Tri Marine Group, Maersk Line and Solomon Islands Ports Authority (SIPA) have announced the addition of two Maersk Line Star Loaders at SIPA’s wharf in Noro, Solomon Islands to maximise efficiency in new reefer container loading operations for tuna.
The equipment consists of telescopic conveyor systems enabling purse seiners to load tuna directly into pre-cooled reefer containers. This will reduce unloading times and preserve temperatures and quality at a lower cost than traditional transhipment operations.
“Tuna is one of Solomon Island’s most important resources,” said Thue Barfod, global head of the fish and seafood cargo segment at Maersk Line. “This Star Loader system provides a new opportunity for the people of Solomon Islands to benefit from their tuna resources.”
Less expensive
Joe Hamby, chief operating officer of Tri Marine Group, said: “The Star Loaders from Maersk Line make Noro transhipment operations best-in-class among the ports in the region. The fact is that purse seine owners will now be able to ship their catch to the most important markets, like Bangkok, at lower cost than by traditional means, such as reefer carriers.”
Shipping by containers instead of by carriers allows for optimisation of catch. Certain species or sizes can be shipped in container size lots to markets that pay a premium for part of the catch as opposed to transhipment by carriers where all of the catch typically must go to one destination market.
In the Solomon Islands, Tri Marine’s twelve vessel fleet of fishing boats operated by National Fisheries Developments and the processing operations at SolTuna employ about 2,400 Solomon Islanders.
