ÍSBJÖRNINN PROVES ITS WORTH

It’s now a year since Ísbjörninn, HB Grandi’s cold store at Nordurgardur, was opened. Since then approximately 17,000 tonnes of fish have passed through it and it’s clear that embarking on the construction was a worthwhile enterprise.

‘Ísbjörninn has allowed HB Grandi to streamline its operations significantly. The Nordurgardur location is very convenient due to its proximity to our land-based production, freezing facilities and the discharging quays for the factory vessels. This means that there is a saving in transport costs of products from one place to another,’ said HB Grandi’s marketing manager Brynjólfur Eyjólfsson. He commented that the new cold store has also made it possible to export more production on palletised reefer vessels that are able to dock right outside the Ísbjörninn cold store. This represents rationalisation, ensures better handling of products and increases flexibility in product management.

‘There are many further advantages. Ísbjörninn has also proved to be a key asset when we have organised family entertainments for Seamen’s Day these last two years,’ Brynjólfur Eyjólfsson said.

Reduced urban traffic

Stevedoring company Landar ehf handles discharging operations for HB Grandi’s fleet. According to its managing director, Reynir Daníelsson, the opening of the new Ísbjörninn cold store has completely changed the way they work and has significantly reduced truck traffic with containers through central Reykjavík.

‘I reckon that in the first year we have transferred 5100 tonnes of products, that otherwise would have had to have been stored elsewhere, direct to cargo vessels. This is equivalent to 210 containers, or 420 container truck journeys both ways,’ Reynir Daníelsson said, adding that their working schedules are greatly improved.

‘Not least it’s important to take into account that securing product quality has been significantly improved. Now the distance from the quay to the cold store is about 30 metres, when before we had to store HB Grandi’s frozen products in containers at Nordurgardur, in the shipping companies’ cold stores and at the Kuldaboli cold store in Thorlákshöfn. HB Grandi had space for 2000 tonnes of goods at Kuldaboli and there were normally around 3000 to 4000 tonnes of frozen products in storage at any one time in a variety of locations. Some of these products were then brought back to from Thorlákshöfn to Nordurgardur to be repacked. But that’s all in the past now,’ Reynir Daníelsson said.