Vikings go Dutch on slurry
Holland’s YORK International and Optimar Iceland have joined forces to introduce a new generation of slurry-ice machines called SABROE Optim-Ice.
The idea behind this co-operation, a statement says, is that a stronger, improved slurry-ice machine could emerge from the best of what each company had been doing and they claim they are 'third-generation and the most reliable machines on the market".
They say they also ran an endurance test from February to October 2005 on the Coastal Fishing boat UK-224 in the Netherlands.
“Finally, a slurry-ice machine that produces slurry-ice as it should be,” said shipowner Luut de Boer. “From the first day that the machine had been put in operation till the official hand-over in October, the SABROE Optim-Ice machine had operated continuously without one unnecessary stop; it was completely different when we had the old type of machine.” UK-244 fishes mainly gurnard and red mullet and has been using slurry-ice from the start and they say have complete confidence in the latest equipment on board.
Even in summer, when the seawater can reach +18ºC, the SABROE Optim-Ice machine can still produce slurry-ice from seawater with a high ice concentration (up to 40 per cent) in one pass and without any storage or collecting system. Production is not effected by the low salt content in some parts of the North Sea (for example in the so-called “German Bay”).
The company statement continued, that when using slurry-ice directly on the fish, it looks like “the fish absorbs the cold” although the temperature of slurry-ice (-1.8ºC) is much higher than that of flake-ice (-5ºC). The reason is that slurry-ice has a much better heat-transfer because it covers the fish completely from the outside and also from the inside via the mouth and the gills. After a while, when the water drips away, the remaining snow-ice will preserve the good quality of the fish for a long time.
The crew not only had very good quality fish but prices were (and still are) always higher than for their (flake-ice) competitors. This was also the case for by-catch such as sole and plaice.
“Even in hard times of reducing quota and increasing fuel prices, we have found a way to keep the business running by distinguishing ourselves with better fish quality. I really think that quality is the future because the market for quality fish is growing” says the owner of the UK-224. “… and I honestly believe that the time of low or sometimes standard quality is fading away in Western Europe, and that the reliable SABROE Optim-Ice machine will have a big contribution to this”.
The statement said the integrated pre-cooler means it is always possible to achieve slurry-ice with a high ice concentration at warmer (even tropical) water conditions.
