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2007 Archive
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Written by A. Cross
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Monday, 21 May 2007 |
One of the world’s most highly developed pelagic filleter ever to be built, the new factory trawler Norđborg is set for delivery by mid 2008 — a huge investment for Klaksvík family company Christian í Grótinum.
Klaksvík fishing company Christian í Grótinum has ordered what will certainly be one of the most sophisticated and versatile pelagic trawlers in the world, with a delivery date in the summer of 2008. Replacing the present Norđborg KG 689, a pelagic factory trawler built in Norway in 1989, the new vessel will give its owners a wealth of possibilities, as well as the capacity to exploit blue whiting to a level that is as yet not possible.
According to managing director Eyđun Rasmussen, the old Norđborg is showing its age and is, with her limited engine power, hardly able to operate efficiently on the summer blue whiting. The new vessel is an NVC Rolls-Royce design and Chilean shipyard Asmar bid successfully for the 250-million dkk (34m eur / 23m gbp) construction contract. The keel of the 84-meter ship was laid in February this year and the vessel is designed from the keel up as a factory trawler with a sophisticated processing deck capable of filleting pelagic species in a bank of high-speed filleting machines, with blocks of fish frozen in automatic plate freezers. Fish can also be graded and routed direct to the freezers for whole freezing when this is more suited to market conditions.
The new Norđborg is designed for versatility. For instance, the trawl deck will extend through as much as 60m from the stern to enable major trawl repairs without necessarily having to head for port. As well as the 1100m3 and 1400m3 refrigerated fish rooms, there is 1230m3 of RSW tank capacity, so operating on high value species such as mackerel that need to be landed fresh to processors ashore will still be an option. For the same reason, the purse seine layout has also been incorporated into the design.
“Some will pay slightly more for purse-caught than for trawled mackerel, which can mean a big difference at the end of the season,” Mr Rasmussen explains, adding that they also have an eye on the possibility of a return to capelin fishing in Norwegian waters, which could make it possible to wholefreeze high-value roe capelin for the Japanese market, for which purse seine capacity is also essential for quality reasons.
Like any other fishing vessel operator, the company has been hit by rising fuel prices and the new vessel’s 6000kW Bergen Diesel main engine will be burning more economical heavy fuel, as well as which there are also high and low range running modes for additional economy.
A vessel with this kind of capacity and the capability to process everything on board, including turning factory offcuts into fishmeal, has a high degree of autonomy. The high carrying capacity means that there are longer periods between needing to discharge catches, resulting in less steaming time and time away from fishing grounds, an important consideration on relatively high-volume fishing such as Atlanto-Scandian herring.
The new trawler will be run with alternating crews of 22 men each and the new vessel will also bring about some changes for the company with a wide range of processing options on board. “The new ship will give us new possibilities for fishing, as well as a whole new range of product options,” Mr Rasmussen says.
Although blue whiting has been almost entirely a volume fishery for industrial reduction so far, prices are expected to rise as quotas become smaller. More important, processing blue whiting as a food fish is an option with the new vessel, freezing the fish at sea for markets in Eastern Europe and Asia.
To secure optimum prices for their products, Christian í Grótinum is looking into setting up its own sales team. “We have until now worked with external sales organizations but we’re considering now whether to employ our own people or continue with the present system — there are pros and cons with both.”
Not very long ago Eyđun Rasmussen came ashore to manage the company after many years at sea as chief engineer. His brothers Bogi Rasmussen and Jón Rasmussen continue to sail as skippers of the company vessels Christian í Grótinum KG 690 and Norđborg KG 689. Their father Kristian Martin Rasmussen has taken a step aside from his role as managing director, leaving this to the younger generation yet still taking occasional trips as skipper to relieve his sons.
Link to pdf presentation...
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