The Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) has revealed that four vessels will soon be brought to the Maldives to increase fish processing capacity.
MIFCO is in the process of acquiring one vessel from Japan and three from Thailand. The government is also upgrading the company’s facilities to solve the challenges in processing fish.
Speaking to PSM News, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ismail Fauzee said that the vessel being brought in from Japan will come into operation next month. He detailed that the vessel has a 120T brine freezing capacity and a 400T storage. He assured that the vessels will ease the challenges faced by fishermen.
MIFCO currently has two fish processing boats in its fleet. They are Jazeera 102, which has a 100T storage capacity, and Mahaa Kalaminja, which has a 90T storage capacity.
MIFCO has stated that the fisheries sector has improved and the number of fish processed has also increased. As such, the company has purchased 12,000T of fish and disbursed over USD12.8 million to fishermen so far this year.