MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands' Beauchene Fishing orders a new trawler to replace “Baffin Bay” sunk in Vigo

The Baffin Bay sunk in December 2020 in Vigo where it was undergoing maintenance work. The trawler had been fishing in Falklands waters since 1995

Galicia's Copemar and their Falkland Islands partner Beauchene Fishing have contracted Armón Vigo, an affiliate of the Asturian Naval Group Armon, for the construction of a trawler to replace the “Baffin Bay” which caught fire and sunk in the port of Vigo on its return from the Loligo season in the Islands.

Another bidder for the contract was the Nodosa Shipyard, located in Marin, Pontevedra. The question now is whether the trawler is to be built in the Armon shipyard in Vigo, which has belonged to the group for over two decades, or at the new facilities recently purchased from Sons of J Barreras , also in Vigo, which is in need of work.

The trawler, state of the art will be 70 meters long, equipped with the latest technology, to improve fishing performance and capacity while making the most of non conventional energy and fuel consumption savings.

The work list of Armón Vigo includes another sixty meters long trawler fro the Argentine company Red Chamber, plus two ocean surveying vessels for Inceland and one for the Spanish Oceanographic Institute.

The Baffin Bay sunk in December 2020 in Vigo where it was undergoing maintenance work. The trawler had been fishing in Falklands waters since 1995.

At the time it was reported that the trawler M1033 arrived in Vigo from Montevideo in November with certain repairs and maintenance work expected to take place.

The fire, which started in the fish storage area is believed to have been caused by welding work and although fire fighters working from the pier and tugs attempted to control the fire, a combination of an explosion in the engine room and an excess of water resulted in the vessel sinking.

The vessel's stability was compromised because of the accumulation of water attempting to extinguish the fire, which is often “the cause with burning fishing vessels”. As she started to list, two tugs Dr. Pintado and Gonzalo S tried to avoid her capsizing, and finally the Baffin Bay went down but remained mostly sunk on the sea floor at the port.