Last week agreements for the construction of three wetfish trawlers were signed at the office of HB Grandi.

After signing the contracts. From left: Torfi Þorsteinsson, Department Manager Groundfish; Loftur B. Gíslason, Fresh Fish Trawlers Manager; Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson, Chief Executive Officer; Alfreð Tulinius, Nautic ehf.; Kristján Loftsson, Chairm...

After signing the contracts. From left: Torfi Þorsteinsson, Department Manager Groundfish; Loftur B. Gíslason, Fresh Fish Trawlers Manager; Vilhjálmur Vilhjálmsson, Chief Executive Officer; Alfreð Tulinius, Nautic ehf.; Kristján Loftsson, Chairman; Ahmet Ötkür, Chairman of Celiktrans; Volkan Urun, Celiktrans; Magnús Helgi Árnason, Lawyer; and Jónas Guðbjörnsson, Financial Manager

The contract amount is €43,950,000, or close to ISK6.8bn. Delivery of the first ship is planned for May 2016, the second in late 2016 and the third in spring 2017.

The new ships will replace three current wetfish trawlers, Ásbjörn RE, Ottó N. Þorláksson RE and Sturlaugur H. Böðvarsson AK. The new ships will be more economical, catch handling and utilisation of the fish will be better, they will offer more operational security, and lower fuel and maintenance costs.

Turkish shipyard Celiktrans Deniz Ltd. will manage the construction. The company is currently building two pelagic ships for HB Grandi.

The vessels will be designed by Nautic ehf.