VOPNAFJÖRDUR BUZZING WITH ACTIVITY

Approximately 1200 tonnes of frozen products were shipped out from Vopnafjördur earlier this week and another shipment is due to leave this weekend, according to factory manager Magnús Róbertsson at HB Grandi’s pelagic factory in Vopnafjördur.

‘Reefer ship Silver Lake sailed yesterday and we expect another reefer at the end of the week. This time we were shipping out frozen mackerel, herring and capelin,’ he said, commenting that they have been extremely busy since the 4th of July.

‘We have been working shifts around the clock and there have only been breaks in production for the necessary cleaning,’ Magnús Róbertsson said. When we visited Vopnafjördur, Ingunn AK had just docked with mackerel on board. Faxi RE had just sailed and Lundey NS was at sea.

Magnús Róbertsson said that there has so far been little herring with the mackerel and there have been no problems in separating them.

‘We wholefreeze the largest mackerel using a blast freezer, while smaller grades are processed as H&G and frozen in freezer cabinets. As well as the pelagic vessels’ catches, we have been handling mackerel landed by the fresher trawlers. That looks to me to be smaller fish than we have been seeing caught off the east coast, but it’s still top quality mackerel,’ he said.

HB Grandi’s pelagic factory at Vopnafjördur currently has an active workforce of 135 and 12 to 14 people are employed at the fishmeal plant.