HB Grandi‘s new fresh fish trawler, Engey RE 91, arrives at Reykjavík harbor today. Engey arrived in Iceland on the 25th of January this year, after a 15 days long journey from the Celiktrans shipyard in Istanbul, Turkey, where the ship was built. Since then, the ship has been docked in Akranes where it has been equipped with a fully automatic fish holding deck as well as processing deck equipment. This revolutionary system is designed, developed and built by Skaginn 3X, in the towns of Akranes and Ísafjörður. The system provides a healthier working environment for workers as well as an increase in the ship's capacity and product yield.
"We are both happy and proud to welcome this magnificent fresh fish trawler, Engey RE 91, one of the most technologically advanced fishing vessels in Iceland. We will add two more fresh fish trawlers, Akurey and Viðey, to our fleet in the next few months, both of which will be equipped with the same advanced technology as Engey. We expect Engey to go on its first tour at the end of April," says Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson, CEO of HB Grandi.
"This is the largest development project ever to have been embarked on in Iceland. The foundation for this new technology comes mainly from new procedures in handling the fish, as well as increased processing system automation. This speeds up the processing and finishing of the product, delivering a much higher product quality. A new camera technology photographs every single fish, categorizing it by size and species. This technology also traces the fish throughout each step of the process, up until it is unloaded. This means we have an unparalleled ability to trace the fish from the moment it is caught up until it is consumed," says Ingólfur Árnason, CEO of Skaginn 3X. The company was recently awarded with the Icelandic Innovation awards for this new technology.
"This is the second vessel that is equipped with the revolutionary Sub-Chilling™ system, a new chilling method that chills the fish down to -1°C without freezing it. This method makes it possible to store the fish in tubs without using ice. Skaginn 3X has six patents pending for the processing equipment that Engey was loaded with," Ingólfur Árnason adds.
Nautic ehf. designed the ship. It has cabins for 17 people, 15 single cabins and one twin.
A welcoming reception will take place at Norðurgarður, Reykjavík harbor, today at 14:00. Engey will then be open for visitors from 13:00-16:00 tomorrow, Saturday.
