The launching of the fishing vessel NB 476 Høgaberg for a shipowner from the Faroe Islands took place at the Karstensen Shipyard Poland shipyard on the B3 slipway.

This time the launching operation did not take place without obstacles. While descending the slipway on March 8, the ship stopped before reaching full buoyancy. According to the shipyard director, Tomasz Mulica, the reasons for this situation are still being analyzed, but most likely the ship stopped due to too low speed before the hull entered the water, which could have been influenced by the ship's ballasting as well as the composition of the lubricants used on the slipway.

The operation was also affected by very low water levels caused by unusually long southerly winds.

After the diving team checked the structure of the slipway and the ship's substructure and ruled out possible mechanical causes of the hull stopping, on March 19, the hull was pushed off the slipway using hydraulic cylinders installed in the meantime, with the simultaneous use of tugboats.

The operation was completed with the safe launching of the Høgaberg unit on March 22.

The vessel is scheduled to be towed to Denmark for further finishing work on Wednesday, March 27.

The Karstensen Shipyard would thanked the participating companies and institutions for their excellent cooperation and enormous support in this unusual task:
Port of Gdańsk Master's Office - which supported the shipyard during the entire operation; Trend Projekt Sp. z o. o. – headed by Mr. Robert Małachowski, dealing with unusual transports, which provided equipment for pushing the hull and huge know-how and commitment of its employees, primarily Mr. Marcin Packeiser and Bartosz Małachowski; Frog Sp. z o. o. – providing diving services, which performed inspections and other underwater works in our area under the supervision of Mr. Bartosz Staroń; Navigo Services Sp. z o. o. – headed by Capt. z.w. Ireneusz Doros, providing seafarer services; WUŻ Sp. z o. o. – providing towing services; Żegluga HTŚ Sp z o. o. – also providing towing services; Old Seas Ltd. – in the person of Mr. Mirosław Leszczyński, providing agency services.

– The situation we faced shows once again that with the professional support of cooperating companies and your own crew, you can deal with the most difficult problems – commented Tomasz Mulica, director of the Shipyard. – We would like to express our special thanks to Mr. Jerzy Boguszewski – retired head of the Technology Office of the Gdańsk Shipyard, who supported us with his unique knowledge and experience regarding launching ships from longitudinal slipways. This is another example of how important it is to cooperate between generations of shipyard workers and to provide younger shipyard workers with various specialties with the practical knowledge gathered by our older colleagues during their work.

In 2024, Karstensen Shipyard Poland plans to deliver another 6 vessels. The two smaller projects being built this year will most likely be launched using floating cranes.

The launched ship is a fishing vessel with construction number 476, named Høgaberg. Its class is defined as DNV +1A Fishing Vessel E0 Ice-C, and the classification project was prepared by the Karstensen Shipyard Poland design office based on the Master Plan prepared by the Danish office Karstensen Skibsværft A/S.

Basic ship data:
- Vessel type: Snurper/Trawler
- Total length LOA = 87.8 m
- Width B = 17 m
- Tonnage 4500 GT
- Capacity of RSW tanks 3500 m3

According to the description available on Karstensen's website, the ship is to reach a speed of up to 17.5 knots. The main drive consists of two main engines Konsberg B3345L6P with a power of 3,600 kW each. The vessel will also be equipped with Caterpillar 3512 auxiliary units with a power of 1,360 kW and Caterpillar C32 with a power of 940 kW.

The deck will feature Evotec electric trawl winches and SeaQuest cranes.

In addition, the vessel will have three RSW FrioNordica refrigeration units with a capacity of 1,300 kW.

The owner of the Høgaberg vessel will be Framherji, located in Fuglefjord, in the Faroe Islands, and the handover to the ordering party is expected to take place in August 2024.