HB Grandi’s vessels have finished their blue whiting quotas for the year. Lundey NS docked at Vopnafjördur yesterday with 1300 tonnes and on Monday Faxi RE discharged 1400 tonnes. Yesterday saw a milestone passed when the first fishmeal was shipped out from the factory there following the extensive rebuilding programme finished two months ago and the new enclosed discharging system was used for the first time.
Sveinbjörn Sigmundsson, factory manager at HB Grandi’s Vopnafjördur plant, said that freighter Wilson Grip arrived on Tuesday from Grundartangi to load fishmeal.
‘There were no problems loading the fishmeal onto the freighter and this is a big improvement on the old system. Before, we needed sixteen staff to do this, but now only two are needed. In fact, the same applies to everything we do here at the factory. There are only four people on each shift and production has been better than we could have hoped. Of course there have been a few teething troubles, but these have all been dealt with as they appeared. We don’t yet have any feedback from buyers, but all the samples we have had analysed show that we are producing top quality meal. Our raw material has been fresh, good quality fish, and that’s the primary requirement for manufacturing products to meet the highest standards,’ Sveinbjörn Sigmundsson said.
HB Grandi’s pelagic vessels will now be in port until the 20th of May, when the Atlanto-Scandian herring fishery is expected to begin. Ingunn AK has been in dry dock for routine maintenance and this was completed last Monday. Faxi RE will be taken up on the slipway next weekend and will have its hull painted, in addition to routine maintenance.
