Icelandic fishing company Thorbjörn, based in the volcano-stricken port of Grindavík, is to be split up, which the owners have announced is in response to changing circumstances.
The company operates two factory trawlers and one fresher trawler, as well as having a new vessel under construction at a Spanish shipyard.
Thorbjörn’s shore-based processing was halted this summer to the situation on Grindavík, with intermittent volcanic activity taking place sometimes within metres of the town’s outskirts. Grindavík was evacuated earlier this year and residents have moved to other communities in Iceland, although some commercial activity remains in the town and around the harbour areas, subject to restrictions.
Each of these is to be placed on the hands of new three companies, with Hrafn Sveinbjarnarson GK-255 owned by the children of Gunnar Tómasson, Tómas Thorvaldsson GK-10 by the children of Eiríkur Tómasson and fresher trawler Sturla GK-12 by the children of Gerður Sigríður Tómasdóttir. This hands the ownership and management of these vessels on to the next generation.
According to the company, the aim of this restructuring is to put the focus on vessel operations, and to make more effective use of operational finance and fishing opportunities.
‘The shareholders consider that this will result in a simpler and more focused operation of each asset,’ the company stated.
The unknown quantity is new fresher trawler Hulda Björnsdóttir, under construction at the Armón shipyard in Spain. Originally intended to supply shore-based processing with the raw material it required. No decision appears to have yet been taken on whether the new vessel will be brought into operation or sold.
