Iceland’s fishing fleet hauled its gear at 2300 last night and headed for home as a resolution could not be found in the long-running negotiations between vessel owners and unions.
The ships’ officers union FFSÍ had already reached agreement with owners earlier this year and the engineers’ union also reached agreement with owners yesterday, but the Icelandic Seamen’s Union (SSÍ) and operators’ federation SFS were unable to strike an agreement on minimum manning levels for fresher trawlers and pelagic vessels.
Agreement had already been reached between seamen and owners on several issues that had been the subject of long-running disputes, including fish pricing and the controversial newbuild deduction for crews on new fishing vessels.
SSÍ described their manning level requirement as a principle they are not prepared to back down on any further, as required manning levels are already dangerously low.
Negotiations came to an end last night, ands the strike began at 2300 as the fleet was required to haul and head for port. Two freezer trawlers, Therney and Örfirisey, have been fishing in the Russian zone of the Barents Sea and are expected to spend a week steaming home to dock in Reykjavík.
There are no indications of when negotiations between SSÍ and SFS are likely to be resumed.
