76 June 2, 1999

Jemison To Launch Texas Shrimper

Jemison Marine in Bayou La Batre Louisiana is scheduled to deliver a new 95-foot shrimper to Ronnie Benner in the mid-June. It will be powered by a Cummins QSK19 with a continuous rating of 660 HP at 1800 RPM turning a 73.25x74-inch prop through a Twin Disc 5202 7:1 gear. The boat will be the fourth shrimper from Jemison for the Texas-based owner but his first with Cummins power.

A pair of Cummins 6B5.9 MG engines power the two 60kW gen sets that meet the vessel's electrical needs including the 15-HP electrical motors on the two compressors for refrigerating the brine in the 5x8x4-foot deck-mounted brine tank. This allows the liquid to be kept just below zero Fahrenheit to rapid freeze the bagged shrimp prior to storage by size in one of the six hold sections. The brine in the tank is kept circulating by an electrically-powered agitator. With the dual compressors, Benner expects the tank to be able to handle up to ten 50-pound bags of shrimp at a time. This will allow the boat to catch and freeze up to 10,000 pounds per day compared with only 3-4,000 pounds on Benner's earlier boats. The hold has a capacity for 70-100,000 pounds of frozen storage with the shrimp packed two bags to a box. In heavy fishing, the crew will freeze and stow the whole shrimp, but if time permits they will head them. Ex-vessel price for quality shrimp in Benner's home port of Palacios Texas has been $2.00 to $2.50 per pound for head-on and $5.00 to $5.50 per pound for tails. "Quality is the biggest thing now," says Benner.

Depending on the fishing the boat will be worked with four to six crew. In a variation on the usual shrimper where all crew accommodation is on the main deck level, this boat has four crew bunks in the fore-peak. This takes better advantage of the larger vessel size to provide a roomier galley and skipper's cabin on the main deck. Extensive use is made of stainless steel in high wear areas on deck such as the rail caps. Designed for fishing in 40 to 50 fathoms, the boat requires only minimal hydraulics.

Funding for the project was provided by Cummins Case Credit.

For more information:

Tim Jemison
Jemison Boatyard
Bayou LaBatre, Alabama
Phone: 324 824-7878

Ronnie Benner
Palacios, Texas
Phone: 512 972-1231 Fax: 361 972-1232

Larry Neff, V/P Marine Marketing
Cummins Alabama Inc.
3422 Georgia Pacific Ave.
Moblie AL, U.S.A.36617
Phone: 334 452-6426

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