1983Fishing and Farming between Mountains and Seas

Chapter 308: Selecting a -meter-long steel ship

They set off quite early. Not long after the Fengshou Shipyard started working in the morning, Liang Ziqiang had already driven a wooden boat to the bay where the shipyard was located.

After mooring the boat, he walked into the building with an old exterior wall and painted with ship patterns. Old Xu, a shipyard worker, had met him several times and recognized him as soon as they met.

"I remember you. You came here to buy a boat more than once last year. Are you here to see the boat again this time?" Old Xu looked behind him instinctively.

In Lao Xu's opinion, he shouldn't buy a new boat so quickly. Logically, he should have brought relatives and friends to buy the boat.

Liang Ziqiang saw that he was looking back, so he naturally understood his thoughts and took the initiative to tell Lao Xu:
"There's no one else here. I came here alone. I want to change boats recently. We're old acquaintances anyway, so why don't you take me to see the new boat?"

There was a look of surprise in Old Xu's eyes. He led him to the extremely open open space and asked him:
"I remember you bought an eight-meter wooden boat last time? Why, that boat should be easy to drive, right?"

Obviously, Old Xu thought that the lotus-patterned boat was not sailing smoothly, so he planned to replace it with a new one.

"It's been very smooth. It's been almost ten months since I bought it, and it hasn't had a single malfunction." Liang Ziqiang said, dispelling Old Xu's concerns. "Isn't it because the quality of the ships produced by your shipyard is quite reliable? I came here immediately when I considered buying a bigger ship, instead of going around to other county or city shipyards!"

After hearing what Liang Ziqiang said, Old Xu's worries disappeared, and he was happy and a little surprised:

"Change to a bigger ship? Congratulations! Are you going to buy a bigger wooden ship or an iron ship this time? Have you considered a steel ship with a trawling net?"

"It won't make much difference if the fishing boat casting nets is bigger. I really want to switch to a boat with a trawler. A wooden trawler probably can't go too far out to sea. Old Xu, can you take me directly to the iron trawler to take a look?" Liang Ziqiang said.

"Okay! Then let's go this way." Old Xu quickly turned a corner at the intersection and walked towards the open space where the big iron ship was. At the same time, he did not forget to give a warning, "Iron ships with trawling equipment are very expensive. Basically, there is no cheap one of this kind. The lowest one is more than 6,000!"

As they talked, they came to the area of ​​the big iron ship. Various cutting sounds and metal knocking sounds came one after another, and the busyness instantly covered the sound of the waves and the cries of gulls in the bay.

Old Xu pointed to a boat that was still being assembled and was about to be completed:

"This boat is 20 meters long and 4 meters wide. It is fully equipped with net board hangers, net casting pulleys, winches, and trawling machines. In terms of price, this is the most entry-level trawling boat, so the price is also the lowest, yuan!"

Six thousand eight hundred, this is almost equal to Liang Ziqiang’s current savings.

"What are the tonnage, draft and power?" Liang Ziqiang asked.

"The loading capacity is 32 tons, the draft is 150 meters, the designed draft is meters, and the rated power is kilowatts." Old Xu knows the conditions of these ships very well.

"This ship should be able to reach the boundary between the deep sea and the shallow sea, but it still cannot go to the deep sea, right?" Liang Ziqiang continued to ask.

As far as he knew, the ships that could sail to the deep sea area had to be at least 24 meters long. This was the type that was at the edge of the deep sea. As for the more distant ocean, the ships were at least meters long, or even or meters long.

Sure enough, Old Xu nodded and said, "The boats can freely go to the border zone where fishermen cannot go normally. But the deep sea you mentioned is still not allowed to go there!"

"If we can't go to the deep sea, it will cost more than 24 yuan. How much will a ship over meters long cost? I really can't even think about the price!" Liang Ziqiang sighed.

"That one over there is 24 meters long, and it's considered the starting ship for deep sea. You know, fishermen like to call these big ships iron boats, but when it comes to ships of this size, there are no iron boats. They are all made of steel! An 8-meter wooden boat would cost more than 700, right? The cost of steel and wood is as different as heaven and earth! Add to that a whole set of trawl equipment, and the specifications of the diesel engine are not at the same level at all. The price of 6,000 or 7,000 is because our shipyard's pricing is too low. Those shipyards in other cities can't buy a 20-meter steel trawler for 6,000 or 7,000!"

When it comes to price, Old Xu starts to complain. Liang Ziqiang actually wanted to bargain, so he sighed.

The price of a steel trawler is naturally very different from that of a wooden fishing boat. He recalled that in later times, a 24-meter steel fishing boat without trawling equipment would cost nearly two million.

As for a steel fishing boat of more than 30 meters, a second-hand boat that has been used for six years can be auctioned for 4.2 million in the court.

Even if one yuan in the 1980s was equivalent to one hundred yuan in later generations, more than four million yuan would be equivalent to more than 40,000 yuan in the 1980s.

Of course, the conversion cannot be so crude. For example, the "fish finder" equipment that large fishing boats of later generations have is obviously not available on fishing boats of this era.

In later generations, large steel fishing boats were sold for millions or tens of millions, which included some additional technological costs.

As they were talking, the two men had already walked near the larger trawler.

"This is the lowest standard ship that can go to the deep sea. It is 42 meters long and 180 meters wide. It is equipped with a complete set of trawling equipment, has a loading capacity of 20 tons, and a rated power of kilowatts. As for the price, it is yuan more expensive than the -meter ship just now, exactly yuan!"

Nine thousand! It turns out that even though I have saved up so much money, I still can’t afford it!

Liang Ziqiang looked at it enviously for a long time, then turned around and found another steel ship farther away. The size and structure seemed similar to the one in front of him, but the appearance was somewhat different.

Unlike the black painted hull of this ship, the bottom of that ship is red, and most of the hull is blue-gray. In short, it looks more beautiful and pleasing to the eye than the black painted ship in front of me.

"That one seems to be a 24-meter trawling steel ship as well? Also nine thousand?" He pointed at the blue ship and asked Lao Xu.

"That one is a thousand more, sell it for ten thousand!"

“Is there any difference in functionality?”

"The trawl equipment, rated power and tonnage are exactly the same as the black one, except for one more function: a refrigerated cabin," explained Old Xu.

Liang Ziqiang's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he quickly asked, "One thousand more, so this kind of refrigerated cabin should have its own refrigeration compressor equipment, right?"

Although some large ships also have refrigerators, they only provide a simple metal-enclosed space. If you want to freeze and preserve seafood, you have to buy ready-made ice from the town's ice factory and put it in the metal cabin.

If it were that simple, Liang Ziqiang felt that the price should not be increased by a full thousand yuan.

Sure enough, Old Xu nodded and said:
"You know a lot. This ten thousand dollar boat is equipped with a piston refrigeration compressor. Once it's turned on, the refrigerated compartment can keep itself cold. You don't need to buy ice cubes every day like ordinary fishing boats, and you don't have to worry about the ice cubes melting after the fish are left in it for a day or two! If you really have enough money, buying this nine thousand dollar boat is not as good as buying the ten thousand dollar one. We're going to the deep sea, and the catch must be huge. We can't save a little money and end up failing to keep the fish fresh, right?"

Liang Ziqiang felt that what Old Xu said later made sense.

"How about we go check out the blue ship now?"

As he spoke, Liang Ziqiang could not help but move his steps and walked towards the trawler that interested him so much...

(End of this chapter)