Katrin Jóhanna temporarily loses fishing licence after ownership split

The fishing licence for the pelagic vessel Katrin Jóhanna has been temporarily withdrawn because its ownership has changed and its quotas must be divided equally, Kringvarp Føroya reports.

The public limited company P/F Kinnfelli, which owned the vessel, has been split into two companies. Half of the company has been transferred to the newly established P/F Katrin Jóhanna, led by Tummas Henriksen. The other half has been transferred to the newly established private limited company Sp/f 7.mai 2026, led by Hjarnar Krogh Dalsgaard.

Katrin Jóhanna, based in Miðvágur, was bought from Norway in 2018 for just under DKK 44 million. It originally entered the Faroese fleet to fish development quotas for mackerel, herring and blue whiting. The vessel has also received quotas under Article 49 of the Fisheries Resources Act for commercial trials and projects, as well as smaller mackerel quotas acquired from other vessel groups.

This year, Katrin Jóhanna is licensed to fish a total of 1,526 tonnes of mackerel, 1,529 tonnes of North Sea herring and 13,400 tonnes of blue whiting. According to the latest overview from Vørn, the vessel has already caught almost all of its herring quota, just under half of its mackerel quota and more than half of its blue whiting quota.

All assets and liabilities of P/F Kinnfelli have been transferred to the two new companies, while the original company is being wound up. According to registration information, each of the new companies was established with approximately DKK 12 million in share capital.

The two new companies have applied to receive the remaining quotas, split equally between them. While the transfer is being processed, Katrin Jóhanna has no fishing licence because the ownership arrangements must be in order.

Half of the quotas, belonging to Tummas Henriksen’s company, will be placed back on Katrin Jóhanna. The other half, belonging to Hjarnar Krogh Dalsgaard’s company, will temporarily be transferred to the fishing boat Gudrun, which the new company has bought.

Sp/f 7.mai 2026 is also expected to merge with Gráasteini, which operates the pelagic vessel Birita, and the company Ango, which until recently owned the pelagic vessel of the same name. The proposed merger is currently with the Competition Authority for approval.

Katrin Jóhanna landed catches worth DKK 110 million last year. According to Vørn, it has landed catches worth DKK 55 million so far this year.