DMC Steering System For Fisheries Vessel

Damen Marine Components (DMC) is to supply a steering system for Austral Fisheries’ trawler Cape Arkona, which is currently under construction at the Baatbygg yard at Maløy in western Norway. The 1,150 cu m vessel will accommodate 40 people in 26 cabins and is designed so that it can be operated as a freezer-trawler, long-liner and potter vessel, all at the same time.

DMC will provide a Van der Velden Timon flap rudder with a heel bearing and a Van der Velden Commander rotary vane steering gear. The Timon flap rudder will provide the vessel with improved maneuvering and course-keeping performance and, with a surface area of 6.7 sq m, will be able to produce torque of up to 73 kNm.

DMC said that the heel bearing has been designed to deal with radial forces and it can be easily detached for easy mounting and dismounting of the rudder blade without removing the rudder stock and the steering gear. The heel bearing bush is made from a synthetic material that enables self-lubrication of the bearing and reduces any possibility of electrical conductivity.

The steering gear is part of an overall propulsion system being supplied by Norway-based Brunvoll. This includes a hybrid twin-in single-out gearbox with a father-and-son diesel engine configuration and electric motor for diesel-electric mode.