According to plate freezer manufacturer DSI there is an increased focus on the working environment onboard fishing vessels around the world.
In 2006, the company worked on a number of projects to improve the handling operation around the freezers. The result is that DSI now has four different block handling systems to offer customers.
The development work was focussed not only on the working environment onboard, but also on space saving solutions.
The target is to automate and optimise the production capacity and to improve the working conditions for the crew in the factory.
The different solutions that have been developed are as follows:
• A completely new freezer developed together with Danish company Carnitech, based on a new principle where the blocks are discharged from the bottom of the freezer and then conveyed under the freezer. This leaves the aisle between the freezers free, giving the crew better space for filling the freezer. The concept is already working on a Norwegian trawler, and another installation, also on a Norwegian trawler with four freezers, is currently ongoing and will be operational in the first months of 2007.
• A system based on well-known principles from land installations has been developed together with Danish company Erlinord, and adapted to trawler conditions. Here all the blocks are removed from the freezer in one operation. This reduces the handling time and the freezer is quickly ready for a new batch.
• The well-known overhead crane system from Erlinord, mainly used on land installations where all blocks are removed in one operation. The system has been used for more than 25 years and is probably the most simple and effective system on the market.
• The unloading system for the flat top freezers where the blocks are pushed out of the freezer one by one onto a conveyor in-between the rows of freezers. The system has already been sold to many trawlers around the world.
