News

The CEO and the Board of Directors of Samherji have agreed that the CEO Thorsteinn Már Baldvinsson will step aside for the time being until the pending internal investigation into the company’s subsidiaries’ alleged wrongdoing in Namibia has revealed the key material facts of the matter.

During that period, Björgólfur Jóhannsson will function as acting CEO of Samherji effective immediately. Jóhannsson has been the CEO & President of Icelandair Group, Chair of Fisheries Iceland (SFF), Chair of The Icelandic Employers Association (SA) and CEO of the seafood company Icelandic Group. He will focus on meeting the employees and key stakeholders in the coming days.

Samherji would like to make the following statement after coverage about our operations in Namibia in a newscast broadcasted tonight by The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service.
"We were very disappointed to learn that Jóhannes Stefánsson, a former managing director of Samherji's operations in Namibia, appears to have been involved in questionable business practices and possibly entangled Samherji in activities that may be illegal," says Thorsteinn Már Baldvinsson, CEO of Samherji.

Press release
It has recently been brought to our attention that a former executive of a subsidiary of the company in Namibia, Jóhannes Stefánsson, has spoken to the media and made serious allegations against Samherji's executives, both current and former. We take this very seriously and have engaged the international law firm Wikborg Rein based in Norway to assist us in thorough investigation of our operations in Africa. Until the investigation has been concluded we will not comment on specific allegations.

We have especially requested to have background discussions with reporters from the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service, RÚV, to provide information that we believe is relevant to the proposed coverage. Our request has been rejected by the editor because the reporters are only willing to talk with us in front of a camera.

At the opening of the Brussels Seafood Show this morning Ice Fresh Seafood opened the new web page www.icefresh.is. This web page is first and foremost an introduction to Samherji´s world of Seafood.
Samherji exibits at the Brussels Seafood show as in previous years. The Samherji stand has been buzzing on this first day of the exhibition where guests are welcomed by the staff of Samherji and Ice Fresh Seafood.

Óskar Aevarsson has decided to step down as Fleet Manager of Samherji´s EU Fleet operations. Óskar Aevarsson has cooperated with the Samherji cousins Thorsteinn Már and Kristján for over 30 years. They first met in Slippurinn in Njardvik and in May 1989 Óskar started working for Samherji as Chief Engineer on board Hjalteyrin EA310. He worked as Chief Engineer on board various Samherji vessels until 1997 when he started working in Grindavik. Óskar took charge over the operations of the company Fiskimjöl & Lysi in Grindavík, which was then owned by Samherji but later, and while Óskar was in charge of the operations, merged with Samherji. In 2006 Óskar moved with his family to Cuxhaven in Germany, where he became Manager of Samherji´s EU fleet operations.

Samherji Ísland ehf. has received an equal pay certification confirming that the company meets the requirements of the Equal Pay Standard ÍST: 85 2012 and the requirements of Act no. 10/2008 on equal status and equal rights for women and men.
BSI á Íslandi ehf., an accredited certification service provider, assessed the company's equal pay scheme in December and January. The certification confirms that Samherji's management system functions as intended, that the system ensures that payroll procedures and decisions are based on objective considerations and exclude gender-based discrimination.

A name giving Ceremony of the two magnificent new freezer trawlers Cuxhaven NC 100 and Berlin NC 105
Last Friday was a big day in the history of Samherji and Deutsche Fischfang Union (DFFU) when the two new vessels were formally given a name at a ceremony in Cuxhaven, Germany. The event was even more remarkable since DFFU's last new build came to Cuxhaven in 1990. Harpa Ágústsdóttir wife of Haraldur Grétarsson, DFFU's Managing Director, named Cuxhaven NC 100 in a formal and traditional way. Then Annegret Aeikens wife of Dr. Hermann Onko Aeikens, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, named Berlin NC 105. In relation to special event DFFU hosted a reception for it´s customers, officials, suppliers, employees and other well-wishers of the company. A total of 400 guests from 17 countries attended. Haraldur Grétarsson, Dr. Ulrich Getsch, Mayor of Cuxhaven and Dr. Hermann Onko Aikens, addressed the guests.
On this occasion, DFFU donated nine ship models to the Windstärke 10 Maritime Museum in Cuxhaven. The models are made after some of the company´s vessels and show the evolution of German fishing industry in the last century, but the oldest model is from 1921. This gift was well received by the museum's management, as the history of the fishing industry in Germany and Cuxhaven city coincide. Cuxhaven was one of Germany's largest fishing ports in the last century, in which many Icelanders landed their catch from the North Sea.

 

Björg EA 7 latest ship in Samherji's fleet arrived in Akureyri Tuesday October 31st. The ship which was built by the Cemre shipyard in Turkey, is 2,080 gross tons, 62.49 meters long and 13.54 meters wide. Björg EA is the third ship that Samherji receives this year, but the sister ships Kaldbakur EA 1 and Björgúlfur EA 312 arrived earlier in the year. The ships were designed by the engineering company Skipatækni and Bárður Hafsteinsson in cooperation with the owners. In the next weeks processing and cooling equipment will be installed on board the ship and it is expected to commence fishing in the beginning of year 2018. Guðmundur Freyr Gudmundsson is the captain of Björg EA.

This week, there comes a parting of the ways for us and the vessel Baldvin NC, previously called Baldvin Þorsteinsson EA, when it is handed over to its new owners. This occasion marks the end of its 25 years of success with the Baldvin name.

The freezer trawler Baldvin Þorsteinsson EA came to Iceland 25 years ago on November 20th 1992, and was Samherji’s first new built vessel. It was built in Flekkefjord in Norway, a 1,500 tonne ship and 66 metres long. The first captain to take command was Þorsteinn Vilhelmsson and other captains during the 10 years that the ship was part of the Samherji fleet were Arngrímur Brynjólfsson, Guðmundur Jónsson and Hákon Þröstur Guðmundsson.