater tank forward of the collision bulkhead.

"Above deck is situated the aft shelter, galley/mess and side passage area, fish processing area and then forepeak where the trawl winch is situated.

The boat has been built for owners Nicol Fishing.
The boat has been built for owners Nicol Fishing.

"A bespoke hydraulic deck machinery package was fabricated by the yard comprising of a triple barrel winch with increased drum size to accommodate pair fishing gear, two split net drums, two bagging winches, two small gear handling winches, cod end lifting winch and a dedicated anchor windlass.

"Thistle Marine of Peterhead supplied both the landing crane and powerblock crane, both of which feature a slew ring base."


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More