OTTÓ BACK FISHING

Fresher trawler Ottó N Thorláksson is back fishing after having been laid up for almost three months due to a main engine breakdown. The trawler is now off the south-west of Iceland and fishing well.

‘We did a trial trip last Friday after the engine had been repaired and everything went so well that they took ice on board and sailed on Saturday,’ said HB Grandi’s marine superintendent Gísli Jónmundsson, who oversaw the repair job.

The breakdown last November was traced to a failed main bearing that resulted in damage to the crankshaft and other components. Stálsmiðjan – Framtak was contracted to handle the repair job and sourced a second-hand engine from Holland. The engine block, crankshaft and other components were used from this engine. This engine dates back to 2005 and other equipment to 2002, which makes it practically a new engine compared to Ottó N Thorláksson’s original engine that dated back to 1978 and had been in use since 1981.

‘If this all works out, then we’ll have a much better main engine as the original engine block was no longer in the best condition,’ Gísli Jónmundsson said.