The floating factory

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The future shrimp trawler is sailing along the coast of Greenland. With equipment from Carnitech A/S, Royal Greenland owned »Akamalik« has achieved a highly efficient production facility able to land 500 tons of cold water shrimps a month.

Super modern plant

Akamalik is one of the longest shrimp trawlers sailing along the coast of West Greenland. Seen from the outside, the length is the only visible difference between this long red ship and other shrimp trawlers. Onboard, however,  the difference is substantial. On the second deck, you find a super modern shrimp plant. In just one month, the crew of seven are able to weigh and pack approximately 500 tons of shrimps. In comparison, other trawlers handle approximately 350 tons. The high level of automation makes production highly efficient. Contributing to this efficiency are feeding systems on the grading plant and lines requiring only half the crew compared to what is usually needed. But also unmanned box forming machines and systems which automatically bring the shrimp boxes to the packing area.

Safely out of the harbour

»Akamalik« was built in Spain. Jens Peter Ude Kristensen from Carnitech A/S has followed the entire process from the drawing table to the maiden trip.  He reports, ”Our engineers worked in close co-operation with the Spanish shipyard workers.  During the installation phase, the Danish engineers were very dependent on the Spaniards who took care of water, electricity, and hydraulics.” After eight weeks of installation work, »Akamalik« was ready to be set afloat. The Danish engineers spent two weeks of sailing with a double check of all machinery in order to make sure that everything worked satisfactorily. On this trip, it became evident that in 12 hours it was possible to catch, grade, weigh, pack, freeze and load 34 tons of fresh shrimps.  ”There are of course still small adjustments to be made and I have personally been on the trawler in order to make some modifications. However, everything is going well,  ” says Jens Peter Ude Kristensen.

New techniques

For optimal utilization of the modern plant, the crew has had to learn new techniques and form new habits. ”All equipment can be controlled from a computer touch screen. Before the crew had to manually turn the hydraulic handles in order to change the production rhythm. Everything is now automated,” says Jens Peter Ude Kristensen. In order to meet with the largest difficulties Jens Peter Ude Kristensen has made some small laminated manuals, which have been placed on the machines. Besides, it is only the production managers who are able to change the adjustments as the systems are coded. It takes time to develop new production methods, but it is worth it, says Jens Peter Ude Kristensen.

Automatic palletizing

A new technique has been introduced in the hold. Shrimp boxes are marked with bar codes, and an automatic palletizing system makes sure that the boxes are packed with the bar codes on the outside. This way, they do not have to be moved from the pallets until they reach the buyer. At landing, you lift up the pallets, and the bar codes show you where to take the pallet. ”The new palletizing system is definitely the future. A lot of effort is saved by using this method. »Akamalik« is one of the most modern shrimp trawlers in the world,” says Jens Peter Ude Kristensen.

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