THOR News and Photos 
March 2010 (F/TR Athena 1)
Exchange of signed official handover document
Mr Cai Zhong Min, Production Director, 'Ship Repair Division of CSSC Guangzhou Huangpu Shipbuilding Company ltd and Hans Andrias Joensen C.E.O. THOR
A display of dancing lions
F/TR ATHENA
LOA: 105.00 m, Breadth: 20.00 m, Depth: 14.70 m, Draft: 9.15 m, GT: 7805 t, NT: 3930 t
Handover of F/TR ATHENA in China
On 17 March 2010 the shipyard Guangzhou Huangpu Shipbuilding Company Limited in Guangzhou, China, officially handed over the completely rebuilt F/TR ATHENA to THOR. There were speeches of acknowledgements and thanks to all parties concerned.
There was also a ceremony on the quayside, where visitors enjoyed a display of dancing lions.
In June 08, ATHENA arrived in Guangzhou a burnt out hulk after ‘limping’ across the ocean from Chile. THOR had decided rather than selling it for scrap they would rebuild the vessel. There were a quite a few sceptics who thought that this venture would not succeed, but on the 17 March they were proved wrong. After two years of intensive labour, and cross cultural exchanges, the magnificent results are there for all to see.
In his thank you speech Hans Andrias Joensen, C.E.O. of THOR stated amongst other things "...Few people believed in this project when we sailed ATHENA from Chili. And only a few people believed that the end result would be so good when we decided to rebuild the ship at a Chinese shipyard. All the world’s large fishing vessel owners are waiting with great interest to see how ATHENA will perform after being rebuilt here in this Chinese shipyard. Hopefully ATHENA will be a proud lady who will be sailing the word’s ocean, representing Chinese shipbuilding and representing the CSSC shipyard..."
Hans Andrias went on to say that hopefully the cooperation built here will grow in the future, particularly as THOR is considering building a new offshore vessel.
On 18 March the ship started its sea trials, and if everything goes well should be sailing towards the fishing area in the south Pacific towards the end of the month. She will be fishing mackerel and horse-mackerel on a Faroese quota in the international waters in the South Pacific. She will be rejoining her sister vessel Poseidon, which is already fishing there. Up to now this season has started a little slow, but is now picking up.
Contact News and Photos editor: Sue Philbrow
