Síldarvinnslan’s pelagic vesel Barði is alongside in Tórshavn, undergoing some major repairs that are hoped to have it back at sea before the end of the year.
Barði had just left the shipyard in June this year to steam back to Iceland when a fire broke out on board. A Faroese Coast Guard vessel attended the scene, and towed Barði back to Tórshavn for the damage to be assessed.
It was quickly clear that this would be a serious repair job, and Síldarvinnslan brought mothballed pelagic vessel Bjarni Ólafsson back into service. Since then, Barði’s crew have been fishing for blue whiting.
Fleet manager Grétar Örn Sigfinnsson has been present in the Faroes while the repairs are carried out.
‘As things stand at the moment, we can expect Barði to be home for Christmas and should be ready to be back fishing at the end of the year,’ he said, commenting that work is making good progress.
‘There’s a great deal of damage in the engine room, with all of the cladding ruined, as are the cables, and other equipment has also suffered damage. In fact, the full extent of the damage isn’t clear yet.’
Work is progressing on the cladding and cabling, alongside repairs to the main engine. The opportunity has also been taken to carry out other maintenance tasks.
‘When all this is done, the engine room will need to be cleaned and painted. We expect the cladding and cable work to be complete at the end of October so we can carry out sea trials in early November. But plans are always subject to uncertainty and something unexpected can always come up,’ he said.
