It has only taken two and a half months for Royal Greenland’s Avataq to break its own record. At the beginning of August Avataq landed 927 tonnes of shrimp, beating its previous personal best by 24 tonnes.
According to skipper Tordar Dimon, Avataq sailed on 11th July for a trip that ended on 4th August, breaking the record set by co-skipper Jógvan Tróndarson who had landed 903 tonnes for a trip in May this year. The feeling is that it’s a just matter of time before there’s a 1000 tonne trip.
Avataq was delivered in January this year, but was out of action for some weeks earlier this year, which necessitated a spell at a shipyard in Odense. This was a difficult time for the crew, who were confined to the ship while at the yard, due to Covid-19 precautions, except when taken by bus for screening before Avataq left Denmark.
‘This is our first trip back, so it is good that we have got a good catch,’ Tordar Dimon said, commenting that 26% of the 927 landing will be processed at Royal Greenland’s shrimp factory in Sisimiut, while the rest will be exported to markets around the world.
‘Due to Coronavirus, the rules have been tightened up, which has meant that our crew members have to be quarantined for a week before sailing. But this crew has had to stay on board during the entire time at the shipyard in Odense. That calls for a lot of patience, which I can say that our crew members have. It can be boring, and we were relieved when we could sail from Denmark to Greenland. Even though we were tested before sailing, we make sure to test everyone on board for antibodies before we arrive at a Greenlandic port,’ Tordar Dimon explained.
