Westman Islands fishing company Vinnslustöðin has added a pelagic vessel to its fleet. It becomes Gullberg VE-292 name, a familiar name and number in the Islands, and several of the company’s older vessels have been renamed.
Pelagic vessel Kap VE-4 becomes Sighvatur Bjarnason VE-81, taking the name and registration of a vessel that had long been a part of the company fleet before being sold recently – and named after one of the Islands’ most successful fishermen who subsequently managed Vinnslustöðin for many years.
Kap II has now been re-registered as Kap VE-4.
The new addition to the fleet has been acquired from Norway and is no stranger to Iceland, having previously been under the Icelandic flag more than once.
The 71 metre, 13 metre breadth Gullberg has a 2100 cubic metre tank capacity and was previously Gardar for its last owners in the west of Norway, who are reported to have taken excellent care of the vessel, including fitting a new 8300hp main engine in 2020.
Gullberg called in Denmark to be slipped once the formalities of the purchase had been completed.
Gullberg was built in 1998 for owners in Shetland as Serene and has twice been registered in Iceland, first as Margrét for owners Samherji in 2006 and later as Beitir in 2010 when it was operated by Síldarvinnslan.
Skipper Jón Atli Gunnarsson is starting Gullberg on the mackerel fishery in international waters, after Vinnslustöðin’s shore crew worked around the clock to get the new vessel in the company’s fleet ready for sea.
