Floating fish plant becomes Mersey Seafoods

The launching was scheduled for three o'clock and precisely at that time the carriage at the marine railway supporting the 160 by 40 foot steel structure began inching toward the waters of the Mersey River. The barge, built of 250 tons of welded steel plate, floated at a draft of 20 inches.

As she slipped from the railway cradle she was taken in tow by the light towboat Fort Point and brought alongside the Steel & Engine Products wharf. There, she was safely secured in place a half-hour after launching. A start was made on installing machinery and equipment while the barge was on the marine railway, and that work was continued during that summer. The plant is scheduled to commence operations in the fall, and ceremonies usually associated with a launching were deferred for the official opening.

The event was nevertheless a historic one for Liverpool, which had been without a fish plant since the Nickerson Brothers' operation was totally destroyed by fire on Sunday, July 1, 1956. The floating fish plant was the first of its kind built in Canada. The plant will combine the features of a factory ship and a land-based plant best suited for the purposes of its owners, Mersey Seafoods Limited. The barge was officially designated a ship, and was called The Mersey Seafoods 1.

The concept of the floating plant was the brain child of the late George Curphey, then General Manager of STENPRO and the plant was designed by StenPro draftsmen.

Mersey Seafoods was incorporated in February 1964 after a year of unofficial operation and after the design and financial arrangements were approved.

Steel for the barge was pre-cut in three weeks, and the plates for the hull were completely pre-fabricated between the commencement of work on December 16th, 1964, and the laying of the first plate on March 24th. The pre-fabricated pieces fit together within a tolerance of 1/8 inch. The entire hull was sandblasted after being welded together and receiving seven coats of a special vinyl paint, which assured the plant many years of operations without the necessity of dry docking. The barge, which originally rode high in the water, has been greatly improved and modernized, and now sits solidly on the bottom of the river.

After heavy equipment was installed in the holds, a two-storey galvanized steel housing was erected on the barge. The plant was designed to handle 10-million pounds of fish a year, based on a one-shift operation. It also was fitted out to convert offal to fish meal, for 100 per cent utilization of product. Its cold storage holding room was capable of storing three-quarters of a million pounds of finished product, and its ice machines provided ice for the company’s future fleet of ships.

Today, Mersey Sea Foods is a modern plant providing employment for many in Liverpool and area.