News Release

Following the official naming ceremony at the shipyard Larsnes Mek. Verksted AS on March 26th, the MV Orca Yka will soon be on her way to South America to meet her new owner Naviera Orca Chile SA, where she’ll be operating out of the port of Puerto Montt.

Her primary role will be to serve the Chilean salmon farming market, and due to Chile’s long and thin shape her and her 13-strong crew will be at sea for several weeks at a time, which is longer than usual for this type of operation.

The vessel was designed by Skipskompetanse AS, an independent Norwegian consultancy and ship design company. Project manager Mathias Tungevåg says, “Orca Yka is Larsnes’s hull number 68, a 79.3m x 15m live fish carrier with a 2,800m3 capacity and the option for smolt and salmon transport as well as freshwater treatment. She has been built using experience gained from previous vessels for the major Norwegian live fish carrier Rostein AS, which is also part owner of the Naviera Orca.”

Yanmar is a key player in the story. Tungevåg explains, “Yanmar has been an important supplier and team member in the design of these live fish carriers. The company has been involved in 11 live fish carrier projects since we started with Ro Arctic. For these projects, Yanmar has supplied three or four engines, mostly 6EY22ALW diesel generator sets, but also two 2,999kW 6EY33W for Ro Sailor and Orca Yka more recently. Yanmar has been a close partner to Larsnes Mek Verksted AS since nov 1997 and to Skipskompetanse. The engines were found to be a good fit to the operational profile that was required. The Yanmar 6EY33W main propulsion engine with shaft generator includes flexibility with the option to vary the amount of power produced which provides optimal fuel consumption for the many different operations that these live fish carriers do. We can always operate at the most efficient power and RPM.”

There are two Yanmar 6EY22ALW sets on the Orca Yka. Their primary role is to provide the power to the electric motors for manoeuvring, and also to power pumps, fish treatment equipment and essentials for the fish well-being like oxygen production, CO2 removal and water circulation.

For propulsion, Tungevåg continues, “On Orca Yka, unlike most of the other live fish carriers, the main propulsion engine is the 6EY33W, which when installed in her sister vessel Ro Sailor last year was the largest engine Yanmar has installed in Europe.”

The yard is completing the finishing touches and she’ll be setting sail soon.