Kirkella heads home after standout trip off Svalbard

The UK’s last remaining distant-water vessel, operated by Alda Seafood subsidiary UK Fisheries, left Hull on 14 April. After a stop in Norway to service equipment and ready her gear, fishing began on 20 April in Svalbard waters west of Bear Island.

All the catch has now been processed, frozen and packed into Kirkella-branded boxes in the onboard factory, and the frozen cod fillets will soon be bound for British fish & chip shops.

Spring in these northern waters can be unpredictable, as Reimarsson was quick to point out. After a couple of tough April/May campaigns in recent years, his expectations were not high, so the success of the trip came as a welcome surprise. “It was unusually good fishing for the time of year, far exceeding my expectations,” he said.

For all that, the final few days were leaner, with the catch slowing and the crew spending much of their time steaming and searching. This is a familiar pattern in deep-water fishing, and one the crew took in their stride: between maintenance, cleaning and 24/7 operations, there’s never any shortage of work on board a vessel like Kirkella, however full or empty the nets may be.

This has certainly been one of Kirkella’s best trips in terms of volume, though the financial picture will depend on prevailing product prices. Reimarsson credits much of the success to an experienced crew who know each other well after years of close teamwork.

The Kirkella carries 29 crew members working eight-hour shifts, with fishing teams of 12 and 11 in rotation and a smaller group looking after the engine room, bridge and galley. Most are British citizens, and many have been stalwarts of the Kirkella crew. Turnover is low, a quiet source of pride for the operation, and several of the crew have sailed with Reimarsson for more than two decades, including on earlier vessels operated from the UK. “We are lucky to have such a tight-knit crew,” the captain said.

Built in 2018, Kirkella is a modern freezer trawler with a full onboard processing factory. She will return to Hull to land her catch and prepare for her next voyage: a trip to the Flemish Cap, due to begin at the end of June.