VESSEL CONVERSION | Hannah – Freezer barge to support Northline Seafoods' salmon transport and storage activities in Alaska

Bellingham, Washington-based Northline Seafoods has expanded its fleet of vessels with the acquisition of a non-self-propelled barge designed to freeze, store, and transport large quantities of whole wild Alaskan salmon.

Hannah measures 400 feet (120 metres) long by 100 feet (30 metres) wide. The barge’s operating profile sees it depart Bellingham for Bristol Bay in Alaska during the spring fishing season.

Before the end of the season, it is transported back to Washington, where the onboard salmon are stored, thawed, and processed on demand to meet buyers’ specific needs. Northline said this “just-in-time” approach minimises waste, ensures quality, and maximises efficiency.

The whole salmon will be kept in a large spiral freezer until their core temperature has been reduced to desired levels, after which these will be transported to the onboard sorting facilities via a conveyor. The fish will be sorted by size before being placed into cold storage for later processing.

Preserving quality and minimising waste

In line with Northline’s aim of preserving fish quality at every opportunity, the barge was developed to ensure that any fish pulled out of the water will immediately be frozen, thus guaranteeing freshness, texture, nutrition, and taste.

Having critical facilities readily available on-site via the deployment of the barge in the waters where the salmon are caught means that the fish no longer need to be transported over great distances prior to being frozen and stored until processing, which can be spread out over time.

Northline expects that 217,000 gallons (821,000 litres) of diesel fuel will be saved compared with typical fish processing and transportation methods. Also, thanks to the platform's processing facilities, every piece of the fish is used, meaning less waste.

The flash freezing process meanwhile ensures that the salmon's skin is its own protection, minimising the need for plastic packaging.

All these attributes were incorporated to ensure that Northline's salmon processing operations will have only a minimal adverse impact on the marine environment in Bristol Bay.

Contributing to a shorter and more robust salmon supply chain

The vessel was built out of an existing barge hull that was towed from the Gulf of Mexico to Washington. Conversion works were undertaken at Fairhaven Shipyard in Massachusetts.

Northline said Hannah will be able to buy, process, ship, and store fish on a single vertically integrated platform. This eliminates the number of third-party participants Bristol Bay salmon passes through before finally reaching the customer, leading to what the company claims will be greater transparency and better quality.

The platform's cold storage facilities will be able to hold up to 6,576 tonnes while the daily freezer throughput is rated at 339 tonnes and daily ice production will be 274 tonnes.

There are four offloading stations and six servicing positions for use by the smaller boats that will transport the catch from the fishing grounds.