LONG FA (IMO 8607115) Table Bay, Cape Town

LONG FA – IMO 8607115 | Chinese Factory Trawler

LONG FA, IMO 8607115, is a Chinese factory trawler built in 1987 at Stralsund. Explore her history, vessel identity and Southern Ocean fishing operations.

Photographer's Note: LONG FA (IMO 8607115) was photographed by Vernon Chalmers in Table Bay, Cape Town. The image forms part of the Vernon Chalmers Photography Maritime Studies Project and is also published in the Shipspotting.com database.

LONG FA (IMO 8607115) — a large Chinese factory trawler with a working history extending from the former East Germany to Southern Ocean fisheries.

LONG FA IMO (8607115)

LONG FA (IMO 8607115) is a Chinese factory trawler with an unusually long and geographically diverse working life. Built in 1987 at Volkswerft Stralsund in what was then the German Democratic Republic, the 120.47-metre vessel belongs to the Atlantik 488 / Moonzund family of large stern factory trawlers. With a gross tonnage of 7,765 and a summer deadweight of about 3,372 tonnes, she represents a generation of industrial fishing vessels designed to combine catching, processing and preservation of fish at sea. (ShipSpotting)

From Stralsund to the Chinese fleet

The vessel was launched on 15 September 1987 and completed on 30 December 1987 at Volkswerft, Stralsund, as IVAN BURMISTROV. Her construction number was 802. The Atlantik 488 design was an important class of large freezer-canner trawlers, with numerous vessels of the type produced at Stralsund during the 1980s and early 1990s. (ShipSpotting)

Her subsequent career illustrates how fishing vessels can pass through several national and commercial identities while retaining essentially the same industrial purpose. Following her original Soviet-era career as Ivan Burmistrov, she became SEVINA 3, subsequently LEON, then TOPAZ, before acquiring her present name, LONG FA, in 2009. (ShipSpotting)

The vessel's history was not entirely routine. During her earlier career, while associated with the Ukrainian state fishing company Kerchrybprom, she and the sister vessel Fedor Korotkov were arrested at Nouadhibou, Mauritania, in November 2001 in connection with an alleged substantial debt relating to repairs, stores and fuel. The vessels remained there for several years before LONG FA, then under her former identity, eventually proceeded to Las Palmas for repair, renovation and sale. (Flickr)

Vessel Specifications

• Type: Fish Factory Ship / Trawler
• Flag: China
• Built: 1987 (Builder: Volkswerft Stralsund, Germany)
• Length Overall (LOA): ~120.47 meters
• Beam (Width): ~19.03 meters
• Gross Tonnage: 7,765 GT
• MMSI: 412270039
• Call Sign: BZZQ7

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A substantial fishing platform

Today, the vessel's dimensions remain impressive. Public vessel records give her length at approximately 120.5 metres, beam at approximately 19 metres, and gross tonnage at 7,765. CCAMLR records list an engine output of 5,296 kW, three fish holds with a combined capacity of approximately 3,582 m³, and a crew complement of 135. (CCAMLR)

These figures help explain the vessel's classification as a factory trawler rather than simply a conventional fishing vessel. A ship of this type is effectively a mobile industrial processing platform. Its operational concept allows substantial quantities of catch to be handled, processed and stored during extended voyages, reducing dependence upon frequent returns to port.

The distinction is particularly important when considering LONG FA in the context of modern maritime observation. Visually, she may initially appear simply as a large stern trawler. Operationally, however, her dimensions, processing capability and endurance place her within a much more specialised category of fishing vessel.

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From the North Atlantic to Antarctic waters

The later career of LONG FA has increasingly connected the vessel with the Southern Ocean. The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) currently records LONG FA as a licensed vessel, authorised to fish in Subareas 48.1, 48.2, 48.3 and 48.4. The current CCAMLR record, effective from 22 May 2026, identifies Zhongyu Global Seafood Corp. (ZGSC) as both owner and operator, with China as the flag state and Shekou as the port of registry. (CCAMLR)

This places the vessel within a very different operational environment from the waters in which many observers encounter conventional commercial trawlers. Antarctic and sub-Antarctic operations demand substantial endurance and appropriate equipment, while weather, sea temperature, distance from support infrastructure and seasonal ice conditions can all become significant operational considerations.

Historical CCAMLR records also show that the vessel has been repeatedly licensed within the Convention Area. The continuity of these records provides useful evidence of LONG FA's transition into an important role within China's distant-water fishing activity. (CCAMLR)

Table Bay Maritime Environment Through Photography

LONG FA and Cape Town

For South African ship observers, LONG FA is particularly interesting because Cape Town functions as an important logistical gateway for distant-water fishing vessels operating into the Southern Ocean. AIS records show Cape Town among LONG FA's recent port calls, including a departure in November 2025 before the vessel proceeded towards fishing grounds. (myShipTracking)

The vessel therefore provides an excellent example of how Cape Town's maritime significance extends far beyond conventional merchant shipping. A ship observed in the port or its approaches may be preparing for an extended operational cycle thousands of kilometres farther south.

For the ship spotter, this creates an interesting observational connection: the vessel's appearance at Cape Town is only one visible stage in a much larger maritime system involving port logistics, distant-water fishing, Antarctic fisheries management and international vessel regulation.

A ship with layers of history

There is also a strong historical dimension to photographing LONG FA. The vessel's current Chinese identity represents only the latest chapter in a career extending across almost four decades. Her hull began life in the final years of the East German shipbuilding industry, subsequently operated under several names and flags, survived a prolonged period of detention in West Africa, underwent repair and conversion work at Las Palmas, and ultimately entered Chinese ownership and Antarctic-related fishing operations.

That history makes IMO 8607115 especially valuable as an identification key. The IMO number provides continuity beneath the changing names, flags and ownership arrangements. A photograph captioned simply LONG FA records the vessel as seen today; a photograph identified by IMO 8607115 connects that image with the much longer story of IVAN BURMISTROV, SEVINA 3, LEON and TOPAZ. (ShipSpotting)

A distinctive Maritime Observation System subject

From a Maritime Observation System (MOS) perspective, LONG FA is therefore more than another large fishing vessel. Her size makes her immediately recognisable, while her high stern, extensive working deck and substantial superstructure provide useful photographic reference points for vessel identification.

Her operational history also demonstrates why ship photography benefits from combining visual observation with documentary research. Hull form establishes the initial identification; the IMO number confirms continuity; AIS provides movement and port information; and fisheries-management records establish the vessel's operational context.

LONG FA consequently represents an excellent MOS subject: a visually distinctive industrial vessel whose identity opens a much larger story about shipbuilding, international fishing fleets, maritime logistics and the Southern Ocean.

Nearly forty years after leaving the slipway at Stralsund, IMO 8607115 remains an active working vessel. Few individual ships demonstrate more clearly how a commercial vessel can cross national, political and geographic boundaries while retaining the same fundamental purpose: going to sea in pursuit of the world's marine resources.

Photographic Equipment

Camera: Canon EOS R6 Mark III

Lens: Canon RF 800mm f/11 IS STM Lens

Photographic Genre: Maritime Photography / Ship Spotting

Post Processing: Adobe Lightroom Classic Version 15

Location: Table Bay, Cape Town, South Africa

References

Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. (2026). Long Fa (CCAMLR Vessel ID 84010; IMO 8607115). CCAMLR vessel record

Naust Marine. (n.d.). Long Fa (Topaz), IMO 8607115. Naust Marine vessel reference

ShipSpotting. (2013). LONG FA – IMO 8607115. ShipSpotting vessel photograph and particulars

VesselFinder. (n.d.). LONG FA – IMO 8607115. VesselFinder vessel details