Director of Carapau Fishing, Hermanus Kasper said the recently renamed Starfish II is currently worth N$190.8 million (US$12 million). Starfish II was renamed to Carapau I, to make the fishing vessel more relateable to the local scene.
Speaking to The Villager this week, Kasper said the vessel was on foreign registry St Vincent and Grenadines. “Now it has become a Namibian registered vessel ex-Walvis bay. These are all Namibian companies,” Kasper said.
Carapau I is a venture between Namsov, Atlantic Sea Products, Diaz Fishing, and SPOTO Fishing and it is a factory ship of 110 meters. The board of directors of Carapau Fishing (Pty) flagged the vessel and renamed its fishing vessel Starfish II last week at Walvisbay and it was officiated by the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources Bernhard Esau.
The agreement was entered into by the parties to form a new horse mackerel venture and the shareholding is divided equally hence the indigenous Namibian right holders own and control 75% of the company. In terms of Horse mackerel, in October 2014, one of the major players in Namibia’s horse mackerel fishing sector, Namsov Fishing Enterprises, filed a court case with the minister of fisheries and marine resources with the intention to get a bigger fishing quota than the one awarded to it.