EFFICIENT ONBOARD PROCESSING AND FREEZING OF FAS FILLETS

Efficient onboard processing and freezing of FAS fillets. Read Fish Focus’ latest publication focusing on seafood processing.

In the modern fishing industry, a well designed onboard factory is essential to ensure efficient processing of the valuable catch. Once the catch is out of the water, the process of filleting, sorting
and freezing must be done quickly while ensuring high yield and gentle handling of the frozen at sea fillets.

The typical time from net to freezer is 3-4 hours depending on catch volume and how the catch is processed. On the compact factory deck, the catch is automatically sent through the factory
from sorting of species and grades, trimming tables, packing, freezing and palletising.

A key supplier of these complete factory solutions is Carsoe, a Danish based Seafood Processing supplier with years of experience in designing, producing and installing factories on vessels and land factories across the world. Thomas Andreasen, Manager of Sales Engineering at Carsoe explains:

“It all starts with a tailor-made design for each factory, ensuring every inch of the factory deck is utilised. The task includes taking care of the product from the receiving area and until the frozen
product is unloaded at shore.”

High-capacity freezing units onboard

With Frozen-at-sea fillets, the freezing section of the factory is very important and the plate freezing technology with dual-contact freezing is great for efficient freezing of the fillets to maintain the fresh quality of the fish. In recent years, Automatic Plate Freezers have become a widely used freezing solution for processing onboard larger fishing vessels where floor space is valuable, and an uninterrupted production process is important. The infeed and outfeed of the freezer is handled automatically and designed with the highest possible capacity, reduced manual labour and easy maintenance in mind and the freezers run in an uninterrupted flow.

With an Automatic Horizontal Freezer, an operator packs the fillets in freezing trays at the weighout stations before sending the trays to the freezers. Tray sizes, capacity, freezer dimension,
product flow, and many other factors are customised to ensure efficient production processes for each vessel.

Factory design on Leinebris

Another freezing option is the V16 vertical plate freezers for block freezing of the fillets. This high-capacity freezer is designed for efficient space optimisation, and the automatic bottom
unloading of the frozen blocks minimises manual labour while enhancing production flow.

A highly automated and efficient factory design is standard in Carsoe designs and the new factory for longliner Leinebris is no exception. With a well-designed flow through the heading and gutting stations to the 6 pcs. V16 freezers, the catch is quickly and efficiently processed to maintain the high quality of the fish. With a complete factory deck designed for efficient and high-capacity production as well as an automated palletising and handling section, the new Leinebris vessel will be a significant upgrade from its predecessor.

Customised factory solutions ensure continuous flow

With the increasing size of freezing vessels, the need for sturdy, high capacity onboard whitefish processing equipment has increased significantly as well as a higher degree of automation of
the onboard fish factory.

A complete whitefish factory includes production lines, hotels, freezers and palletising. And the products can be traced throughout the process:

“We ensure, that all data connected to the product is stored throughout the process and combined in the label on the box,” Thomas Andreasen explains.

To ensure the highest capacity possible and correctly scaled processing, each factory is designed to suit the specific requirements of the customer. The result is a coherent and optimal product flow from catch to freezing and the end product, the Frozen-at-Sea fillets, are of premium quality.

What’s next in the Seafood Processing Industry?

As a leading supplier of processing solutions, Carsoe is in close contact with fishermen, owners and shipbuilders. When asked, Thomas Andreasen highlights palletising and handling as one area of interest from the industry:

“The demand for palletising unmixed pallets onboard is increasing, and our various sorting solutions have a product hotel for all types of vessels. This includes the use of robots onboard, a method we see a rising demand for in industry.”

With several procession options onboard, each sorting or processing variation is palletised separately. Once the vessel reaches shore, the pallets are ready for distribution without the need for further sorting at the dock.

Another current area of growth is the growing need for tracking and reporting. To accommodate the documentation requirements efficiently, automated and reliable reporting is a priority for
many fishermen and shipowners across the world.

“Using the available sensor data in your factory with solutions such as Carsoe Production Insights, the task of detailed reporting is automated to easily comply with the requirements for documentation and quality reports,” Thomas Andreasen concludes.