Forsa

Forsa

Having spent early 2023 in Cape Town waiting for spares to fix up the gensets on Lilibet we had opposite us sitting this massive stern trawler/ fish factory called "Forsa". I guess they were doing some wetdocking operation of some sorts or setting up for an upcoming fishing season. At the time she was flying the Cameroon flag with registry in Kribi but all crew appeared to be from Russia or Ukraine. They had a rented genset on the jetty without any muffler so it was screaming 24/7 and sounded into our superstructure so one thought our engines are running. Well, our genset was actually running as there was no shore power to be gotten in South Africa, also no more gensets available for rent either as we heard. As the weeks rolled on there was a sistership moored alongside Forsa for a few days, I think they transferred over some trawling gear to Forsa.

Forsa's sistership

I looked into the inter webs and very quickly found out she was built in 1986/7 at the Black Sea shipyard Chernomorskiy SZ in Nikolayev (between Odessa and Kherson), Ukraine. 

Class: Russian register (withdrawn 11/2024)

Tonnages: 4407GT and 1810 DWT.
LOA: 104 m
Breadth 16 m

Draft: 6 m
Engine type: MAN, model 6l40/46, 5148 KW

Looking at Equasis there is not much to see, interestingly enough she has no port state inspections recorded. Maybe the database is not accurate as they also do not have all her names recorded. She was in other sources launched as Vitautas Montvila, then renamed in 1992 to Paulius Sirvys, in 1995 to Baikal, in 2001 to King Klip, in 2015 to Bornholm, and in 2024 to Forsa (I saw her as Forsa already in 2023).

Forsa

Going back to Equasis they have her recorded names as follows (IHS Maritime): King Klip during 2001, Bornholm since 01/05/2015, Forza since 01/05/2020, Forsa since 01/05/2024, Fishing Force since 01/03/2025. According to this she should have been Forza when I saw her but on the stern it clearly says Forsa, go figure...

Forsa, stern and behind the Table mountain

Then regarding her registries, she seems to have made the rounds among all FOC's: Georgia since 01/08/2017, Cameroon since 01/05/2020, Guinea-Bissau since 01/05/2024, Not Known since 01/12/2024, Belize since 01/01/2025.

The registered owners are listed as follows: Moreton, registered owner since 28/09/2001, Illawarra Ltd registered owner during 05/2015, Reported sold undisclosed interest, registered owner since 08/05/2020, Blahnik Maritime SA registered owner since 27/05/2024, Demeritha Ltd registered owner since 18/03/2025 - IHS Maritime. Her current owners are based in the Seychelles.

Forsa, spare timber

Then I came across an EU paper (eur-lex.europa.eu) dated 19.2.2021 "Official Journal of the European Union" no: C 59 I/1. This journal mentions that the "Commission decision of 17 February 2021 on notifying the Republic of Cameroon of the possibility of being identified as a non-cooperating third country in fighting illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing". 

Further down the report they write: "In view of the information provided by the authorities of Cameroon, the Commission has also established that the list of registered vessels flying its flag is not properly maintained. The authorities have confirmed the Cameroon flag of fishing vessels which did not appear on the list of registered vessels provided to the Commission (Uthaiwan, Mayi Seis IMO No 8803630) as referred to under recital (11). Furthermore, pursuant to information gathered by the Commission on open databases, at least 12 fishing vessels seem to have been registered under Cameroon flag in 2019 and 2020 (8), while they are not included in the list provided to the Commission. With these actions, the authorities of Cameroon contravene Article 94(2)(a) of UNCLOS and the recommendation of paragraph 42 of the IPOA-IUU which provide that every State shall maintain a register of ships containing the names and particulars of ships flying its flag. This also confirms that Cameroon does not possess a robust and established registration procedure of vessels under its flag."

Down on the paper footnote (8) denotes: Olutorsky (IMO No 8826151); Trondheim (IMO No 8832112); Helsingfors (IMO No 8033297); Sveaborg (IMO No 7610414); Sei Whale (IMO No 7703950); Avachinsky (IMO No 8138695); Forsa (previous name Bornholm, IMO No 8721208); Grey Whale (IMO No 7703962); Marshal Vasilevskiy (IMO No 8033869); Frederikshamn (IMO No 8730132); Vega (previous name Skagen, IMO No 8325353); Humpback Whale (IMO No 9120281). 

So I guess it is no surprise she has changed flags after the Cameroonian one is giving too much headache even for a FOC.

Forsa, nets

Forsa

The Robin des Bois NGO in their bulletin no 68 dated 21 Feb 2023 lists some sisterships that were demolished in 2022. Apparently this fleet is called the Pulkovskiy Meridian series (project 1288, built 1974 - 2011) and have had a staggering 113 sisters built, that's 3 ships/year. They were equipped for pelagic and ground fishing and freezing (60 tons/day) and for the production of fish meal (35 t/ day of raw fish), fish liver oil (2.4 tons/day of raw fish) and canned fish livers (6000 cans/day). Some of the fish factories listed were part of the Demeritha Ltd's ships. 

Excerpt from Robin des Bois, scrapped sisterships

I also came across her picture supposedly posted in 2024 and it looks like money has been put in her to refurbish her with a complete paintjob as well as a name change. Perhaps the Seychelles fishing company has plans and a proper budget.

Photo taken in Cape Town on 7th Mar 2024

Credit: Plamen Hristov (shipspotting)