MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Beware: Chinese company with ten new state of the art planning to operate in SW Atlantic Ocean

The new vessels are all large-scale squid jigging vessels of 65.16 meters long and with 1,227 gross tonnage

Pingtan Marine Engineering Ltd., a global fishing company based in the People's Republic of China, announced over the weekend that the Company's 10 new squid jigging vessels have left the port of Shidao in Weihai in the morning of September 15 local time and are sailing towards their designated fishing areas in the international waters for operations.

These new vessels are all large-scale squid jigging vessels of 65.16 meters long and with 1,227 gross tonnage. The modification and rebuilding projects for these vessels were completed in June this year.

As indicated in the approval by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China, the 10 squid jigging vessels are allowed for fishing operations in the international waters of the Indian Ocean, the North Pacific Ocean, the Southeast Pacific Ocean and Southwest Atlantic Ocean.

Mr. Xinrong Zhuo, Chairman and CEO of the Company, commented: “We held a simple ceremony as these 10 new vessels left port. We believe that the fishing operations of these vessels will further enhance our catching capacity and increase the Company's supply of seafood to the market. Squid is one of our key products. The Company is continuing to make adjustments to its sales strategy in an effort to achieve our goal of growth in both catching volume and selling price, and we believe these new vessels will assist the Company in reaching these goals.” (FIS/MP)