Icicle sell-off

Today brings word of a big and complex business deal.

As best we can tell, Icicle Seafoods is selling the Dutch Harbor processing ship Northern Victor, nine fishing vessels, and associated Bering Sea pollock quota.

The buyers include Japanese seafood giant Maruha Nichiro and two Alaska community development quota companies — Coastal Villages Region Fund and Norton Sound Economic Development Corp.

More details in this press release.

Is a pollock processor changing hands?

A city of Unalaska memo includes this intriguing line: "Icicle is transferring ownership of its operation at the Northern Victor to Westward."

The Northern Victor, operated by Icicle Seafoods, is a 380-foot processing ship permanently moored at Unalaska. A fleet cooperative supplies the ship with Bering Sea pollock.

Westward Seafoods, a unit of Japanese giant Maruha Nichiro, operates a large processing plant at Dutch Harbor.

Icicle's parent is Canadian seafood company Cooke.

To our knowledge, no company has formally announced a deal involving the Northern Victor. But it sure sounds like something is brewing.