Alaskan Leader Fisheries and J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp. of Tacoma, Wash. announced the contract on Feb. 14..
The Fishing Vessel Northern Leader will be a 184-foot by 42-foot by nearly 19-foot freezer-longliner designed for service in longline fisheries of the North Pacific, Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.
Its crews will target Alaska cod, sablefish and other groundfish species, with a capacity of more than 38,000 cubic feet of refrigerated fish hold and estimated capacity of 1.8 million pounds of frozen seafood.
Alaskan Leader Fisheries is one of the largest Alaskan longline companies with four freezer-longliners, a seafood marketing company, a vessel management firm and a marine equipment fabricating enterprise. Alaskan Leader Fisheries was established in Kodiak in 1990 by seven Alaskan fishing families. Bristol Bay Economic Development Corp. in Dillingham and the original founding families today have an equal ownership interest in the company.
When the Northern Leader is completed in the spring of 2013 it will be home ported in Kodiak with the primary port of operation being Dutch Harbor.
Robin Samuelsen, chairman of Alaskan Leader Fisheries and chairman and chief executive officer of Bristol Bay Economic Development Corp., said the ship will be one of the most technologically advanced an innovative commercial fishing vessels ever built. “Our ship design will combine an extremely ecosystem friendly fishing system, onboard processing capacities featuring complete utilization of the vessel’s targeted catches, and propulsion and generator systems that will substantially reduce fuel usage,” he said.