Atlantic Capes Fisheries has recently completed the installation of an individually quick-frozen (IQF) tunnel freezer, as well as a slurry ice and delivery system, at its Fall River, Massachusetts, U.S.A. facility.
The Cape May, New Jersey, U.S.A. seafood harvester, processer, and marketer produces scallops, surf clams, squid, mackerel, oysters, and other Mid-Atlantic species for retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators in the North American market. The company also offers docking, icing, and unloading services to independent boat owners.
Atlantic Capes’ new IQF tunnel freezer has the capacity of freezing up to 9,000 pounds of scallops per hour. It was installed by Icelandic processing technology firm Skaginn 3X.
The installation of the new equipment is a part of a large expansion scheduled for completion by the end of 2018, according to the company.
“This is the sixth freezer we have set up here in the U.S. This installation took three weeks and is by far the largest to date.” Skaginn 3x North America Sales Manager Sigurður Skúlason said. “We were happy to accept the challenge when ACF approached us with this request. Our main concern with this project was lack of space. Thanks to the IQF tunnel freezers’ design, the freezer can be located outside the plant with the infeed/outfeed facing into the production area. This saves a lot of valuable space.”
