More than 6000 tonnes of blue whiting are being discharged to Síldarvinnslan’s factory in Neskaupstaður as sister vessels docked at the same time with capacity payloads.
Samherji’s Vilhelm Thorsteinsson and Síldarvinnslan’s Börkur are identical pelagic vessels built side-by-side at the same shipyard for the two companies. Full tanks means that each has around 3200 tonnes on board.
Vilhelm Thorsteinsson’s skipper Guðmundur Th. Jónsson is satisfied with the trip south-east of the Faroe Islands, with the catch taken in seven tows with hauls of between 220 and 600 tonnes.
‘We had our fish in nine tows of 14-15 hours for 220 tonnes and up to 600 tonnes,’ said Börkur’s skipper Hálfdan Hálfdanarson.
‘This can be counted as good fishing, although it’s not as heavy as it was before we got to the fishing grounds. The weather conditions were as good as they could be. Now we’re working on the gear to be sure everythings ready for the first trip of the new year.’
He added that there’s considerable expectation around the possibility of a capelin season in the new year.
‘We all hope there’ll be a capelin season,’ he said.
According to factory manager Hafthór Eiríksson, the raw material being pumped ashore and direct to production is excellent.
‘It’s fine raw material, this is fat, good quality fish and production is going well,’ he said, adding that he expects both vessels’ payloads to have been fully processed by the end of the week.
