Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) has acquired a refrigerated cargo ship with a capacity of 2,500 tonnes for storage and fish exports.

While MIFCO had previously revealed that the vessel was purchased for MVR 27.8 million, the company's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ismail Fauzee stated they will be able to pay this off if the vessel operates without any issues for the next two years.

Fauzee, during an appearance on RaajjeTV's Fala Surukhee programme said that the vessel named "Jazeera Reefer" is a used one, adding that they decided on the particular ship for various reasons including solutions to a number of concerns by fishermen.

While the purpose of acquiring the container ship is to increase fish storage capacity, this vessel would be travelling to different parts of the Maldives and foreign countries as well.

Fauzee informed that this vessel was purchased due to MIFCO’s restricted and strained holding mechanism and so that the company would have its own storage unit.

This vessel was previously owned by a Thai company and has a length of 98 meters and a beam of 13.6 meters. As of now, Maldives with the help of India, is working to construct a 4,000-tonne storage unit for fish in ‘Felivaru’, in addition to the work being done to increase capacity for fish storage in North islands.

MIFCO had stated that the Jazeera Reefer which arrived in the Maldives on July 22, fulfills European Union and Indian Ocean Tuna Commission regulations.