FAXI AND INGUNN CHANGE HANDS

According to HB Grandi CEO Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson, the sale of Faxi RE and Ingunn AK, along with 0.67% of the capelin quota and trawl gear is good for both the seller and the buyer, Vinnslustödin.

Both vessels are dedicated pelagic vessels. Ingunn was built for Haraldur Böðvarsson (HB) in Chile and delivered in 2000. Faxamjöl, which subsequently became part of HB Grandi, acquired Faxi, then named Kap, from Vinnslustödin in 1996, along with a 0.50% of the capelin quota. Faxi was built in 1987 and was substantially refitted in 2000, when it was lengthened and the main engine was replaced. Faxi was refitted again in 2012 with a high-capacity RSW system.

The sale reduces HB Grandi’s share of the overall capelin quota from 18.67% to 18%, with the difference added to Vinnslustödin’s quota.

Ingunn will be handed over to Vinnslustödin on the 3rd of July and Faxi is to follow in December. The first of HB Grandi’s series of five new vessels, Venus NS, is due to dock at its home port of Vopnafjördur next weekend and is expected to start fishing on blue whiting at the end of next week.

The company’s second new pelagic vessel, Víkingur AK, is under construction in Turkey and is scheduled for delivery in December at the same time as Faxi is to be handed over.
The company’s third pelagic catcher, Lundey NS, was laid up last week. The handover of Ingunn in July means that the company expects to operate Lundey on Atlanto-Scandian herring this summer alongside Venus and Faxi. Ingunn’s crew will take over Lundey until the new Víkingur is delivered.

In the coming years HB Grandi aims to operate only two pelagic vessels, Venus and Vikingur.