The Vsevolod Sibirtsev is the world’s biggest factory ship, known for its size, capabilities, and history.
A factory vessel or a fish processing ship has extensive facilities onboard for processing and freezing the fish. Modern factory ships are automated and bigger than the earlier whalers.
A few of them serve as mother ships, which is a massive ship that carries smaller fishing boats that return to the mother ship with their catch.
Coming back to the biggest factory ship, it is known for dealing with massive volumes of seafood daily.
It is 179 m long, 28 m wide and 45 m high with a 7.9 m draft. It has a displacement of 26,634 tonnes and a maximum speed of 14.9 knots, driven by 6,480 horsepower diesel engines.
Operational History
The biggest factory ship was built in Finland, in 1989 during the Soviet Union period and was named after a revolutionary figure, Vsevolod Sibirtsev.
The ship was said to be one of the most advanced vessels in the Far East and functioned under the Soviet flag, becoming a symbol of industrial-scale fishing.
After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, economic difficulties followed, leading to the sale of the vessel at an extremely low price to Greece and then China where plans unfurled to convert it into a floating hotel at sea.
These plans were quickly dismissed and talks of scrapping the vessel were being discussed.
In 2014, a Russian fishing company named Dobroflot acquired this ship and brought it back to Russia. The biggest factory ship then underwent upgrades including restoring its processing lines, installing freezers and conveyors and repairs to work decks and the engine room.
Production
In 2020-21, the ship processed 64,600 tonnes of raw fish and over 56 million cans of canned goods.
Presently, the biggest factory ship processes 650 tonnes of fish, 11,000 boxes of canned fish and 15 tonnes of fish meal daily.
It also produces 120 tonnes of fish flour and technical fish oil daily.
The ship processes fish including sardines, mackerel, pollock, tuna, salmon, saury, and herring.
Accommodation
It has double cabins for a crew of around 520 and recreational spaces like saunas, cinema, assembly hall, gymnasium, tennis tables and swimming pools.
It also has a medical centre with an operating theatre, hospital rooms and dental surgery.
Other Features
Its seawater distillation system can produce up to 455 tons of fresh water daily using reverse osmosis technology.
It has a balancing system with 5 tanks on each side for maintaining stability during rough weather conditions.
Significance of the world’s biggest factory ship
The Vsevolod Sibirtsev is an engineering marvel and can operate for long periods, up to 4 months without refuelling and remains a vital asset for the Russian fishing industry.
You might also like to read-
- What is a Factory Ship?
- Different Stages of Ship Design Explained
- Types of Ships in Merchant Navy