Two super trawlers join Iceland fleet

SAMHERJI, Iceland\’s largest fishing and fish processing company, has formally commissioned two new super freezer trawlers.
They have been built to operate with the group’s German subsidiary, known as Deutsche Fischfang Union (DFFU).
During a ceremony in Cuxhaven, Annegret Aeikens, wife of the German fisheries minister, named the Berlin NC-105, while Harpa Ágústsdóttir, wife of Harald Grétarsson, DFFU\’s managing director, did the same with the Cuxhaven NC-100.
Both vessels were built at the Mykleburst shipyard in Norway and they are the subsidiary\’s first additions to the fleet since 1990.
Cuxhaven is equipped with state of the art machinery and provides top class facilities for the crew, which could number up to 35 fishermen.
Both trawlers were designed by Rolls Royce which also provided the main engines. The Berlin NC 105 was delivered at the beginning of December and has already completed her first fishing trip, while the Cuxhaven NC 100 was delivered in August last year.
Grétarsson said: ‘This is a big day in DFFU\’s history as well as being an important step for us to increase our competitiveness and to strengthen our position in attracting young people with interesting jobs at sea.
‘The ships are magnificent. It has been a huge challenge to get everything to work in such a technically complex ship and the next few weeks will be very exciting for us.’
Samherji, which also has extensive UK interests, is involved in all stages of the value chain, from fishing, fish farming and processing to export and sales.
It has recently opened a new Grimsby processing factory through one of its UK subsidiaries, Ice Fresh Seafood.
Picture: The Berlin NC 105 was delivered at the beginning of December