Dalmor is the first Polish trawler-technologist.
Dalmor trawler and processing plant at sea.
The Polish fishing fleet began to recover shortly after the end of World War II. The wrecks discovered and repaired were adapted for fishing, the ships were bought abroad and, finally, began to be built in our country. So they went to the fishing grounds of the Baltic and North Seas, and returning, they brought salted fish in barrels or fresh fish, covered only with ice. However, over time, their situation became more difficult, as nearby fishing areas became empty, and areas rich in fish were far away. Ordinary fishing trawlers did little there, because they could not process the caught goods on the spot or store them for a long time in refrigerated holds.
Such modern units have already been produced in the world in the UK, Japan, Germany and the Soviet Union. In Poland, they did not yet exist, and therefore, in the 60s, our shipyards decided to start building trawlers-processing plants. Based on the assumptions received from the Soviet shipowner, the design of these units was developed in 1955-1959 by a group of specialists from the Central Shipbuilding Directorate No. 1 in Gdansk. Master of Science in English Wlodzimierz Pilz led a team that included, among others, engineers Jan Pajonk, Michał Steck, Edvard Swietlicki, Augustin Wasiukiewicz, Tadeusz Weichert, Norbert Zielinski and Alfons Znaniecki.
The first trawler processing plant for Poland was to be delivered to the Gdynia company Połowów Dalecomorskich "Dalmor", which was of great merit to the Polish fishing industry. In the autumn of 1958, several specialists from this plant visited Soviet technologist trawlers and got acquainted with their operation. The following year, the future heads of workshops of the ship under construction went to Murmansk: captains Zbigniew Dzvonkovsky, Cheslav Gaevsky, Stanislav Perkovsky, mechanic Ludwik Slaz and technologist Tadeusz Schyuba. At the Northern Lights factory, they took a cruise to the Newfoundland fishing grounds.
The contract between the Dalmor and the Gdansk shipyard for the construction of a ship of this class was signed on December 10, 1958, and on May 8 of the following year, its keel was laid on the K-4 slipway. The builders of the trawler processing plant were: Janusz Belkarz, Zbigniew Buyajski, Witold Šeršen and senior builder Kazimierz Beer.
The most difficult thing in the production of this and similar units was the introduction of new technologies in the field of: fish processing, freezing - quick freezing of fish and low temperatures in the holds, fishing gear - other types and methods of fishing than on the side. trawlers, engine rooms - high power main propulsion units and power generator units with remote control and automation. The shipyard also had big and persistent problems with numerous suppliers and co-operators. Many devices and mechanisms installed there were prototypes and could not be replaced by imported ones due to severe currency restrictions.
These ships were much larger than those built so far, and in terms of technical level they equaled or even surpassed others in the world. These very versatile B-15 handler trawlers have become a real discovery in the Polish fishery. They could fish even in the most distant fisheries at a depth of up to 600 m and stay there for a long time. This was due to the increase in the dimensions of the trawler and, at the same time, the expansion of the cooling and freezing equipment in all its holds. The use of processing also lengthened the time of the vessel's stay in the fishery due to the large weight loss of the cargo due to the production of fishmeal. The expanded processing section of the ship required the supply of more raw materials. This was achieved through the use of a stern ramp for the first time, which made it possible to receive a large amount of cargo even in stormy conditions.
Technological equipment was located in the stern and included, among other things, an intermediate warehouse for storing fish in shell ice, a fillet shop, a trench and a freezer. Between the stern, the bulkhead and the gym there was a fish meal plant with a flour tank, and in the middle part of the ship there was a cooling engine room, which made it possible to freeze fillets or whole fish into blocks at a temperature of -350C. The capacity of three holds, cooled to -180C, was approximately 1400 m3, the capacity of fishmeal holds was 300 m3. All holds had hatches and elevators that were used to unload frozen blocks. The processing equipment was supplied by Baader: fillers, skimmers and skinners. Thanks to them, it was possible to process up to 50 tons of raw fish per day.
