In order to obtain fishing and production licenses in Guatemala, Jealsa had to form a joint-venture with local competitor Albacora. The two companies set up a structure in which 4 tuna boats were going to operate out of the harbour of Port Quetzal. In the port the processing plant and the coldstorage was also built on a site. comprising of 270.000 square meters. The total investment for this plant accounted up to 40 million Euro.
The fire destroyed the processing hall to the ground, while the coldstorage was mostly spared from the ordeal. Both the retorts, nor the water purifying plant were also unaffected and spared by the destructive flames. It is estimated that just the demolition and clearing work will take up to 45 days, before the company can begin with the renewed construction. At the moment the extend of the damages is under investigation by a team of experts from the company and the insurance companies.
It is already announced that it will take up to 6 to 8 months before all the new construction works have been completed and the plant can finally start its operations.
After he received the news of the fire, the president of Guatemala, Mr Portillo immediately contacted the president of Jealsa, Mr. Jesus Alonso to express his sympathies. Mr. Portillo was scheduled to perform the opening of the plant the next day together with Mr. Alonso. Mr. Alonso is, despite the obvious blow, good of confidence and expressed his good hopes that the plant will go to production soon, so that Jealsa can use it as a way to break into the US market.