Icelandic processing systems specialist Vélfag has signed an agreement with the Westcon shipyard to supply two of its innovative UNO systems to the EcoFive trawler under construction for Norwegian fishing company Bluewild.
The machines are custom-built to Bluewild’s requirements, with pinbone removal, filleting and skinning, and the first phase of the equipment will be delivered along with a heading machine at the end of this summer.
Vélfag’s UNO one-solution processing includes heading, filleting, pin bone removal, skinning, and quality control which evaluates whether the fillets need further trimming after processing. Production is routed to packaging or to a cosmetic line for further processing.
According Vélfag’s developers, placing all the elements in a single unit shortens the entire process and requires significantly less space than the standard arrangement of lining up a series of several machines. In addition, the energy requirement is lower, there is a lower water requirement and integrating these elements reduces the manpower requirement, while also eliminating the need for conveyors from one section to the next.
‘We consider Vélfag to be a company with ideas and products that match our visions regarding future sustainably fishery activities. Our decision to purchase the UNO-machines will give us competitive advantages and the possibility to maintain or increase our position,’ said Bluewild CCO Helge Kittilsen.
‘We recognise Vélfag as a first mover in developing fish factory equipment,’ he commented, adding that a first mover is seen as a company that gains a competitive advantage by being the first to bring a new product or service to the market.
