factory ship

[ fak-tuh-ree ship, -tree ]

noun

1. a whaling ship equipped to process killed whales and to transport the oil and by-products.
2. Also called fac·to·ry trawl·er [fak, -t, uh, -ree traw-ler, -tree]. a large fishing vessel, usually a stern trawler, equipped for processing and freezing fish at sea.

factory ship

noun

1. a fishing boat that processes the fish that are caught

Word History and Origins

Origin of factory ship¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

They are driven to Milford Haven, where they are loaded on to a factory ship which cooks and freezes them en-route to Asia.

From BBC

In some past investigations, the NTSB, such as in the 2008 sinking of the Alaska Ranger factory ship, has reached a different probable cause of the sinking of a vessel.

From Seattle Times

The Coast Guard begins two weeks of hearings Monday into what caused the flooding that sank a Washington-based factory ship off Alaska, forcing the evacuation of its crew of 46.

From Seattle Times

Take, for example, the skull of a southern right whale that arrived in the museum's collections in 1938 by way of the factory ship Ulysses.

From Washington Post

But only Japan continues to sail a fleet of ships half way across the globe to hunt whales in the Antarctic and maintains a large factory ship that can process hundreds of whales at sea.

From BBC