Northline completes Hannah seafood platform

The vessel’s departure from Bellingham’s Fairhaven Shipyard on 25 May 2024 marks the successful completion of a three-year-plus project including 15-months of construction.

Hannah, a 400-foot by 100-foot barge, is a vertically integrated, all-in-one solution for buying, freezing, shipping, storing and distributing wild Alaskan salmon. This supply chain platform improves quality, increases efficiency, and preserves the value of wild salmon at the source.

The vessel’s ultra-low-temperature refrigeration system creates a new production model for wild Alaskan salmon. Whole, round fish are frozen quickly to a core temperature of -30°F directly on the fishing grounds, preserving salmon in a fresh-like state.

“This is a dream come true. Seeing our vessel leave the Fairhaven Shipyard is a critical milestone for the Bristol Bay salmon industry and for Northline Seafoods. I am proud of our team and appreciative of all the people who helped us get here,” Northline Seafoods CEO Ben Blakey said. “Our success is shared with many partners, including the Port of Bellingham and the more than 250 local vendors who contributed to the construction of the Hannah. This is an important moment for us all.”

Northline Seafoods’ Hannah has the following attributes:

• Freezing Capacity: Freezes up to 1 million pounds of salmon per day with a production crew of 20
• Freeze Time: Freezes salmon to -30°F core temperature in under 2 hours
• Ice Production: Produces over 1 million pounds of slurry ice per day
• Hold Capacity (fresh): Holds 2.3 million pounds of fresh fish
• Freezer Hold Capacity: Onboard cold storage holds over 10 million pounds of frozen salmon
• Personnel: Total crew capacity of 95 berths, with 75 personnel for seasonal operations
• Location: Hannah will be located at Clarks Point in the Nushagak district and will buy fish from all Bristol Bay fishing districts
• Partners: 250+ Washington-based vendors contributed to Hannah

At the end of the 2024 fishing season, Hannah will return to Bellingham where it will continue to operate as a cold storage facility for the 2024 season catch. The whole, round, frozen salmon will be stored on the vessel, thawed and processed on-demand, to buyers’ specifications. In the spring of 2025, the vessel will once again make the journey to Bristol Bay, creating a cyclical, flexible, adaptable and efficient supply chain.

In 2022, Northline Seafoods received a US$40 million Food Supply Chain loan backed by the US Department of Agriculture as part of the “Build Back Better” initiative. This financing was secured through Greater Commercial Lending, a Reno, Nevada-based subsidiary of Greater Nevada Credit Union, which provides loans to businesses and organisations in underserved and rural communities.

Seattle, Washington-based investment bank Zachary Scott assisted Northline Seafoods in the financing of construction and operations.