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Top pelagic port to offer heavy fuel oil |
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Archives -
2006 Archive
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Written by B. Tyril
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Monday, 08 May 2006 |
Set to get its third deepwater quayside to make HFO bunkering available, and to have a mountain tunnel drilled for work with pelagic trawl nets, the Port of Fuglafjörður—with an annual throughput of 500,000 tons—offers a first class service for international sea vessels.
Again this year, the Port of Fuglafjörður is investing millions in further development of its harbor facilities. According to the mayor, Sigurð S. Simonsen, the municipal authorities have decided to build a new 65-meter deepwater terminal for HFO (heavy fuel oil) bunkering, and to drill a new 43,200-cubic meter mountain tunnel for manufacturing and repairs of pelagic trawl nets. Inclusive of industry commitments, Mr Simonsen said, the investments will amount to approximately dkk 55m [eur 7.4m / gbp 5.1m / usd 9m] combined.
Dedicated to serve the pelagic fishing industry, Fuglafjörður has long ranked among Europe’s major fisheries ports. With a throughput that equals half a million tons each year, the port receives foreign vessels on a semi-daily basis, in addition to Faroese fishing vessels including most of the country’s pelagic fleet.
Much of the traffic is linked to the giant fish meal, oil and feed factory, likewise to a famous fishing gear manufacturer, a large cold storage facility and a host of maritime services such as mechanical and electrical repairs, provisioning and bunkering.
The new deepwater terminal with HFO bunkering facility—the Port of Fuglafjörður’s third deepwater quayside—is expected to be finished before the end of 2006. As to the mountain tunnel for indoor and convenient work with large trawl nets, the estimated time of completion is in late 2007.
With a fishmeal production that consumes 2,000 tons of raw fish per day, space economy and temperature stability become key ingredients in a soaring warehousing demand. To accommodate such needs, Fuglafjörður for some years has boasted a five-tunnel system, drilled into the mountain at the harbor area near the fishmeal factory, housing dry storage and the local cold storage facility.
“Judging from our experience with mountain tunnels for industrial use,” Mr Simonsen said, “such tunnels can provide very effective solutions in certain settings.
“The new tunnel project on our agenda is not linked to the existent tunnel system however.”
The proposed mountain tunnel for work with large trawl nets will be 200 meters deep, 16 meters wide and as much as 13.5 meters high to allow for ceiling cranes and the like, Mr Simonsen said.
The Fuglafjörður harbor area is wide and has a total quay length of approximately 1,000 meters. Two existing deepwater quaysides offer safe berth for large and heavily loaded vessels with a draft of 12 to 13 meters. The third deepwater quayside underway, with a depth between 13 and 14 meters, will be constructed south of the existing bunkering facilities.
With today’s high prices of fuel on everybody’s mind, HFO has become an increasingly popular option for shipowners looking to reduce fuel expenses. Accordingly, a number of larger Faroese trawlers have had their main engines refurbished to enable HFO burning as an alternative to diesel. There is also awareness of numerous foreign vessels that run on HFO, making an element of time pressure obviously present for any business opportunity in the context.
“We will push forward to have the new terminal finished by the winter of 2006-2007,” Mr Simonsen said. “I understand from the company behind the project that the demand for HFO bunkering has increased dramatically but there is at present no commercial bunkering facility available in the Faroes to serve this growing number of vessels.”
The Port of Fuglafjörður is said to be one of Europe’s largest unloading ports for fish and seafood products. On an annual basis, some 350,000 tons of raw fish and frozen seafood products are unloaded at Fuglafjörður; with other goods included, the total weight amounts to approximately 415,000 tons; combined with the 85,000 tons of fish meal and oil, salmon and trout feed, plus oil bunkered, the port’s throughput reaches half a million tons.
With depths between 6 and 14 meters, Fuglafjörður offers an excellent natural harbor, affording safe berths as well as secure, all-weather anchorage in the roads. The port plays a significant part in the pelagic fisheries of the North Atlantic and is home to Havsbrún, a large industrial fish processor and feed producer.
The municipality of Fuglafjörður comprises the town of Fuglafjörður, the neighboring region of Kambsdalur and the old village of Hellur. In spite of numbering only a modest 1,600 inhabitants—about 3 percent of the total population of the Faroes—Fuglafjörður allegedly generates more than 20 percent of the country’s total export value.
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