In mid-September, Gléhen will launch the Bara Breizh for fishing fleet operator Armement Bigouden. Both boatbuilder and client are based at Le Guilvinec in Brittany. The new-build Bara Breizh is scheduled for delivery in late September. This pelagic and demersal trawler, designed by Brittany-based naval architecture bureau Coprexma, features a steel hull and aluminium superstructure. The Bara Breizh is 24.95 metres long, and powered by a 600kW diesel driving a ducted variable-pitch propeller.
Bara Breizh after roll-out © Chantier Naval Gléhen
The fishing gear includes a 180-m3 hold, three winches, five reeling drums, two Gilson winches and a landing crane. The designers paid special attention to crew comfort and all crew spaces have full climate control. The crew share two-bunk cabins, while the skipper and engineer have a cabin each.
Gléhen, with yards at Douarnenez, Loctudy and Le Guilvinec, recently booked the order for the Bara XVII, a sistership of the Bara Breizh, supporting the belief that the demand for its fishing vessels remains strong. Work on the Bara XVII is scheduled to begin towards the end of the year, with delivery slated for the second quarter of 2019.
Gléhen is also building three 15-metre scampi boats, also designed by Coprexma, for local fishers. The first, Caraïbes II, was delivered in June, while the second and third, Le Kronos and Corail, are scheduled for delivery in Q3 2017 and Q2 2018, respectively.
Caraïbes II testing the water (all rights reserved)
This is a fine string of successes for a family-owned shipyard with a history going back over one hundred years and now in the safe hands of a new generation led by CEO Pierre-Yves Gléhen. With demand for fishing vessels strong, the company is expanding into new markets, beginning with special-purpose navy vessels. The first, delivered in 2015, was the Caouanne, a net hauler designed to recover illegal fishing nets off the coast of French Guiana; the second, the Jules, designed specifically to train helicopter hoisting teams, was delivered in 2016.
“We’ve earned a reputation for a variety of vessel types, often combining steel and aluminium, for fishing, passenger services, and harbour and river work. We’re also on the lookout for new challenges meeting the needs of clients in France and around the world,” says CEO Pierre-Yves Gléhen.
Original by Caroline Britz, translated and adapted by Steve Dyson
