Marine Systems & Ocean Technology (2025) 20:23

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40868-025-00167-y

RESEARCH

Fishing ship stability during purse seining: industrial anchovy fishing

in Peru
John Schuler Frantzen1 · Miguel Angel Celis Carbajal2 · Miguel Renato Manco Rivera1,3

Received: 28 October 2024 / Accepted: 3 February 2025

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Sociedade Brasileira de Engenharia Naval 2025

Abstract
Purse seine fishing is an activity that, in its final phase, brings the loaded vessel to extreme conditions of transverse stabil-
ity. Under such circumstances, operations are limited, and it is not easy to adhere to the operational limits of navigation. A
procedure is presented to measure the density of the shoal, which is crucial for adjusting the heeling load. The forces and
moments that occur during purse seine fishing in calm waters are defined by considering three fishing configurations and
their corresponding fishing equipment. The aim is to provide some practical mathematical formulas that allow for limiting
the fishing capacity of vessels, thereby ensuring their minimum stability and safety through the capacity of the fishing instru-
ments. To achieve this goal, data from five real and typical vessels in the Peruvian fishing industry are utilized to evaluate
typical transverse stability curves under operational conditions, as well as to establish formulations for the maximum loads
of the fishing equipment. Stability criteria based on purse seine fishing operations are proposed to facilitate the assessment
of vessel limits during fishing.

Keywords Stability criteria · Experimental anchovy density · Load on the vessel in operation

List of symbols 𝜌w Water density

Yn Relative transverse position of center of gravity of 𝜌f Fish density
the net Hb Vertical distance measured from the point where
bn Width of the net where it is distributed the ‘power block’ hangs to the center of buoyancy.
Fp Maximum hauling force of the ‘power block’ ϕ Heel angle (positive in the direction of the
Fn Nominal capacity of the equipment maneuver)
Fpf Maximum capacity due to friction ∆=D Displacement of the ship
g Gravity acceleration K Roll moments generated by fishing maneuvers
Wn Weight of the section of wet net hanging toward
the net stowage area
Wf Weight of fish in the net (ton) 1 Introduction
Hn Height from the point where the ‘power block’
hangs to the stowed net on the deck. In this chapter, a framework of the situation studied is pre-
Hln Height from the point where the ‘power block’ sented and we present a review of the literature that is related
hangs and the center of lateral pressure of the net to its context. In chapter 2, an experimental test is presented
on the hull to determine the density of freshly caught and dead fish with
the objective of determine approximately the loads generated
by the increase in the weight of the shoal. Statistical param-
* Miguel Angel Celis Carbajal eters are used to determine the average density, the standard
[email protected] deviation and the probability density function that best fits
1 the data, for this we use the Kolmogorov–Smirnov method.
Peruvian Naval Engineering Association - ASPINAV, Lima,
Perú In chapter 3, we present the stages of industrial fishing with
2 purse seines and the main equipment that involves them as
Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil
well as the loads generated in them. Chapter 4 presents the
3
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, quasi-static behavior of the vessel during the last part of
Brazil

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 23 Page 2 of 23 Marine Systems & Ocean Technology (2025) 20:23

the fishing; the equations are created considering three pos- the submerged part of the hull, see Belenky [3], these influ-
sible typical fishing configurations in the Peruvian fishing ence changes in pressure due to the waves and consequently
industry. In chapter 5, real-scale experimental results of 5 the dynamics of the vessel. On the other hand, if we consider
representative vessels of the Peruvian fishing industry are that fishing is carried out in calm seas, i.e., with small waves,
presented, with which the formulations presented in this and that we are in the final stage of the purse seine operation
article could be determined. Chapter 6 presents a summary in which the vessel is finishing drying the bag (process in
of the dynamic behavior during fishing, focusing on the which the volume of the net is reduced), it happens that the
behavior of the net together with the bank and the vessel. shoal loses mobility, the amount of water between the fish
In the last chapter we presented a proposal for a stability is reduced and mortality increases due to hypoxia, among
criterion that allows us to evaluate stability during anchovy other reasons. At this point, the density of the fish plays a
purse seine fishing, define the maximum capacities that the crucial role in determining the heeling moment. At this stage
main fishing equipment must support and approximate the of fishing, it is possible to assume a quasi-static process and
maximum heeling angle based on the shape and capacity of consider the rolling movement as if it were a tilting test.
the vessel. This work uses the results obtained in five fishing
vessels whose main characteristics are presented in Table 1. 1.2 Previous studies and Peruvian regulatory
The description of the equipment mentioned in this table framework
will be carried out later in the corresponding item.
This section provides a comprehensive review of previous
1.1 Dynamic behavior studies that are related to the topic of this article. González
et al. [4] reinforces that the maritime fishing sector is at
Purse seine fishing is an activity that leads a fishing vessel the forefront of accidents and vessel losses that are usually
to extreme stability conditions, if the operational limits are caused by loss of stability and proposes a tool that allows
not respected it can lead to capsizing. This activity could the crew to know their level of stability. Mantari et al. [5]
be compared with dead ship conditions described by the present a set of accident records in artisanal and industrial
second-generation intact stability criteria of ships recom- fishing in Peru over a period of seven years, they support that
mended by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) even though the vessels meet the criteria established by the
and studied by the scientific community, see [1]. Since the IMO, there is a misalignment with the current stability cri-
fishing ship is in a high angle of heeling in the worst condi- teria to ensure safety during fishing operations. Obeng et al.
tion, a small perturbation could put it in a capsizing condi- [6] present a study in which they highlight the importance of
tion like a dead condition, see Munakata et al. [2]. training fishing vessel operators to avoid errors. The authors
The dynamic behavior of the fishing vessel can be conclude that implementing the risk management approach
described by four degrees of freedom (surge, sway/drift, in real-life scenarios involves a holistic process. Mantari
yaw, and roll) for the first part of this activity, but if waves et al. [7] study the reduction in the stability of fishing vessels
exist, the heave and pitch degrees of freedom must be added. from Peru and Portugal, considering the moment generated
Forces and moments generated by the incident wave (Froude by wind and the traction of the fishing gear, concluding that
Krylov) and diffraction waves are relevant, and depend on the heeling moments produced by the latter are more critical

Table 1  Fishing ships studied Item FS#1 FS #2 FS #3 FS #4 FS #5

Length overall (m) 60.5 58.4 54.3 46.546 42

Beam (m) 12.6 10.1 8.8 8.7 7.9
Depth (m) 8 4.9 4.4 4.326 3.9
Block coefficient (Cb) 0.638 0.546 0.623 0.536 0.573
Hold capacity (­ m3) 1080 515 435.36 373.43 208.15
Displacement (m) 2460 997.7 721 512.3 399
GMt (m) 1.041 0.913 1.01 1.604 1.05
Triple-roller hauler capacity (ton) 30 15 18
Power block nominal capacity (ton) 10 10
Estimated real capacity due to slip (ton) 2.88 2.88
Maximum heel with current equipment (degrees) 16.971 16.647 15.581 4.157 6.797
Maximum capacity (formula—triple-roller puller) 26.676 15.491 13.792 15.829 8.952
Maximum capacity (formula—power block) 20.520 11.917 10.609 12.176 6.886
Marine Systems & Ocean Technology (2025) 20:23 Page 3 of 23 23

than the heeling moments produced by climatic scenarios. As part of the justification for the increase in trans-
It also reports that some fishing vessels use oversized fish- verse metacentric height, Cortés & Veratudela De La Gala
ing machinery that negatively influences transverse stability. [11] argues that the weight of the catch in the second bag
In order to understand how the fishing net behaves, the becomes gravitational due to the gradual mortality of the fish
work of Riziotis et al. [8] presents a study in which they and the crushing within the net, causing a gigantic heeling
represent the components of the net as being composed of moment when the skipper hauls the net toward the vessel and
a flexible net strands are modeled by non-linear truss ele- tries to hold it steady (drying process of the bag), causing
ments having two nodes and then determined the hydrody- the vessel to capsize violently.
namic loads due to the relative motion of the lattice with the From an international point of view, the international
surrounding fluid using the Morison equation. The coupled code of stability without damage (2008) establishes the fol-
hydrodynamic-elastodynamic equations are solved using lowing: “Special care shall be taken when the traction of
finite element method (FEM) approximations. This study the fishing gear may adversely affect stability; for example,
allowed us to have a greater understanding of the approxi- when the nets are raised with a mechanical hauler or the
mate shape of nets, at least in the initial stages of the art of trawl gear is caught in obstructions on the bottom. The trac-
purse seine fishing. tion of the fishing gear must be exerted from a point of the
In Peru, Directorial Resolution No. 0474-98/DCG was vessel as low as possible, above the waterline.”
issued on November 13, 1998, through which the General Recently, on April 19, 2024, Directorial Resolution No.
Directorate of Captaincies and Coast Guard (DICAPI) [9] 900-2023 MGP/DICAPI was approved in Peru, which will
regulates the preparation and execution of inclining tests. come into force on October 16, 2024. This new regulation
According to this resolution, the result of the test will be finally repeals Directorial Resolution No. 0474-98/DCG and
satisfactory if the calculations determine a transverse meta- its controversial criteria.
centric height of at least 450 mm and in the specific case of
purse seine fishing vessels the transverse metacentric height
will be at least 900 mm [10]. 2 Density and body behavior of fish
Clearly, the restrictions imposed by Directorial Resolu-
tion No. 0474-98/DCG had a positive contribution in reduc- Most teleost fish (infraclass of actinopterygian bony fishes
ing the accident rate of fishing vessels. However, the rule that includes 96% of all existing fish species, including
was highly questioned for the following reasons: anchoveta, jack mackerel, and mackerel, among others.)
have a swim bladder filled with gas of sufficient volume to
i. The restriction imposed on metacentric height is estab- counterbalance the dense components of their bodies and
lished for lightship conditions, that is, a condition in allow them to float neutrally. With some exceptions for fish
which fishing vessels do not navigate. with very thick scales or heavy bones, most marine fish have
ii. Currently, it is known that most fishing vessels built a swim bladder that constitutes approximately 5% of their
before the year 2000 have freeboard problems and do body volume, while most freshwater fish have a swim blad-
not comply with the stability criteria of the Interna- der that constitutes approximately 7% of their body volume
tional Maritime Organization (IMO), which could [12].
be the root cause of the accidents that motivated the During the initial stage of purse seine fishing, the water-
increase in the transverse metacentric height require- to-fish ratio inside the net is very high, even after the net
ment. See Fig. 1. is cut, maintaining conditions very similar to the natural

Fig. 1  Sample of three indus-

trial fishing vessels sailing to
port with full holds in unsafe
conditions (without freeboard),
photographs correspond to
screenshots of videos dis-
seminated on the web and social
networks in the first anchovy
fishing season of the year 2024,
the name of the material author
of the videos is unknown
 23 Page 4 of 23 Marine Systems & Ocean Technology (2025) 20:23

environment (except for the confinement imposed by the As seen above, the gravitational behavior of the fish
net). In these terms, it is undeniable that the fish do not rep- (when it becomes evident that their density is higher than
resent any load for the vessel as they remain swimming with that of seawater) begins to be noticed during the drying of
neutral buoyancy within the confines of the net. In the final the bag. It is important to clarify that this behavior could
stages of purse seine fishing, the water-to-fish ratio inside have its origin in the stress faced by the fish during their
the net decreases drastically during what is known as the stay in the net; however, it is also likely that the fish have
“bag drying” process. At this point, the fish are exposed to a slightly higher density than seawater in its natural state.
significant stress and restricted mobility. While it is possible Measuring the body density of live fish is technically unfea-
that under these extreme conditions there may be alterations sible, since they are in constant motion, making direct or
in the volume of the fish’s swim bladder, there is a lack of indirect measurement impossible. On the other hand, the
scientific studies that validate and quantify this variation. density of dead fish could be affected by the degree of
Experience suggests that, after the bag dries, the anchoveta decomposition or other factors. In this sense, the density
begins to have gravitational behavior, producing in some of the fish was measured minutes after their capture (still
cases the immersion of the net floaters (especially noticeable at sea), which poses additional challenges due to lack of
in abundant catches). Regarding the pressure exerted by the specialized equipment and the inherent accelerations of the
net on the fish, it is extremely low and could be considered marine environment.
negligible (on the order of centimeters of water column).
Therefore, it would have no significant effect on the swim
bladders. Additionally, the pressure exerted by the net is so 2.1 Body density measurement method
low that it does not pose any limitations for sea lions to enter
and exit the net. What is known for certain is that once the To maintain good levels of confidence and accuracy, the
fish reach the holds after passing through the fish pump, they method that was developed was based on Archimedes' prin-
are slightly denser than water, causing most captured speci- ciple, which is based on buoyancy tests in different concen-
mens to settle at the bottom. However, there is no evidence trations of brine. Thus, if a fish floats in brine of density
of measurements of body density (weight/volume). 1058 kg/m3, but sinks in brine of density 1048 kg/m3, it is
There is also no evidence that this condition originated in evident that its body density is in that range (greater than
the net, leaving open the possibility that it is a natural condi- 1048 and less than 1058). For statistical purposes, the den-
tion of the fish. In Peruvian industrial fishing, it is common sity of a fish is considered to be represented by the central
to have abundant catches, and there are often cases in which value of the interval (1053 kg/m3 for the previous example).
the vessels manage to fill their holds with only one creek. In For the experiment, brine samples were prepared with the
some cases, the catch in the net may exceed the capacity of following densities: 1028, 1038, 1048, 1058, and 1068 kg/
the holds and the vessel may transfer the catch from the net m3, see Fig. 2. Thirty individuals of Engraulis ringens were
to other vessels, an operation known as “giving fish away.” collected and the flotation test was performed one hour after
Over the years, abundant catches have been pointed out as collection, obtaining the results shown in Table 2.
a possible cause of accidents in the fishing fleet, attributing The containers used in the experiment were filled with
to them the capacity to heel the fishing vessels and cause distilled water and in different proportions of common salt,
them to capsize. This has always been a cause of concern verifying its density with a density meter at 20 °C, the bal-
for fishing captains, the maritime authority and naval engi- ance has an accuracy of ± 0.5 g. The collection took place
neers; ironically, little or nothing has been done to study on August 12, 2023 at 22:00 h, the sample was taken in the
this behavior. fish bypass chute before entering the holds of the fishing

Fig. 2  Samples subjected to different brine densities (densimeter at 20 °C)

Marine Systems & Ocean Technology (2025) 20:23 Page 5 of 23 23

Table 2  Collected density Flotation Test—Fish: cargo hatch Class mark Characteristics
samples for each brine (Density, kg/m3)
composition
Samples 1028 1038 1048 1058 1068 Density Weight (g) Length (cm) Standard
­lengtha
(cm)

1 No No No No Yes 1063 10.5 11 9.5

2 No No No No Yes 1063 8.8 10.5 9
3 No No No Yes 1053 12.2 11.5 10
4 No No No No Yes 1063 8.8 10.5 9
5 No No No Yes 1053 9.5 11 9.2
6 No No No No Yes 1063 8.8 10.5 9
7 No No No No Yes 1063 10.5 11.2 9.5
8 No No No Yes 1053 10.5 11.5 9.5
9 No No No No Yes 1063 8.8 10.5 9
10 No No No No Yes 1063 8.8 10.5 9
11 No No No No Yes 1063 8.8 10.5 9
12 No No No No Yes 1063 8.8 10.5 9
13 No No No Yes 1053 10.5 11.2 9.5
14 No No No No Yes 1063 15.7 12.7 11
15 No No No No No 1073.5 8.8 10.5 9
16 No No No Yes 1053 7.0 9.5 8.5
17 No No No No Yes 1063 7.0 9.5 8.5
18 No No No No Yes 1063 8.8 10.5 9
19 No No Yes 1043 12.2 11.5 10
20 No No No Yes 1053 8.8 10.5 9
21 No No No No Yes 1063 9.5 11.2 9.2
22 No No No No Yes 1063 8.8 10.5 9
23 No No No No Yes 1063 9.5 11.5 9.2
24 No No No No Yes 1063 8.8 10.5 9
25 No No No No Yes 1063 8.8 10.5 9
26 No No No Yes 1053 10.5 11.5 9.5
27 No No No No No 1073.5 7.7 10.2 8.7
28 No No No No No 1073.5 12.2 11.5 10
29 No No No No Yes 1063 7.0 10 8.5
30 No No No No Yes 1063 7.7 10.5 8.7

Standard length is a morphometric measurement used in ichthyology to determine the size of fishes. It is
defined as the distance from the tip of the fish’s snout, generally the anterior most part of the lips to the
posterior end of the caudal fin base, excluding the length of the caudal fin itself. This metric allows for
more consistent comparisons of fish size, as it does not account for the variability in fin lengths, which can
vary significantly

ship (Fishing Ship 2) (at the time of collection the fish were
alive).
During the experiment, the density of the seawater was Table 3  Samples with their theoretical and relative cumulative fre-
also measured, obtaining a value of 1024.5 kg/m3. Note that quencies
Table 2 is affirmed with ‘yes’ in the affirmative when the fish Samples Density Oi Ai Di = Ai − Oi
floated and not the reverse.
1 1048.0 0.0333 0.0264 0.0069
The Kolmogorov–Smirnov test was used to evaluate the
7 1058.0 0.2667 0.3254 0.0587
similarity between data distributions with a Gaussian density
19 1068.0 0.9000 0.8488 0.0512
function.
3 1078.0 1.0000 0.9941 0.0059
Note that Table 3 and Fig. 3 both present the procedure
0 1088.0 1.0000 1.0000 0.0000
to evaluate the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, where Ai is the
 23 Page 6 of 23 Marine Systems & Ocean Technology (2025) 20:23

Fig. 3  Histograms of the samples (a). Observed and theoretical cumulative frequencies (KS-test) (b)

theoretical cumulative relative frequency for each category,

Oi is the cumulative relative frequency (Observed), and Di is
the difference between the frequencies ­Ai and ­Oi, the higher
value of ­Di allows to recuse or not by the KS method.
The P value obtained for normal was 0.000739, which
indicates that our data does not approximate a Gaussian
distribution, in order to carry out more in-depth statistical
analysis, but we were able to approximate a density func-
tion using the so-called Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM)
adjustment that is a probabilistic model for representing the
presence of sub-populations within a general population,
without requiring that a set of observed data must identify
the sub-populations that belong to an individual observation.
To model the data was use the scikit-learn library in Python
language program.
The two-component Gaussian mixture model was fitted,
see Fig. 4; the orange line in the graph represents the PDF Fig. 4  Kernel density and Gaussian mixture estimation
(probability density function) resulting from the mixture of
Gaussians. This approach of mixing distributions can be use-
ful when there is evidence of sub-populations in the data
Table 4  Data summary
or when a single distribution is not sufficient to describe
the complexity of the underlying distribution. The results Metric Density
of this approach indicate that the density of the school may Standard deviation 6.74 kg/m3
not be stable. Average 1061.05 kg/m3
The results presented in Table 4 and Fig. 5 have allowed Median 1063.00 kg/m3
us to determine that the density of anchoveta, under the con- Minimum 1043.00 kg/m3
ditions in which this test was carried out, is 3.4% higher than Maximum 1073.50 kg/m3
that of seawater. Although the conditions inside the net are
different from those of the experiment, the experience sug-
gests that the fish inside the bag also have a higher density
than seawater. Therefore, it is recommended to consider that
Marine Systems & Ocean Technology (2025) 20:23 Page 7 of 23 23

Fig. 5  Box and Violin plot of

density

the body density of anchoveta is 1061.05 kg/m3, both inside

the net and inside the holds. Below is a summary of the data.

3 Stages and equipment that generate

loads in the work of seine fishing

The main stages of the fishing task and the main equipment
used in the industrial fishing task are presented below.

3.1 Stages in purse seine fishing

Excluding the involvement of the auxiliary boat, see Fig. 9,

the purse seine maneuver begins with the deployment of
the net while the fishing vessel initiates the trajectory of the
purse seine. Subsequently, regardless of the specific details,
the ends of the net are recovered while the closure of the
purse line starts, see Fig. 6. This process typically involves
Fig. 6  Initial stages of purse seine fishing
the use of hydraulic winches (friction or combination) and
davits.
Once the entire jareth is recovered, see Fig. 7, the fish are
confined within the net. Some vessels are equipped to per-
form the “cutting” maneuver in the case of abundant catches. Once the catch is confined within the net (with a low
The cutting maneuver involves separating the catch into two water-to-fish ratio), the fish pump is introduced into the
groups, dividing the purse seine net into two sections (bow bag, and the fish are pumped into the holds, passing
bag and stern bag), with the purpose of packaging the fish through the deck de-waterer (a device that separates water
in stages. from the fish, limiting water ingress into the holds). In
In Fig. 8 show, the recovery of the net and the drying of cases where the cutting maneuver has been performed,
the bag begins, using different fishing equipment depending once the process with the stern bag is completed, the pro-
on the configuration on board the vessel: power block, net cess continues with the bow bag. Sometimes, the amount
hauler, and/or net stacker. of fish in the net exceeds the capacity of the holds, and in
those cases, it is possible to give away fish to other vessels.
 23 Page 8 of 23 Marine Systems & Ocean Technology (2025) 20:23

Fig. 7  Purse seine net with purse line (jareth) Source: (Modified from: [13])

Fig. 8  Final stages of purse seine fishing

3.2 Main equipment used in industrial fishing a net hauler and stacker. Figure 9 shows a fishing ship with all
vessels possible equipment. Each configuration has its advantages and
disadvantages, with some solutions being more suitable for
Regarding fishing equipment, there are various configura- smaller vessels and others for larger ones.
tions, ranging from traditional ones with a power block and This publication does not aim to define or explain the opera-
friction winch to modern ones with a triple-roller hauler tion of each of the equipment involved in fishing operations.
and combination winch. The choice of fishing equipment However, as will be seen later, the net hauler is one of the most
configuration generally depends on the preferences of the representative pieces of equipment when evaluating the heeling
owner and the options available in the market. moments during purse seine fishing, especially when dealing
Figure 9 shows the fishing equipment of an industrial with abundant catches. Therefore, it is appropriate to provide a
anchovy fishing vessel with a hold capacity of 515 ­m3. brief description of the most common net haulers in Peruvian
Configurations for fishing equipment can vary greatly. Some industrial fishing.
vessels may not have an auxiliary boat (panga), some may lack
rigging, cranes, or auxiliary davits, while others may use fric-
tion winches and manual reels instead of combination winches.
Additionally, many vessels may have a power block instead of
Marine Systems & Ocean Technology (2025) 20:23 Page 9 of 23 23

Fig. 9  Fishing equipment con-

figuration of a 58-m long vessel

1. Auxiliary boat (Panga) 2. Net stacker 3. Triple roller net hauler

4. Deck crane 5. Combination winch. 6. Stern auxiliary davit
7. Main davit 8. Absorbent pump. 9. Auxiliary cutting winch.
10. Eyebolts for retaining the headboard 11. Rigging winches. 12. Hydraulic control console
13. Hydraulic hose reel. 14. Anchoring winch 15. Auxiliary bow davit
16. Self-supporting mast. 17. Main feather 18. Auxiliary boom
19. Boom vang

3.3 Most common equipment for hauling the net installed on the main boom above the net well, at a suitable
height for the crew to handle the net with ease.
In general, in industrial fishing, three main configurations From an operational standpoint, the net passes through
are primarily used for net hauling and stacking: the headrope, occupying approximately 330° degrees of the
drum. Therefore, in most cases, the hauling capacity is lim-
1. Power block. ited by friction, which is directly proportional to the weight
2. Net hauler with V-shaped drum. of the net section hanging into the net stowage area.
3. Triple-roller net hauler. Due to its design, the net tends to slip on the drum,
damaging the net and delaying the recovery process. How-
3.3.1 Power block ever, there are uncommon variations (in the Peruvian fish-
ing fleet) that include a wheel or anti-friction device. It is
The power block is a traditional fishing equipment equipped important to note that anti-friction devices increase the
with a hydraulic motor and a V-shaped rotating reel, see capacity of the power block, so the new capacity must be
Fig. 10. Its main function is net hauling, and it is usually considered for the rigging design.
Note that in some cases, the hauling capacity is speci-
fied for an empty drum. However, the net usually occupies
a significant portion of the drum, so the actual capacity
of the equipment is achieved at approximately half drum.

Fig. 11  Operating system: Net hauler with V-shaped drum, jockey

Fig. 10  Power block—Source: (MARCO [14]) drum, and net stacker—Source: [15]
 23 Page 10 of 23 Marine Systems & Ocean Technology (2025) 20:23

3.3.2 Net hauler with V‑shaped reel 4 Static behavior during purse seining
(heeling)
The systems equipped with a net hauler with a V-shaped
drum are a net hauling and stacking system composed of During the purse seine operation, certain maneuvers occur
three components: that alter the position of the center of gravity or induce exter-
nal forces and heeling moments, resulting in the fishing ves-
1. Net hauler with V-shaped drum. sel heeling. The equilibrium angle is reached when the curve
2. Jockey drum. of righting arms intersects with the curve of heeling arms.
3. Net stacker with V-shaped drum. As will be seen later, the heeling moment can arise due
to three different phenomena:
For this type of net hauler to operate properly, all three com-
ponents of the system need to be correctly installed, and the (a) Moment generated by the weight of the anchovy inside
net stacker and hauler must be synchronized. This way, the net the bag (understanding that it is denser than water)—
stacker will exert tension on the net, reducing the likelihood of KA. This moment is purely static and becomes relevant
the hauler losing friction and slipping, see Fig. 11. as the fish lose mobility and/or die inside the net, par-
Due to its design and dependence on the net stacker, the ticularly in the final stages of the net drying process.
net tends to slip on the equipment, leading to net damage (b) Moment generated by changes in the position of equip-
and increasing net maintenance costs. ment and nets, and consequently, the variation in the
Just like in the case of the power block, the actual position of the center of gravity of the vessel—KB.
capacity of the equipment is achieved at approximately c) Moment generated by external forces generated by
half drum, and this should be considered for heeling equipment—KC. This moment is primarily depending on
moment calculations. the equipment and the direction of the maneuver. This
calculation assumes that the equipment operates at its
3.3.3 Triple‑roller net hauler maximum capacity, thus implying that the net encoun-
ters hydrodynamic restrictions allowing the equipment
The triple-roller net hauler is a highly efficient equipment, see to develop its full capacity.
Fig. 12. Due to its design, the net passes between the three roll-
ers without slipping, resulting in a reduction of approximately The total heeling moment is the result of applying the
35% to 40% in net repair costs. Due to its high efficiency and following equation:
the low probability of the net slipping, the triple-roller hauler ( )
KOverall = KB + MAX KA ;KC . (1)
can exert 100% of its capacity on the net, causing a significantly
higher heeling moment compared to other equipment. On the While KC presumes that the restrictions in the net (mainly
other hand, the pulling force produced by the hauler is inde- hydrodynamic) allow the equipment to achieve its nominal
pendent of the performance of the net stacker; however, it is pull, KA focuses on the weight of the anchoveta as a key fac-
necessary for both equipment to be synchronized for optimal tor in its formulation. Therefore, it is possible that in cases
system operation. of less abundant catches, KC might produce higher results,
whereas in cases of abundant catches, KA might yield higher
results. Given that the proposed formulations are simplified,
a conservative analysis considers the higher of the results in
the final analysis.
For use Eq. (1) is necessary to specify that due to the
principle of action and reaction, for a quasi-static move-
ment, the KA and the KC should have the same magnitude.
However, the analysis as a whole is complex, so it is recom-
mended to analyze separately and use the maximum value
of them for the analysis.

4.1 External loads

The fish inside the net (anchovy) have a higher density

than seawater; therefore, they represent a load that has the
Fig. 12  Operating system: Triple-roller net hauler
Marine Systems & Ocean Technology (2025) 20:23 Page 11 of 23 23

hydrodynamic resistance exerted by the net; generally speak-

ing, the force ceases when the equipment stops.
As for the bow strip, the situation is very similar to the
stern strip. The most noticeable difference is that at the end
of this maneuver, the bow head part of the net is hung from
a davit (or hoisting eye) located at the bow; therefore, a ver-
tical load is generated due to the weight of the headrope.
Regarding the purse line, the direction of the force is
mostly at a 45-degree angle; therefore, the vertical com-
ponent of these forces is approximately 70% of the hauling
force exerted by the winches. The magnitude of the forces
depends on the equipment’s speed and the hydrodynamic
Fig. 13  Direction of the stern pull cable, average angle of 10 degrees resistance exerted by the net. In general terms, the force is
significantly reduced when the equipment is stopped. At the
end of the maneuver, the rings are secured on the main davit,
capacity to generate a heeling moment. On the other hand, see Fig. 14, resulting in a vertical load due to the weight of
there are fishing equipment that produce considerable forces the rings, lead, and other heavy components at the bottom
during their operation, their magnitude and direction must of the net. As for the cutting maneuver, initially, the force
be taken into account to evaluate the behavior of the vessel is primarily horizontal and transverse to the vessel, causing
during the purse seine task. mainly transversal translation and yawing. At the end of the
maneuver, the weight of the components of the net cut is
supported on the deck (which can be considered negligible
4.1.1 Fishing winches for practical purposes).

There are several configurations for strip, jareth, and shear 4.1.2 Loads on fishing net hauling
winches, depending on the supplier and the owner’s prefer-
ences. Despite this, the general operation is more or less the Like with fishing winches, there are several configurations
same. In all cases, the winches generate the driving force for net hauling. In small- to medium-sized and more tradi-
of the draft. However, the external load occurs on the davit tional vessels, a power block is commonly used. In larger
or guide normally installed on the gunwale. As for the pull- vessels, a net hauler with a V-shaped drum or triple-roller
ing of the stern strip, the direction of the force is mainly configuration is often employed. In general terms, the net
horizontal, which mainly causes longitudinal translation hauler is responsible for lifting the net on board and drying
and yaw of the vessel. For its part, the vertical component the bag. The magnitude of the forces depends on the speed of
of these forces is approximately 15% of the total pulling
force exerted by the winch, see Fig. 13. The magnitude of
the forces depends on the speed of the equipment and the

Fig. 14  a Main davit holding the ring. b Bow headboard Fig. 15  Hauling the net with a power block
 23 Page 12 of 23 Marine Systems & Ocean Technology (2025) 20:23

power block, thus increasing the heeling moment. The analy-

sis to determine the induced forces between the net and the
vessel due to the traction of the panga or side thrusters is
complex and depends on many variables. Therefore, it is
advisable to inform the fishing captain about this phenom-
enon so that they can take it into account during the fishing
operation.

4.1.4 Absorbent pump and other maneuvers

For the case of the absorbent pump, the external load is

mainly due to the weight of the pump, and the forces induced
by the suction of the pump can be disregarded. The loads
induced by other maneuvers are generally of lesser rele-
vance; however, there may be cases where it is necessary to
incorporate them into the analysis to determine the heeling
Fig. 16  Net hauler with triple roller (notice the heel) moment.

4.2 Heeling moment produced by the weight

the equipment, the hydrodynamic resistance exerted by the of anchovy inside the bag
net, and the amount of catch. The peak force occurs during
the drying of the net and significantly decreases when the The anchovy is 3.4% denser than seawater, therefore, the
equipment is stopped or operated in the opposite direction. weight of the fish will be greater than its buoyancy. The heel-
ing moment could then be calculated by knowing the weight
4.1.2.1 Power block Regarding the power block, it is a of the fish in the net and the position of its center of gravity.
mechanical device that hangs from the main feather, and To determine the position of the center of gravity of the bag
when it reaches its maximum capacity (when drying the it is necessary to know the volume it occupies. For practical
bag), the transverse direction of the force is oriented toward purposes we will estimate that the bag shape is ellipsoid.
the fish bag at approximately 30 degrees relative to the verti-
1
cal plane, see Fig. 15. V= 𝜋L H B , (2)
6 b bag b
Usually, at the end of the bag drying process, the net
tends to slip on the power block. In this case, the crew per- where V is the volume of the fish and water mixture inside
forms additional maneuvers from the auxiliary feather or the the net bag (­ m3), Lb is the length of the bag (m), Hbag is the
main feather to complete the bag drying. depth of the bag (m), and Bb is the width of the bag (m).
It should be noted that, when the bag is already dry, the
4.1.2.2 Net hauler Regarding the net haulers, they are usu- following relationships are met:
ally installed on the main deck, close to the bulwark, aft
of the main davit, and near the net well. When they reach a. The length of the bag is approximately equal to the dis-
their maximum capacity (during bag drying), the trans- tance between the net puller and the davit or bow guide.
verse direction of the force is oriented at approximately 40° b. For heavy catches, Hbag is approximately equal to Bb
degrees from the vertical axis of the vessel, see Fig. 16. Due (conservative assumption)
to their design, the net tends to slip very little (haulers with c. For scarce catches, Hbag is much greater than Bb
V-shaped drum) or not at all (haulers with triple roller).
It is necessary to specify that it is interested to know the
4.1.3 Traction of the panga and side thrusters width of the bag (Bb), given that the center of gravity of the
fish in the bag would be located at a distance equal to Bb/2
During the seine operation, the panga or side thrusters are from the side of the vessel, the following equation present an
used to pull the stern of the vessel outside from the net and approximation.
reduce the possibility of the net getting entangled with the ( )
propeller. In general, this process should not be a cause for Bb + B
(3)
yfishing = .
concern; however, it may be relevant for vessels that fish 2
with a power block. Creating too much separation between
the vessel and the net can increase the lateral load on the
Marine Systems & Ocean Technology (2025) 20:23 Page 13 of 23 23

In that sense, yfishing represents the transverse position of

the center of gravity of the shoal into the net; B represents the
beam of the ship and to calculate Bb we need to start from a
known volume; therefore, to calculate the volume of the net
from the weight of the catch and the proportion of water/fish
in the bag can be used the following equation:
V = Wf × R, (4)
where Wf is the weight of fish in the net (ton) and R is the
stowage factor of the fish in the bag (minimum 1.1 for the
dry bag condition [Source IMARPE 1996], consistent with
85% volume of fish and 15% volume of water), with the pre-
vious equations the following equality can be stated (valid
only for the heavy catch condition):
1
V = Wf × R = 𝜋L B B . (5)
6 b b b
Fig. 17  Location of the center of gravity of the net
Therefore, once all the values are known, the width of the
bag can be found and, therefore, the transverse location of its
center of gravity can be known. 5° degrees to the opposite side of the maneuver, reducing
√ the risks involved in the fishing operation.
6 ⋅ Wf ⋅ R To determine the effect of net unloading, it is necessary
Bb = . (6) to know the transverse location of its center of gravity, see
𝜋Lb
Fig. 17. In most cases, the transverse center of gravity of the
Regarding the load exerted by the fish because they have net can be determined using the following formula:
a greater density than seawater, this can be determined by yn = 0.1 × bn , (9)
the following equation:
where yn is the relative transverse position of the center of
Wf
FFish = × (1.0605 − 1.0245), (7) gravity of the net with respect to the center of the space
1.0605 where the net is distributed, in the direction where the sink-
where FFish is the load exerted by the fish because they have ers are stowed (starboard for fishing maneuvers on the star-
a greater density than seawater (ton). Finally, the heeling board side). bn is the total width of the space allocated for
moment (ton.m) produced by the weight of anchovy inside net storage
the bag can be determined following the following equation: It is important to note that during the process of drying
the net, the net is being recovered, which reduces the impact
KFish = FFish ×
(Bb + B)
× cos 𝜙. (8) generated by the net discharge. As explained later, the maxi-
2 mum list of the vessel occurs when the drying process of the
NOTE: this moment is not added to that of the equip- net is completed; at that point, approximately 90% of the net
ment’s (which will be seen later), but must be evaluated is on board.
separately and take the highest value of both for the analysis. Another factor to consider is that the vessel navigates
The angle of heel (positive in the direction of the maneuver). with its fishing equipment in the rest position, some of which
need to be repositioned to the operating position. Examples
of such equipment are as follows:
4.3 Maneuvers that alter the position of the center
of gravity (a) Net stacker
(b) Net hauler
Normally, the center of gravity of the panga is in the lon- (c) Cranes
gitudinal axis and therefore its unloading does not change (d) Absorbent pump
the transverse position of the center of gravity of the vessel. (e) Boom vang (auxiliary boom for absorbent pump
However, the situation is typically different with the net. For maneuvering)
example, in the case of industrial fishing vessels with aft
engines, designers often design the net compartment in such
a way that when unloading the net, the vessel inclines 3° to
 23 Page 14 of 23 Marine Systems & Ocean Technology (2025) 20:23

4.4 Maneuvers that produce heeling moments due

to external forces

As seen earlier, during the fishing operation, external forces

are induced because of the operation of the fishing equip-
ment. Each of these forces acts at a specific moment during
the operation, and their effects do not necessarily overlap.
Experience suggests that the maximum heeling moment in
a purse seine operation occurs when drying the net with
abundant catches. Therefore, the effects that would overlap
are as follows:

Net hauler or power block: Pulling force at its maximum

capacity.
Puller Cutting force: Usually negligible.
Main davit: Weight of 10% of the sinkers and rings.
Bow davit or guide: Weight of the head rope plus the
restraining force from the red hauler or power block.

In the following paragraphs, a simplified methodology

for the analysis of the heeling moment due to external forces
will be proposed, making a particular distinction between
Fig. 18  Forces during the operation of the power block
the power block and the net haulers. The total moment cor-
responds to the sum of each of the moments existing in the
fishing vessel; of course, when power block is used, net
haulers are not used (and vice versa). The external forces
have been identified and broken down into horizontal forces
(which generate momentum through the reaction in the net
when it rests on the hull) and vertical forces (which generate
momentum with the buoyancy of the hull to the extent that
they are laterally deviated from the vertical projection of the
center of buoyancy of the vessel).

4.4.1 Power block

As mentioned earlier, the power block is a hauling device

that tends to slip; therefore, its hauling capacity is mostly
limited by the weight of the section of net hanging toward
the net stowage area. On the other hand, due to the height at
which it is installed, the overturning moment increases as
the overhang increases. Fig. 19  Forces during the operation of the net hauler
To calculate the positions and break down the forces,
trigonometric formulas have been used taking into account
the heel of the vessel. the power block is not located in a truss or if the power block
In general, the overturning moment produced by the is equipped with a wheel or anti-friction device).
power block K𝜙 can represented by the proposed Eq. (10).
However, it is up to the professional studying a specific case
to adjust when necessary due to the nature of the activity or
the specific configuration of the installation (for example, if
Marine Systems & Ocean Technology (2025) 20:23 Page 15 of 23 23

[ ]
Kh = Fh × max 0; sin(40◦ − 𝜙) × Hh × cos(𝜙) + Fh × cos
( )
B
(40◦ − min(40;𝜙)) × × cos 𝜙 + Hhb × sin |𝜙| ,
2
(12)
where Fh is the maximum hauling force (data included in
the technical specifications) and Hh is the vertical distance
measured from the point of net hauling (rollers) to the center
of pressure of the net on the vessel's hull (see Fig. 15).
Hhb: Vertical distance measured from the point of net
hauling to the center of buoyancy.

4.4.3 Main Davit

In simplified terms, the overturning moment produced by

Fig. 20  Forces on the main davit
the main davit Kdv is solely due to the weight of 10% of the
lead. Obviously, the davit is subjected to additional forces
K𝜙 = Fp ⋅ MAX[0; sin(30 − 𝜙)].Hln . cos 𝜙 + Fp . cos [30 − MIN(30;𝜙)].Hb . sin(𝜙), resulting from the operation of the net hauler; however, in
(10) the simplification process, these loads are fully transferred
where Fp is the maximum hauling force of the power block to the davit or bow guide.
is determined by the lower of the following values: (
B
)
Kdv = Fdv × × cos 𝜙 + Hhd × sin |𝜙| , (13)
2
a. Fpn: The nominal capacity of the equipment (as stated in
the technical specifications). where Fpv is the weight of 10% of the lead of the net and Hhd
b. F pf : The maximum capacity due to friction represents the vertical distance measured from the davit’s
( Fpf = 9.3 × Wr)1 maneuvering point to the center of buoyancy (see Fig. 20).

Note that W ­ n, this weight of the section of the wet net 4.4.4 Bow Davit or bow guide
hanging toward the net stowage area, considered that it
increases by approximately 50% due to water accumulation; In general, the overturning moment produced by the bow
for industrial anchovy fishing nets, it is approximately equal davit or bow guide is mainly due to its role as a restraint
to Wn = 0.075 × Hn . in the process of hauling the net. Therefore, it is subjected
The value of angle ϕ (~ 30° in Eq. 10) can be calculated
with the following formula, see Fig. 18:
( )
B + Bb
𝜙 = tan−1 . (11)
2 × Hm

4.4.2 Net hauler

In general, the overturning moment produced by the net

hauler Kh (V-shaped rotating drum or triple roller) is repre-
sented by the following proposed Eq. 12. However, it is up
to the professional studying a specific case to adjust when
necessary due to the nature of the activity or the specific
configuration of the installation; Fig. 19 shows the load
configuration.

1
The maximum capacity due to friction is a function that depends
on the coefficient of friction, the weight of the net and the opening
angle of the power block pulleys. It is suggested to use this simplified
formula when all the data are not known (9.3 is a constant that repre-
sents typical conditions and is based on a friction coefficient equal to
0.4). Fig. 21  Forces on the bow davit (headboard)
 23 Page 16 of 23 Marine Systems & Ocean Technology (2025) 20:23

to forces very similar to those of the net hauler (or power on the main davit and KBv is the heeling moment produced
block). by the forces on the davit or bow guide.
[ ]
KBv = Fr × max 0; sin(40◦ − 𝜙) × Hr × cos(𝜙) 4.5 Experimental results
( )
+ Fr × cos (40◦ − min(40;𝜙)) + Wc
( )
, (14)
B Tests were carried out aboard a fishing vessel with a hold
× × cos 𝜙 + Hrb × sin |𝜙|
2 capacity of 514 m3 equipped with a combination winch of
28 tons capacity and a triple-roller hauler of 18 tons capacity.
where is the Fr is the maximum hauling force (power block
or net hauler, depending on the case), Wc is the weight of 4.5.1 No catch test
the headboard, Hr is the vertical distance measured from
the point of restraint to the center of pressure of the net Table 5 presents the following results obtained during a
on the vessel’s hull (see Fig. 21), and Hrb is the vertical blank cove test (without fishing).
distance measured from the point of restraint to the center The results clearly show that the heeling is significantly
of buoyancy. reduced when the equipment is stopped. It can also be seen
For Eqs. (12), (13), and (14), it should be considered that the equipment that causes the greatest heeling is the
that during fishing experiences it has been observed that net hauler.
the value of ϕ (= 40° in the upper equation) approaches 40°
degrees in abundant catches. 4.5.2 Test with catching purse seine operation

4.4.5 Total moment produced by the net lowering Regarding purse seine fishing, there are reports from the
equipment crew that the angle of heeling induced by the net hauler
increases noticeably when there are abundant catches,
Finally, the total moment produced by the net lowering mainly at the time of drying the bag. Likewise, the heel-
equipment, in the most critical condition of the manoeuvre, ing is reduced a little when the net hauler is stopped. The
can be calculated with the following equation: results presented in Tables 5, 6, and 7 show that the heeling
( ) angles in the last stages of the maneuver (items 11 and 12
KT = K𝜙 ou Kh + Kdv + KBv . (15)
of the table) are directly related to the amount of fish in the
Being KT is the total heeling moment produced by the net net. Note that since the real pull imposed by the hauler of
lowering equipment, K𝜙 is the heeling moment produced by net depends on the restriction that the net is placed on, in
the power block, Kh is the Heeling moment produced by the that sense, it is expected that the restriction increases, the
net hauler, Kdv is the heeling moment produced by the forces greater the catch in the net or when there is the presence

Table 5  Results of trial without No catch test Balance Heel

catch (Date: April 4, 2023)
Item Description P.S S.S

1 Start (with net and panga on board) −4 4 0

2 After lowering the panga, unloading the net (yawing) − 10 0 −5
3 Approaching the panga to receive the net −6 0 −3
4 Operating the combination winch (begin) −2 6 2
5 Operating the combination winch (intermediate) 4 8 6
6 Stopped the combination winch (end) 0 4 2
7 Operating the net hauler (begin) 0 10 5
8 Operating the net hauler (50% of net on board) 4 7 5.5
9 Stopped the net hauler (55% of net on board) 0 5 2.5
10 Operating the net hauler (80% of net on board) 1 10 5.5
11 Operating the net hauler (drying the bag) 6 8 7
12 Before stopping the fish grinder (just before pumping the fish) – – –
13 Net on board (equipment in operational position) 0 5 2.5
14 Net and panga on board (equipment in resting position) −2 2 0

Cells containing a dash ‘–’ correspond to data that could not be measured during the test. P.S. and S.S. cor-
respond to Port Side and Starboard Side, respectively
Marine Systems & Ocean Technology (2025) 20:23 Page 17 of 23 23

Table 6  Results of the trial Fishing vessel with 60 Tons of Catch Balance Heel
with actual catch of 60 tons
(estimated) Date: August 12, Item Description P.S S.S
2023
1 Start (with net and panga on board) – – 0
2 After lowering the panga, unloading the net (yawing) −8 −2 −5
3 Approaching the panga to receive the net −7 6 − 0.5
4 Operating the combination winch (begin) −4 6 1
5 Operating the combination winch (intermediate) −1 9 4
6 Stopped the combination winch (end) – – –
7 Operating the net hauler (begin) 1 56 3.5
8 Operating the net hauler (50% of net on board) 4 11 7.5
9 Stopped the net hauler (55% of net on board) – – –
10 Operating the net hauler (80% of net on board) 4 12 8
11 Operating the net hauler (drying the bag) 5 11 8
12 Before stopping the fish grinder (just before pumping the fish) 4 10 7
13 Net on board (equipment in operational position) 2 6 4
14 Net and panga on board (equipment in resting position) 1 3 2

P.S. and S.S. correspond to Port Side and Starboard Side, respectively

Table 7  Results of test with Fishing vessel with 450 Tons of Catch Balance Heel
actual catch of 450 tons
(estimated). Data reported by Item Description P.S S.S
the crew (Date: August 8, 2023)
1 Start (with net and panga on board) – – –
2 After lowering the panga, unloading the net (yawing) – – –
3 Approaching the panga to receive the net – – –
4 Operating the combination winch (begin) – – –
5 Operating the combination winch (intermediate) – – –
6 Stopped the combination winch (end) – – –
7 Operating the net hauler (begin) – – –
8 Operating the net hauler (50% of net on board) – – –
9 Stopped the net hauler (55% of net on board) – – –
10 Operating the net hauler (80% of net on board) – – –
11 Operating the net hauler (drying the bag) 10 14 12
12 Before stopping the fish grinder (just before pumping the fish) 7 11 9
13 Net on board (equipment in operational position) – – –
14 Net and panga on board (equipment in resting position) – – –

Note: P.S. and S.S. correspond to Port Side and Starboard Side, respectively

of contaminants that saturate the net (e.g., Krill or small on the maneuvers that produce heeling moments since the
shrimps). magnitude of external loads can be altered with balance.
For this analysis, we will start with the condition of maxi-
mum heeling moment, which occurs at the end of the drying
5 Dynamic behavior during purse seine of the net with abundant catches. In this condition, the vessel
fishing (rolling) floats alongside the net filled with fish (bag); therefore, the
behavior of the vessel is closely related to the behavior of
Previously, we have analyzed the static behavior during the bag and the tension in the net.
fishing operations and observed that there are two types of
maneuvers that affect the static equilibrium position (heel): 5.1 Balance in the direction of the maneuver side
maneuvers that alter the position of the center of gravity
and maneuvers that produce heeling moments due to exter- When, due to dynamic conditions, the vessel leans toward
nal forces. To analyze the dynamic behavior, we will focus the side of the maneuver, the distance between the hauler
 23 Page 18 of 23 Marine Systems & Ocean Technology (2025) 20:23

Fig. 22  Variation in the distance between the power block (net hauler) and the fishing bag

Fig. 23  Initial righting arm curve vs. heeling moment (static)

Fig. 24  Purse seine operation righting arm curve of Fishing Ship 3

and the bag decreases, this can be seen in Fig. 22 on the right as the difference between the static and dynamic righting
side. This phenomenon allows the righting lever curve to arms resulting equal to the dynamic moment divided by the
restore its original capacity, reducing the impact that purse displacement.
seine operations have on dynamic stability. The increase or
decrease of the net’s tension due to the relative motion of the
vessel, with respect to the fish bag during the fishing pro-
cess (quasi-dynamic behavior) is approximated in this work
Marine Systems & Ocean Technology (2025) 20:23 Page 19 of 23 23

5.2 Balance in the opposite direction represents the instant when, due to the heeling of the vessel
of the maneuver side the net separates from the hull, producing an increase in the
heeling moment.
The actions of the waves can generate a dynamic scenario
that causes the vessel to list in the opposite direction to the
fishing maneuver. In this situation, the distance between the
6 Stability criteria in purse seine operations
hauler and the bag increases, causing greater tension in the
net and reducing the magnitude of the heel. This behavior is
From a regulatory perspective, there is no specific crite-
very important because it restricts the possibility of capsiz-
rion in Peru to analyze stability during fishing operations.
ing in the opposite direction to the maneuver. This would
However, the International Code on Intact Stability (2008)
only happen if the net or the elements holding it to the ves-
[16] advises the following: “Particular care should be taken
sel break.
when the pull from fishing gear might have a negative effect
on stability (e.g., when nets are hauled by power block or
the trawl catches obstructions on the seabed). The pull of
5.3 Righting arms and anchoring moment
the fishing gear should be from as low a point on the vessel,
with triple‑roller net hauler
above the waterline, as possible.” In this regard, there is a
need to establish a specific criterion to assess stability dur-
To better understand how the dynamics of the vessel occur
ing purse seine operations, evaluating, among other things,
under the effects of waves, we will graph the righting arm
the capacity and suitability of the equipment on each vessel.
curves of fishing ship # 3 (FS #3), whose characteristics are
As seen in the preceding paragraphs, calculating the heel-
described in Table 1 (435 m ­ 3 refrigerated capacity and the
ing moment produced during the purse seine maneuver is
heeling moment induced by a 15 ton triple-roller hauler).
not very complicated; however, it does require basic knowl-
Figure 23 shows the initial righting arm curve (in the
edge of the fishing gear. On the other hand, determining
condition of arrival at the fishing ground) and its intersec-
the dynamic behavior of the vessel net system is extremely
tion with the heeling moment curve. From the graph it can
complex and difficult to determine. Therefore, a stability
be seen that the equilibrium angle occurs with a heel of 15
criterion related to purse seine operations should be related
degrees. Also note that at approximately 40° degrees, there
to the static equilibrium angle (heel angle).
is an inflection point in the heeling moment curve (subtle
The proposed criterion below could be considered
for this case and much more noticeable for the case of fish-
equivalent to the criterion established in R.D. 474-1998
ing with power block); this inflection point represents the
(GM = 0.9 m); furthermore, it would have a fairer application
moment when, due to the heel of the vessel, the net separates
across the universe of fishing vessels, as not all purse seine
from the hull.
vessels target anchovies, nor do they all have the same tech-
Figure 24 shows an approximation of the behavior of the
nology or fishing gear. This criterion would allow evaluating
heeling moment curve in relation to the balance of the vessel
the heeling moment produced during the fishing operations of
(dynamic behavior) Mto(dyn)/Displacement and the righting
each vessel, considering the technology and pulling capacity
arm curve of the vessel during purse seine operations GZ_ps
in each case.
(when drying a bag with abundant catch). Of course, due to
The proposed criterion could also be used to select suitable
the intrinsic difficulty in determining the precise dynamic
fishing equipment for each project.
behavior of the vessel net assembly, the curves are reference
approximations.
6.1 Criteria for maneuvers with purse seine
or similar fishing gear
5.4 Righting arms and anchoring moment
with power block In ships whose fishing methods, lifting devices, or other loads
subject them to additional external forces that create heeling
To understand the heeling moment produced by the ‘power moments, it must be demonstrated by direct calculation that
block,’ it is appropriate to replicate the analysis on a vessel
carrying this equipment. To do so, the data from the righting i. In the condition of arrival at the fishing grounds,
arm curve of fishing vessel # 5 (FS #5 in Table 1) will be - the heeling angle induced is not greater than 15 degrees
used (non-refrigerated hold capacity of 208 ­m3 and heeling or 50% of the heeling angle with maximum righting
moment induced by a power block). lever (GZ), whichever is lower.
Note that at approximately 30 degrees there is an inflec- ii. In the condition of departure from the fishing grounds
tion point in the heeling moment curve, this inflection point with 50% consumables and 100% catch,
 23 Page 20 of 23 Marine Systems & Ocean Technology (2025) 20:23

- The vessel does not submerge any point on the deck variable; we know that in general the B/D ratio is more or less
when these forces are acting. constant in fishing vessels, so the formulas were rethought
- The heel angle produced by the heeling moment must considering the variable Depth (D) and another constant,
not exceed 10 degrees. obtaining more precise results.

Notes: 7.1 Power block

i. For these calculations, the correction due to the opera- Grouping vessels by similar characteristics allows the genera-
tion of stabilizing tanks should not be considered. tion of formulas that allow the determination of capacities. The
ii. For the calculations of heeling moments, the following maximum pulling capacity of a power block can be determined
factors should be considered: by the following formula (designed to not exceed a heel angle
- The heeling moment produced by the weight of the shoal of 15° degrees):
in the bag, considering that the fish is denser than sea
Δ × GMT
water (1061.05 kg/m3 for anchovy) and that the catch Fmax = , (16)
exceeds the capacity of the holds (when applicable). D × 15.6
- The maximum capacity of the fishing equipment (for where Fmax is the Maximum pulling capacity of the power
example: when “drying” the bag with the net hauler), block to produce a heeling angle of 15 degrees. ∆ is the
discounting, if proven, the loss of capacity due to slip- Displacement in the “arrival at fishing grounds” condition.
ping of the fishing gear (if proven that the equipment ­GMT is the Transverse metacentric height in the “arrival at
slips during the operation). fishing grounds” condition. D is the represent the Depth of
- The actual load to which the fishing equipment is sub- the fishing ship.
jected (for example, when closing the draw, the weight Note that in many configurations, the actual capacity of
of the lead, rings, and chains of the net). the power block is limited by the friction coefficient and the
- The hydrodynamic forces produced by the lowering of weight of the net hanging toward the net well.
the fishing gear, when applicable.
- The amplification of the heeling moment produced by 7.2 Net hauler
the increase in the heeling arm when the vessel heels (for
example: when hauling the net with a “power block”). The maximum pulling capacity of a triple-roller or single-
roller net hauler can be determined using the following
formula (designed to not exceed a heeling angle of 15
7 Maximum capacity of the net hauler degrees):
or power block

The procedures described above were reproduced in five

anchovy fishing vessels, whose characteristics are shown
in Table 1, finding a direct relationship between the pulling
capacity of the equipment, the displacement of the vessel and
the transverse metacentric height; likewise, an inverse relation-
ship with the depth of the vessel. With this, it has been pos-
sible to propose simplified formulas that can be used with an
acceptable precision to determine the maximum pull of the net
pulling equipment. This will undoubtedly be very useful for
defining preliminary characteristics and for decision-making.
The righting arm curve of most of the analyzed vessels
approaches a straight line in the first 15 degrees; therefore, the
vessel’s response basically depends on the displacement and
the GM T . The heeling moment produced by the force (which
these formulas seek to find) depends largely on the position of
the equipment and the net (on the side of the vessel). Initially,
the formulas were proposed considering the Beam (B) and a
constant; however, when applying them to the vessels studied,
it was observed that it was not very precise, especially in fish-
ing ship FS#1. At this point, it was decided to look for another Fig. 25  Curve of righting arms in purse seine fishing
Marine Systems & Ocean Technology (2025) 20:23 Page 21 of 23 23

Fig. 26  Righting arms in purse seine fishing of the others fishing ship with characteristics shown in Table 1

Δ × GMT moment in which the net bag begins to move away from
Fmax = . (17) the hull of the vessel. The information on the top of the
D × 12
vessel corresponds to that indicated in Table 1.
For the case of the V-shaped drum net hauler, it is The following figure describes the situation of purse
important to clarify that optimal performance of the hauler seine fishing in the part where the shoal of fish experiences
is conditioned by having a synchronized net stacker that an increase in its density and manages to tilt the vessel. If
allows maintaining tension in the net and preventing slip- we additionally have the action of waves and wind, which
ping (see Fig. 25). makes the situation dynamic, we can observe that the ves-
Figure 26 shows the heeling moment produced by the sel is in a situation of dead ship condition, see IMO [1].
‘power block’ of the other fishing vessels used to gener- This situation has already happened and has been reported
ate the proposed formulations. Note that in each of them in several situations in which vessels, without knowing the
the same inflection point is observed which indicates the number of shoal of fish, experience great forces from the
 23 Page 22 of 23 Marine Systems & Ocean Technology (2025) 20:23

Implementing stability criteria for the purse seine opera-

tion will allow reducing the accident rate of the fishing fleet
by verifying that the operation of the equipment does not put
the fishing vessel at risk.
Simplified formulas are proposed to determine the
maximum capacities of the fishing equipment and avoid
oversizing.

8.1 Recommendations

i. The analysis and criteria used in this publication are

based on industrial fishing vessels in Peru; therefore,
it is up to the professional who studies another spe-
cific case to make adjustments when the nature of the
activity or the specific configuration of the installation
makes it necessary.
Fig. 27  Condition similar to dead ship as described by IMO
ii. Conduct studies to measure the body density of the
fish, evaluate, and quantify the possible variations in
weight of the fish and, if preventive procedures of greater the different stages of purse seine fishing.
inclination are not followed and if, in addition, sea condi- iii. Caution must be taken when operating side propellers
tions worsen during this period, the vessel may capsize or pulling the vessel with the panga in the case of ves-
and sink, this situation is schematized in Fig. 27. sels with a power block when they present abundant
catches.

8 Conclusion
Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge the School of Naval
Engineering of the National University of Engineering (UNI) and
Based on the mathematical formulation of the heeling ASPINAV, the naval engineering course of the Federal University of
moments due to fishing, we note that it is not necessary to Pernambuco (DEMEC - CTG - UFPE), and the Austral shipyard for
use a traditional rigorous description such as reference sys- their collaboration in the data used in this article.
tems that can be located on the keel, mid-flotation plane or
Author contributions John Schuler contributed to writing, methodol-
center of gravity. Note that the center of gravity changes as ogy, investigation, formal analysis, review and editing, and conceptu-
the net and the shoal behave, as well as the holds are filled. alization. Miguel Celis contributed to writing, methodology, investiga-
These formulations allow us to address practical criteria to tion, formal analysis, review and editing, and conceptualization. Miguel
restrict the transverse stability of the vessel. Manco contributed to figures analysis and editing and review.
Performing a quasi-static analysis of the forces and Data availability Data will be made available on request. No datasets
heeling moments present during the purse seine operation were generated or analyzed during the current study.
allows to greatly simplify the analysis and leads to making
its analysis feasible in new and existing vessels. Declarations
A procedure was presented to determine the density
Competing interest The authors declare that they have no known
of recently caught fish and analyze its impact on fishing competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have
maneuvers. appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
It was found that the density of anchovy is 1061.05 kg/
m3; 3.4% higher than that of sea water.
A procedure was presented to determine the external
forces and heeling moments caused by the weight of the References
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ards for the preparation and execution of stability tests on national
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No. 1147, regulates the strengthening of the armed forces in the such publishing agreement and applicable law.
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