A view of the Guo Hong 77. [Photo provided by Zhang Zhen to Tide News]

The Guo Hong 77, a 70-meter-long squid fishing vessel, departed on Sept 17 from Mazhimen anchorage in Zhoushan, East China's Zhejiang province, on its maiden voyage to Argentina's waters, where it will begin squid fishing operations.

The vessel is capable of harvesting 70 to 90 metric tons of squid per day and can fill its 850-ton storage capacity in about 10 days. These capabilities rank it first in the province in terms of both capacity and catch. Its annual output is estimated at 2,000 to 3,000 tons, with the output value expected to top 130 million yuan (about $18 million).

Built by Zhakou Shipyard in Daishan county in Zhoushan, the Guo Hong 77 cost more than 100 million yuan. The vessel integrates advanced ship design and modern fishing technologies, with a gross tonnage of 1,652 tons, a beam of 11.3 meters and a depth of 7.4 meters.

It comes equipped with 56 automated squid jigging machines and a powerful light system made up of 270 lamps, each with 4,000 watts. This system doubles the brightness of standard vessels and boosts the catch efficiency by about 50 percent.