Dutch trawler P 224 "Miranda" sold to Cyprus, to be converted in the Eastern Mediterranean into a mother ship for catch transport

Vlissingen/Urk, Netherlands — The fishing vessel P 224 "Miranda" has been sold. The British/Urk-registered trawler will be converted into a catch transport vessel in the Mediterranean.

Co-owner Klaas van den Berg, speaking about the sale of the P 224, said: "Certified crew can no longer be found, at least not crew holding British documents." The vessel has been lying idle at the quay in Vlissingen since this spring. On Monday, the vessel was moved to Stellendam.

The sale to Cyprus was brokered by Lenie Hoekman of Hoekman Maritiem. The 38-metre trawler will fly the Cyprus flag and serve as a mother/collector/processing vessel for the catch of small fishing boats in the Eastern Mediterranean. At the request of the new owner, Damen Maaskant will first carry out extensive conversion work on the vessel over the coming months to adapt it to this new function.

The versatile P 224 was built at Maaskant in 1987 and has always retained the same registration number. The original client was Johnson's Sea Enterprises, and in 1993 Colne Shipping became owner. In 2004, Klaas van den Berg and Jaczon became co-owners and renamed the vessel "Miranda". A few years later, Van den Berg withdrew. But in 2016 he bought the trawler back, this time together with Iede Kramer of fish merchant Kramer Fish. Van den Berg held a large amount of unused quota, while Kramer Fish needed more sole for its own processing operations.

In 2020, Van den Berg and his son Klaas Jan put the new fly-shooting/twin-trawl fishing vessel GY 127 "Hendrika Jacoba" into operation.