Spain’s next tuna superseiner is to supply the low-temperature market in Japan with fish frozen aboard at –55 degrees C. in addition to producing normal well-frozen fish for canneries.
Owner Albacora is fitting a low-temperature freezing tunnel on the starboard side for the highest quality purse seine caught tuna on it’s new 115-meter long superseiner.
These carefully selected tuna will be deep-frozen and stored forward in two 25-ton low-temperature freezing holds.
â€This is something new for Spanish tuna seiners and it is high added value†says naval architect Erneto Seidel, commercial manager at Shipyard Barreras (Hijos De J. Barreras), the Vigo yard, which is building two sister-ships for top Spanish owner Albacora.
Shipyard Barreras is next month due to launch the hull of the first 115-meter tuna superseiner, which is due for delivery in February 2004. The second ship is expected to follow in June 2004.
Albacora is a major shareholder in the Barreras shipyard and the company ordered the two superseiners to take advantage of some of the last shipbuilding subsidies made available by the EU in Brussels for larger fishing vessel construction projects,
These funds were cut off at the end of last year and owners now have to pay full construction costs.
â€Albacora is a very big company, which has a good position in the market and takes a long-term view. Many other ship owners have a more traditional approach to the business,†says Ernesto Seidel.
â€Albacora saw the opportunity to use the last subsidies to maintain its fleet.â€
The shipyard counts other leading Spanish tuna ship operators, such as Atunsa and Calvo, among its customers and it has built the largest tuna ships in the world, as well as repairing and refitting tuna seiners.
There has even been interest from shipyards in the Far East to share the yard’s tuna ship building technology which has been developed by building 21 tuna seiners since 1980.
