JOHN MONIZ, the owner of a fleet of fishing vessels recently refurbished the latest addition to his fleet, Aquilla, and is happily fishing off our coasts. They concentrate mainly on tuna and longline hake.

The refurbishing of Aquilla was undertaken by Moniz himself. He managed all the procuring of the equipment, appointing of contractors and ensured the job was completed by October 2011.

The vessel was finally ready for her first fishing trip in November last year.

Moniz replaced the refrigeration, navigation, generators and the main propulsion engine.

The hull was inspected and repaired where necessary. The boat was also painted the same colours as Penkop.

The choice of engine was a Volvo D16C-MH 405kW.

The skipper of Aquilla, John Morara says he is impressed with the fuel consumption of the new Volvo compared to the previous main engine’s consumption.

John Moniz is naturally happy with the reduced fuel cost for each trip, this resulting in the vessel being able to stay out longer in the fishing grounds and making this vessel very cost efficient to operate in these difficult times.

Volvo Penta says it is encouraged to have another satisfied customer in the Cape region operating their fleets with Volvo Products. Southern Power Products is their sole importer for the marine range of engines and generators in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.

Spares and technical back up is available locally from Southern Power Products.

SPP is also the importers of the Westerbeke range of smaller gensets and the Dometic range of air-conditioners, chillers and icemakers.