NEW POLAR: A FISHING SHIP FOR THE FALKLANDS
By J. Brock (FINN)
Just over a year ago, when H. E. the Governor Mr. Howard Pearce was in Vigo in Spain, he toured the shipyards where New Polar was being built. At the time, it was still in dry dock and bore no resemblance to the splendid new ship that New Polar is today. On Friday, 01 October 2004, the New Polar was the venue of a reception and tour that was hosted by Polar Limited, that marked it’s flagging in the Falkland Islands. Approximately 50 invited guests enjoyed a cold buffet, wine and a tour of the ship.
This ship is the first purpose-built ship for the fishery and the New Polar will be fishing for Ice-fish in South Georgia waters as well as for other finfish species in Falklands waters. At just under 2,000 GMT, New Polar carries 58 crewmembers. The vessel has top of the range refrigeration equipment. Approximately 50 tonnes a day can be processed in the ship’s state of the art factory. Though the ship is geared for trawling for Squid, it can target many species as she can quickly change nets as the targeted species changes. According to Managing Director, Dick Sawle, the ship holds a database that can tell you where each individual fish was caught.
It is wholly owned by Polar Limited, a joint venture Company owned 50% by Seaview Limited and 50% by Pesca Nova. “Our partnership, rather like a strong marriage, survived all of the Fishery’s ups and downs and has flourished, Mr. Dick Sawle, told the guests.
Mr. Sawle went on to thank Manuel Fernandez, fellow Director and President of Pesca Nova, and Polar Directors, Unberto Pasangradi and Jose Maria Nunia, who apologised for their absence but sent along their very best wishes. He also thanked the design team, the Naval Architects of Pesca Nova, the shipyard and to the Captain, Jose Alnin and all of the Officers who all had an input to the design and specification of the New Polar. Alex Reid and Trish Henry were thanked for their help throughout the project.
In his remarks, H. E. the Governor Mr. Pearce thanked Polar for the invitation to mark the arrival of the New Polar to the Falkland Islands. He congratulated Mr. Sawle and his colleagues in the joint venture for showing their confidence in the Falklands’ fishery by investing time, effort and money in the new fishing vessel. “I think that shows a great deal of confidence in this fishery,” he said. He went on to say that the Falklands are going through a rather difficult time in the fishery in the Falklands but these things tend to go in cycles. Then he expressed his confidence that fishing would continue to play an extremely important part of the Falklands’ economy. “Your working with Pesca Nova, one of the leading fishing companies in Vigo in Spain and over the years we have learned through experience of these partnerships.” He added. He mentioned the continuation of partnerships and friendships that have been made and the experiences would continue to bring great benefits to the Falklands fishery.
