We have hired new staff. This time from Germany, the Ukraina, Latvia and Poland. Natascha, Markus, Yuri, Karlis and Robert.
Contractors are still working on the repair and upgrade of the harbor at Reykhólar. Not many venture out onto the dock to avoid being hit by the contractor's large vehicles and equipment. But our own Unnsteinn Birgisson is particularly good at making drone photos of the activity area.
Since the port of Reykhólar is in a state of limbo, the annual algal meal bulk-freighter cannot reach the dock. Instead, the towers are emptied into meal-containers and transported to Hólmavík (62km away). Considerable swithches and arrangements are needed to get the meal from the towers into these top-less containers to facilitate the annual export this time. Specially lined containers, additional extension of nozzles and augers that pump meal from towers, 4 trucks on non-stop trips, a whole gang of drivers and the harbor scales at Hólmavík are all involved in this extraordinary project.
Easing the trucks towards the factory facility had to be planned in detail. The fence had to be taken down and the gates widened. The containers must not be overfilled either, because then there is a risk that the axle-weight limit on regional roads might be surpassed. These transfers will probably last three full working days.
The project has tested team working abilities, thinking out of the box and has been unusual, challenging and a little exciting all at the same time. When finally all the seaweed meal from last Asco season lands in the ships' hold, all the winter work in Thorverk seems absolutely insignificant!
In a conversation with the drivres they admitted that there are birds with youngs that line the roads as well as rows of ewes and lambs on the roadside. They drive carefully and rather slowly with all this weight.
We welcome still two new memers to our group of summer-staff. Matilde and Michael.
Most likely, they enjoy the first days as they can spend some time outdoors. July is not very warm this year, but sunny. Here pics that show cleaning of the rawmaterial hold - on land, and roads around the industrial plant. No rawmaterial for the moment, and then thorough cleaning between batches is pushed afloat as usual.
Since 1976 Thorverk has harvested kelp annually in Breiðafjörður. It only grows on patches in the neighbourhood and in places it is mixed with Laminaria hyperborea. On June 22-26 2023 two divers and a boat equipped with an accurate scanner went to sample kelp from these grounds. The research is lead by the Icelandic Marine Research Institute, the department of algal research and partially funded by the Ec Eureka- Eurostars programme.
Thorverk uses a local, legal way to plant trees in the Reykhólahreppur-community that should take up carbondioxide from Thoverk's annual fuel emissioins. In 2023 Thorverk bought 3.200 trees of mixed species. The employees in the industrial plant (20 persons for 2 days) go as a team with a leader to plant all these trees in early June.
The number of trees is calculated in accordance with the Icelandic forestry association (also available in French and English) and the Kolviður sequestration calculators. Kolviður is the Icelandic carbon fund, and shows calculators that can help to decide how many trees to plant compared to how much fuel emissions you want to mitigate.
During the winter 2022-2023, huge work equipment from Borgarverk has been constantly criss crossing Thorverks homeground and Reykholar peers and harbor. The peers are being widened and lengthened, sealing way has been deepened. The Road administration and the contractor employees have communicated and found solutions to an acceptable division of the work area without any conflicts.
Thorverk uses a large crane when landing kelp and seaweed, but it can be said that it is like a fly compared to Borgarverk's huge crane. Once before Christmas, everything shook with rage inside the Thorverk factory just as if an eruption was about to begin.
Thorverk uses the Reykhólar pier non-stop all year around.
Early in the morning of July 26 it was therefore quite a shock to arrive at the pier. During the night the bulkhead on the south side of the pier had given away, and the edge of the quay with holdfasts, net board and folded seaweed bags had all disappeared into the sea. The issue was discussed at the daily morning staff meeting and a response action was planned. A boat was launched to take a better look at the situation and pictures were taken. No one had been on duty during the night, but an automated camera showed that there were two incidents. First at midnight, the south edge of the pier disappeared, and 8 hours later, during the staff meeting, a large part of the dock floor and the substrate fell into the sea. Still, the crane stood there intact just besides the cracks on the pier head. Nobody had been attending landing, but the staff was getting ready when this second slide occurred.
After inspections, meetings, notifications to the municipality, the road administration and other authorities, Thorverk set out a responce plan. The road authority then reacted quickly and called in a contractor for preliminary repairs. The gap was quickly filled with gravel from the region and compacted efficiently. Little by little, the gap was filled enough and the crane could be driven home that same evening! But the sea, high and low tide and strong currents did not give up. The next day, a large part of the preliminary filling had disappeared back into the sea.
Recently, the road construction has been preparing to renew the steel bulkhead south of the harbour. It is to be made so that larger cargo ships can dock, since a lot of export go that way to customers. Also, the facilities for the operation-devices will improve, there will be more space to turn. During this preparation, material must have been dug away that probably supported the old wall.
The material between the panels on the north and south has given way in recent decades, so that despite minor repairs, it is time to renew the entire pier-edge. Hopefully it will be expedited so that there is as little disruption to the operations as possible. The main thing is that employees are safe in all their tasks.
The algae factory, and all its staff escaped with a light shock. But judging by the pictures, it only took a few seconds for the filling, deck and steel-edges to fall into the sea. Everything went well. No one was injured and the young men who were preparing to land are all safe.
The work continues and now landing is done from another place within the pier.
We welcome this years new staff members. Youngsters from here and there, from Reykholar and Reykjavík as well as other sites in West Iceland. There are more photos to come.
New, but still not so new, harvesters have joined our flock this year. Björgvin Matthías Hallgrímsson og Eyjólfur Hermannsson have been with us earlier. This season they have returned to mount two of Thorverk´s harvesters to collect Asco. And the season has begun.
