The second of three new fresher trawlers for Icelandic company HB Grandi is set to sail to Iceland next week from the Celiktrans shipyard in Turkey. The third trawler is due to be delivered before the end of the year. The 55 metre trio are designed by Nautic ehf.
‘Of course there’s an excitement to taking over such a magnificent new ship. Sturlaugur H Böðvarsson is certainly a good ship and has served HB Grandi well, but there’s no getting away from the fact that it is showing its age,’ said Sturlaugur H Böðvarsson’s skipper Eiríkur Jónsson, who takes over as skipper of the new Akurey which has been under construction at the Celiktrans shipyard in Turkey.
He and several of the crew are travelling to Turkey tomorrow for Akurey’s delivery trip to Reykjavík. Chief engineer Siguróli Sigurðsson is already at the yard and will be part of the crew bringing Akurey home. They aim to take bunkers on 8th of June and sail that night.
‘There’s a certain regret to saying good-bye to Sturlaugur, as I’ve been part of the crew since 1992, first as mate and relief skipper, and I took over as the regular skipper in 2009. It has been a lucky ship, built in 1981 in Akranes for Grundfirðingur hf as Sigurfari, and was renamed Sturlaugur H Böðvarsson name when it was bought by Haraldur Böðvarsson hf in Akranes,’ Eiríkur Jónsson said.
It then became part of the HB Grandi fleet when that company was formed by the merger of Grandi and Haraldur Böðvarsson.
