When the US government’s West Coast Groundfish Observer Program requested proposals for specialized scales for use in collecting and analyzing catch data from vessels fishing waters in the Pacific Northwest, the choice of the organisation and its parent, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), fell on Marel.
Completed in November 2010, the contract called for the delivery of no less than 125 custom-designed Marel 1100 motion compensated marine scales capable of weighing loads of up to 60 kg, while operating to high levels of accuracy in the challenging, notoriously unpredictable conditions of the US Pacific coast.
“Delivery of the scales marked the culmination of an 18-month development and sales process,” reveals Seattle-based Marel area sales manager Haukur Jóhannesson, who played the lead role in the sales process.
“As they’re intended for use in the on-deck weighing of groundfish catch samples, the scales had to be portable enough to carry easily between vessels, highly stable in severe conditions, and also capable of withstanding some rough handling. Combining these features represented a major challenge which Marel was able to successfully overcome, by combining existing designs with some customised innovations” he continues.
“We’ve sent an additional 13 scales for testing, and this will hopefully result in an order for another 60 or more for use in other places in the US, in the near future,” concludes Seattle-based Marel area sales manager, Haukur Jóhannesson.
