HB Grandi’s new trawler Engey docked in Reykjavík at midday yesterday, ending its first trip with 140 tonnes in the fishroom. According to skipper Friðleifur Einarsson, everything went well and the ship’s performance exceeded expectations.
‘We sailed from Reykjavík last Thursday and had five days fishing. We started on our home fishing grounds, the Mountains, and had two days on redfish. From there we shifted north to the Westfjords grounds and did well on cod both on the Hali grounds and in the Thverál Gully. There was a slight showing of saithe in the catch, but nothing special, Friðleifur Einarsson said, adding that in addition to the crew, five technicians from Skaginn 3X joined them for the trip.
‘Altogether, everything worked as it was supposed to. There were a few minor hitches, but those were quickly fixed. The automated fishroom system, which is a real innovation, worked perfectly and the catch handling facilities on the main deck could hardly be better. On the other hand, it’ll take time to master all of the ship’s computer systems and to get everything 100% right. But that’s something we’ll get used to,’ he said.
Engey is more economic to run than HB Grandi’s older trawlers and Friðleifur Einarsson said that they can bunker every second trip instead of having to refuel every trip, as he was used to doing with previous trawler Ásbjörn.
