Fishing vessels bought and sold around the UK round-up

Fishing vessel sales in the UK in recent months have been somewhat muted, with a general slowdown across the industry. There are a number of factors behind this trend.

Starting at the top of the marketplace, one of the driving factors for vessel sales is new builds, which make second-hand tonnage available to those looking to upgrade. There are fewer new builds on order currently than there have been for several years, across all the major boatbuilders involved in fishing vessel construction. This follows a boom period when both UK and Continental yards have been extremely busy with a constant flow of vessels being launched for UK owners.

It is also telling that for the first time in many years, there are a large number of fishing licences for sale, with very little entitlement changing hands – a clear indicator of lack of demand. This is a reversal of the trend from just a few short years ago, when acquiring tonnage was a major obstacle encountered in new building and upgrading to larger vessels. This is not necessarily a sign of decline within the industry – rather a break in the natural cycle after a prolonged period of building and consolidation

Starting in Yorkshire, Scarborough skipper Danny Normandale has acquired Searcher BF 205 and renamed her Emulator FR 500, the name and number coming from his father Fred Normandale’s previous trawler. Danny Normandale has acquired Searcher BF 205 and renamed her Emulator FR 500, the name and number coming from his father Fred Normandale’s previous trawler. Danny Normandale previously had the Njord LK 90 (ex Guardian Angell LK 272), which sank in the Norwegian sector in March 2022.

Emulator FR 500, now owned by Danny Normandale, landing in Lerwick at the end of June… (Photo: Mick Bayes)

… and at Peterhead in her previous guise as Searcher BF 205. (Photo: Ryan Cordiner)

The 23.71m Caterpillar- engined Searcher was built as the Philip Borum GY 40 at Miller’s of St Monans in 1988 for Borum Fishing and Danbrit Ltd of Grimsby. In 1995, Buckie skipper Neil Simpson acquired the vessel and she was renamed Phoenix BCK 84. Two years later, Banff skipper Sandy Wood bought the 227t Phoenix and renamed her Searcher BF 205. Danny Normandale has already completed several whitefish trips on his new vessel, landing into Lerwick.

Also heading to English ownership is the Mallaig-based twin-rig (and sometimes pair- trawl) Rebecca Jeneen OB 38, owned since new by skipper Robert Summers. Built in 2008 by MMS Repair and Dry Dock at Hull and fitted with a Cummins 6CT main engine, the 16.5m vessel seasonally paired with Caralisa OB 956 at the west coast sprat fishery. The 105GT trawler has now moved to the opposite end of the country and been renamed Rebecca of Ladram E 38 as part of the Waterdance fleet based in Devon and Cornwall. It is understood that the vessel will remain trawling meantime.

The new Waterdance acquisition Rebecca E 38…

… and the vessel landing sprats in Mallaig in 2012 as Rebecca Jeneen OB 38. (Photo: David Linkie)

A further sale from Scotland to England is the White Eagle CY 525, formerly owned by brothers Konrad and Kamil Kosieradzki and based at Kallin in North Uist. This 14.95m steel scalloper was built by C Toms & Son at Polruan in 2019 to replace the owners’ previous 16.28m vessel, the 1982-built wooden-hulled Kelly BCK 625 (previously BCK 303). This was sold to Shetland and is now Kelly LK 150, and has recently changed hands again within Shetland. The Cummins- powered, 58GT White Eagle has now been renamed Southern Breeze E 111 after being bought by Dominic Welsh of Brixham.

White Eagle CY 525 when newly built for Konrad and Kamil Kosieradzki of North Uist. The vessel has now been sold to Brixham and renamed Southern Breeze E 111. (Photo: David Linkie)

Continuing with additions to the English fleet, the former Interfish beamer Gordon PH 30 (ex Admiral Gordon PH 330) has been sold, after her successor was launched by Parkol Marine Engineering on Teesside and fitted out at Whitby. She moves west to Newlyn, where she has been renamed Twilight PZ 330 by new owner W Stevenson & Son. Built by Vissers in the Netherlands in 1989, she replaces the beam trawler Twilight PZ 137, which is to be decommissioned.

Gordon PH 30 (right) with her successor, the new Admiral Gordon PH 330…

… and the vessel as Twilight PZ 330 in her new home port of Newlyn. (Photo: Laurence Hartwell)

The registry of Exeter has been further strengthened by the arrival of Sparkling Star E 123. This 17.6m steel-hulled vessel has an unusual birthplace for a UK fishing vessel, the hull having been built by JSC Bars at St Petersburg in Russia at the dawn of the 21st century as one of a trio of sisterships. All three hulls were brought to Buckie in North East Scotland for fitting out by Buckie Shipyards Ltd. They were to become Holly B II FR 29, Pleaides BF 155 and Antaries BF 27.

The twin-rigger Holly B II was built for Fraserburgh skipper Ian Bruce, and fished for langoustine in the North Sea and Moray Firth. In 2004, the 130GT vessel was sold to fellow Fraserburgh skipper Stephen Bruce and renamed Ajax, retaining the same PLN and continuing to be mainly locally based.

The vessel then moved from the east to the west of Scotland, when in 2012 she became Sparkling Star IV BCK 29 after being bought by James Corbett in partnership with Don Fishing Company. James Corbett fished the vessel successfully from Kinlochbervie, pursuing whitefish species, until the arrival in 2018 of his new 19m Sparkling Star UL 290 from Parkol Marine Engineering in Whitby.

The previous Sparkling Star IV then moved south to Mallaig after being purchased by Alan Cameron and Tony Kenning. She was called Sparkling Star OB 1045 from 2018, fishing prawns seasonally on both the east and west coasts. The vessel has now moved to Brixham as Sparkling Star E 123 with skipper Paul Stone at the helm. She is powered by a Caterpillar 3412 DITA main engine.

Sparkling Star OB 1045 has now moved to Brixham and been re-registered as E 123.

Paul Stones’ previous command Emily J, also bearing the E 123 PLN, has gone the other way in a part-exchange and is now skippered by Alan Cameron and named Connor C OB 8. This 11.93m scalloper/trawler has now been shelterdecked aft, with various other alterations including a new hopper, as she now targets the prawn fishery on the west of Scotland.

The former Brixham boat Emily J E 123…

… which has now moved north to become Connor C OB 8.

Moving from Fraserburgh to West Mersea is the twin-rig steel trawler Gratitude BF 103. This vessel was built in 2003 by Coastal Marine Boatbuilders in Eyemouth as Ashlon BF 103 for a partnership managed by Fraserburgh Inshore Fishermen. One of a series with the same forward wheelhouse design, the 14.95m trawler, fitted with a Caterpillar 3406 main engine, worked mainly from Fraserburgh and seasonally at North Shields, alternating between North Sea langoustine and trips at the whitefish.

Gratitude BF 103 has been sold from Fraserburgh to West Mersea.

The vessel became Gratitude in 2007 when bought by Kaleen Fishing of Fraserburgh, which has recently sold her to James Craig of West Mersea. James also owns the catamaran Hot Shot III CK 10, and his new 37t vessel is now being converted to fish for whelks.

One of England’s largest and best-known vessels has left the UK for a new career overseas. Farnella H 135, which was owned by UK Fisheries, which also owns Kirkella H 7, is now registered under the flag of Belize. The 40.2m stern trawler was built in 2000 by Babcock at Appledore Shipyard in Devon. Powered by a MAK 6M25 main engine, the vessel fished mainly from Peterhead in recent years, in addition to landing fish periodically in Denmark. UK Fisheries withdrew the vessel from fishing some time ago, citing lack of quota and distant- water fishing opportunities following the post-Brexit agreement as the primary reason.

UK Fisheries’ vessel Farnella H 135 has left the UK register, and will now fish for hake from Namibia.

The 667GT Farnella is currently in Skagen in Denmark having a bottom survey, paint- up and Class survey done prior to leaving for her new career in Namibia, when she will transfer to new owner Seawork, fishing primarily for hake, which is processed in the two factories operated by the firm.

In joining the six-strong Seawork fleet, Farnella will have a reunion with a vessel she saw often on the Scottish fishing grounds many years ago, when both regularly landed into Scrabster. One of her new sisterships in the Seawork fleet is the former Buckie trawler Victory BCK 16, built in Spain in 1998 for pioneering Buckie skipper Peter Smith.

When loss of quota, particularly deepwater species, made operating Victory viably ever harder, Peter Smith first went north to fish shrimp on contract to Royal Greenland, then steamed the boat south with a Buckie crew aboard to fish hake from Walvis Bay in Namibia. Victory never came home, and was sold to Africa. Some 20 years later, the same cycle is being repeated, with one of the last large stern trawlers leaving the UK and not being replaced.

Moving to Cumbria in the North West of England, Maryport-based Shaun Poland and David MacLelland, who currently operate the wooden scalloper Fredwood MT 338, have purchased two additional vessels recently. The first is the Irish- registered, 24m Shauna Leon WD 220 from Kilmore Quay.

The Irish-registered Shauna Leon WD 220 is set to join the UK register, having been sold to Maryport.

This automated steel scalloper has been a regular visitor to the UK for years, particularly Camber Dock in Portsmouth, when fishing in the English Channel. It is believed the Mitsubishi-powered Shauna Leon will now begin the often arduous flagging-in process in order to join the UK fishing register.

The vessel was built in 1985 by Gorter Machinefabriek at Hoogezand in the Netherlands as Deo Volente. In 2004 she joined the Irish registry and became Mary Kate WD 30, owned by the Gaffney family of Arklow, who later had massive well-publicised stability problems with the vessel they bought to replace her in 2007. Their previous vessel became Shauna Leon WD 220 in 2007 when Noel Carroll of Kilmore Quay acquired her.

The second vessel acquired by the Maryport scallop operators is well known in the area, having been based just across the Solway Firth for many years. The 66GT Lady Helen FD 65 was built as Azula BA 70 by Hepworth’s Shipyard at Paull in 1990 for the Kirkcudbright-based fleet of Tony Finlay. This steel eight-a-side scalloper was sold to Wales in 2019 and renamed Lady Helen M 65, operating from Milford Haven. Here the vessel was converted to potting, with the deck partially enclosed by new owner Tim Bowman.

Lady Helen FD 65 is being converted to scalloping, and will be re-registered as MT 70 by her new Maryport owners.

The vessel then moved north to Fleetwood in 2021 after being bought by B&M Fishing, retaining the same name but with the PLN changing to FD 65. Lady Helen continued potting in the Irish Sea. The 17.13m vessel is now being converted back to a scalloper by her new owners, who are to re-register her as MT 70. It is expected that both these vessels will follow the customary nomadic pattern of the modern scallop fleet by moving around the UK to fish seasonally in the North Sea, English Channel and Irish Sea.

Star of Annan OB 50 has left the west coast of Scotland and is now in Shetland. This 16.5m wooden-hulled vessel was built by Hink’s Shipyard in Appledore in 1982 for Tom and Malcolm Willasey of Annan.

The scalloper Star of Annan OB 50 has now been sold to Shetland. (Photo: Mick Bayes)

The vessel, powered by a Caterpillar 3412 main engine, was subsequently sold to John MacAlister (Oban) Ltd, and operated for many years from Oban as well as other seasonal ports around the UK. Stanley Gray of Shetland has now bought the vessel, which can fish up to a maximum of eight dredges per side and is now working around Shetland.

This story was taken from the latest issue of Fishing News. For more up-to-date and in-depth reports on the UK and Irish commercial fishing sector, subscribe to Fishing News here or buy the latest single issue for just £3.30 here.

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