Síldarvinnslan’s factory trawler Blængur docked in Neskaupstaður this week to discharge frozen production valued at ISK274 million after roughly a month at sea.
The catch is a green weight of 570 tonnes, with two skippers on board. The trip began with Sigurður Hörður Kristjánsson in the skipper’s chair, and he was relieved during the trip by Lúðvík Emil Arnarson Kjerúlf – making his maiden trip as skipper.
‘It’s a step up, although I’ve been sailing as mate on Blængur since Síldarvinnslan bought it in 2015,’ he said.
‘Sigurður Hörður was skipper for the first part of the trip, looking for Greenland halibut and redfish in the Skerja Deeps, on the Hampiðjan Square and the Potato Patch, fishing through non-stop heavy weather. We can say that the first half of the trip was challenging as far as weather was concerned.’
Later in the trip, Blængur made a call in Ísafjörður for some minor repairs, and Sigurður Hörður Kristjánsson went ashore, leaving the new skipper to finish the trip, starting on the Hali grounds.
‘The catch was mixed, but good fishing. We did well for saithe,’ he said, adding that they tried a variety of areas, finishing up with a good 48 hours on the Sléttugrunn grounds and then the Rifs Bank.
‘This trip was 190 tonnes of saithe, 110 tonnes of cod, 80 tonnes of haddock, plus some Greenland halibut, golden redfish and deep redfish, and we also saw an unusually large amount of ling.’
