Delays with a newbuilding in Turkey and licensing challenges in the interim have prompted Norwegian pelagic operator Liegruppen AS to acquire pelagic trawler Antarctic II from its Shetland owners.
The sale of Antarctic II is to Liegruppen subsidiary Ligrunn AS, which has for some time had a new pelagic vessel under construction at the Cemre yard in Turkey. Under the original plan, this new Ligrunn should have been at sea and fishing by now, but a fire that broke out on board in late 2022 caused extensive damage and a new delivery date of November this year was fixed for the new vessel’s completion.
But it’s November now, and there’s no sign of Ligrunn’s delivery, while the owners have been granted a series of permits to allow another of its vessels, Libas, to catch Ligrunn’s quotas.
The latest of these permits expires at the end of November, and the decision to acquire Antarctic II has been forced to enable Liegruppen to be able to catch Ligrunn’s quotas while the company’s newbuild is still under construction.
Antarctic II was built at Flekkefjord Slipp & Maskinfabrikk in 2004, and underwent a major refit in 2017. It’s a Skipsteknisk design with a 69.70 metre overall length and a 5875hp MAK 9M32C main engine. After heading for Skagen, Antarctic II has been docked in Thyborøn where it is being brought up to spec to be reflagged to Norway.
The refit is being carried out with engineering company Thyborøn Skibs & Motor handling the outfitting as the vessel is adapted to its owners’ requirements and outfitted for fishing, including taking on a set of the latest doors from Thyborøn Trawldoor.
The sale of Antarctic II was handled by Atlantic Shipping.
While Liegruppen has been through the undoubtedly expensive process of acquiring tonnage to keep its licences usable, the long-delayed newbuild appears to have quietly changed name, and is listed as Liafjell and not as Ligrunn.
