In a few months time, Klaksvík fishing company Hvalnes, best known in the Faroes as the owners of Christian í Grótinum, will take delivery of a new fishing vessel that will undoubtedly set a benchmark for pelagic operators everywhere.
They currently run conventional RSW (refrigerated seawater) pelagic purser-trawler Christian í Grótinum, and Norðborg, a purser-trawler with processing capacity. Having been lengthened, broadened and lifted over the years, Norðborg has reached its limits and is now due to be replaced with a new vessel, now under construction in Chile and set to be the single most sophisticated vessel of its kind anywhere in the world with a factory deck designed for high efficiency, maximum quality and flexibility.
With herring, capelin, mackerel and blue whiting fisheries on their doorstep, the new Norðborg is placed at the center of some of the richest fishing grounds in the North Atlantic and is equipped to make the most of these species, landing catches for both high-end and volume markets in Western and Eastern Europe, able to produce fillets or whole frozen products. In addition to the 1400-tonne refrigerated fish room space for frozen products, Norðborg also has a 1230m3 of RSW tank capacity, keeping open the option of landing fresh fish direct to processors.
Designed by Rolls-Royce and built by the Chilean Asmar shipyard, Norðborg is expected to operate largely as a pelagic trawler, but purse seining capacity is seen as an integral part of its activity. Partner and operations manager Eyðun Rasmussen comments that some markets prefer purse seine-caught fish and are prepared to pay for it. There is also the possibility of a future capelin fishery in Norwegian waters, with the potential that a capelin roe fishery could offer for which purse seining is essential.
With a whole range of new product options at Norðborgs disposal, a new sales and marketing initiative is being prepared to be underway as the new ship starts fishing, with the team bolstered by the appointment of sales and marketing executive Pól Huus Sólstein, recruited from Icelandic company HB Grandi.
Our existing cooperative arrangement with the Norwegian sales company we have been working with will continue on a non-exclusive basis, Mr Sólstein comments. Norðborg offers every advantage over the older ship, not least with a higher engine power that will allow the ship to fish efficiently on the summer blue whiting when the more dispersed fish are deep, while also allowing the factory deck and refrigeration plant the power that these need. A fishmeal plant on board will handle off-cuts from the filleting process and some 500 tonnes of fish meal and oil can be stored on board. All of the production processes will be optimized for maximum efficiency and a high level of automation, allowing a highly sophisticated production plant to be run by a relatively small team. The factory centers around high-capacity filleting machines, computer controlled to enable the fast throughput essential for handling pelagic fish, and the Optimar automatic plate freezers to ensure that power usage is as efficient as possible, with every frame of frozen cartons ejected automatically when the optimum freezing time has been reached. This eliminates bottlenecks in production and throughput matches the factory decks production, minimizing power wastage while maximizing quality with the fish spending as little time as possible between buffer tanks and the freezers.
Launched and christened in February 2008, the new Norðborg is expected to be completed for delivery in September.
Of course we are extremely excited at the arrival of the new ship. Its a big investment, but it gives us a platform to meet the demands that todays consumers make in terms of sustainability and responsible fishing. All of the stocks we exploit are regulated with international quotas, and the vessel will be licensed under the tough Faroese Fisheries Act. We feel a strong sense of duty to operate in a way that is responsible and this ship and all of the expertise that has gone into it represent a big step towards making the most of the natural resources available while keeping emissions and fuel consumption as low as possible, Mr Rasmussen says.
Alongside its 250 million dkk (33.6m eur) Norðborg investment, Hvalnes is opening a new 5000-tonne capacity cold store on Klaksvíks North Quay. A further 25m dkk investment in cooperation with Klaksvík trawler operator JFK, the cold store opens for business in early summer this year.
Link to pdf presentation...
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