Twister steers into the future

Vónin’s fully steerable Twister trawl doors have now proven their value at sea. The development has reached the stage where they can be considered safe, reliable standard solutions that vessels can place full confidence in, says Óli á Gravarbø, sales manager for pelagic equipment at Vónin.

To date, 44 vessels have purchased the third-generation Twister doors, which can be operated directly from the bridge. Two-thirds are already in service, while the remainder are either being delivered or installed on newbuilds. After several years of work, the development effort is bearing fruit.

“The project began five to six years ago. Progress was initially slow, but increased competition required us to accelerate, and over the past three years progress has been rapid. It has been hard work, requiring considerable time and energy,” says Óli á Gravarbø.

The fully steerable Twister doors are now in use on pelagic vessels from the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Norway, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

Developing together

“We invested, accelerated development and allowed vessels to test prototypes. At that stage, the system was still under development, not everything was sufficiently tested, and a number of modifications and adjustments were made. Now everything is standardized, which is a major advantage for production, maintenance and upgrades,” explains Óli á Gravarbø.

The practical work is now carried out locally in Fuglafjørður, in close cooperation with the company Petur Larsen. This means assembling all the components of the trawl doors, integrating the technical systems on board, and providing full service – from maintenance and repairs to upgrades.

“We at Vónin could not have managed all of this on our own. The project involved many new tasks that required people with specialized skills. We found the solution in the company Petur Larsen, and the cooperation has worked extremely well,” says Óli á Gravarbø. He adds that Petur Larsen also provides vessels with 24/7 support in the event of faults or technical problems with the Twister trawl doors.

The Twister systems are advanced enough that most issues can be resolved remotely while vessels are at sea.

Expanding to bottom trawls

At present, fully steerable Twister doors are used only in pelagic fisheries. The next step is to provide the same solution for the demersal fleet.

“The main difference is that in pelagic fishing the doors are steered relative to the surface, whereas in demersal fishing they must be steered relative to the seabed. The depths are different, which means we need other frequencies and transmission power, but this is not a technical challenge. Demersal trawl doors must also be smaller, more flexible, and more robust,” Óli á Gravarbø explains.

In general, the technical control systems for Twister are the same, whether they are used in pelagic or demersal fisheries.

“The work to adapt the Twister trawl doors for demersal fisheries has gone well, and the first trials with fully steerable Twister for this part of the fleet (that is, together with bottom trawls) have been carried out,” says Óli á Gravarbø.

Think Twister

Years of development are now paying off. Vessels report positive experiences, and interest in the fully steerable Twister continues to grow.

“This has been a major project that we’ve carried forward together with our partners. We are proud and grateful for the positive feedback we’ve received,” says Óli á Gravarbø and adds:

“Our clear aim is to make the fully steerable Twister available to as many vessels as we can. We want to deliver the best trawl doors and the best service. And when the fishing fleet thinks of steerable trawl doors, we want them to think Twister.”

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