A christening ceremony featuring local dignitaries and executives from Omega Protein was held Monday at the Moss Point shipyard. Following the christening, invited guests took a short river cruise on the Southern Star, admiring the vessel.

The newly retrofitted vessel will head to Uruguay next, where it will be used by a sister division of Omega Protein. The state-of-the-art ship is going to be a quantum leap into the future compared to what’s currently available in the Uruguayan fishery.

Renovations to the vessel include a completely rebuilt propulsion system and state-of-the-art digitally controlled equipment designed to reduce the amount of manual labor necessary to catch and land red crab.

With its new equipment, the Southern Star will be able to stay at sea for up to 30 days per trip. The vessel will also have facilities to process, package, freeze, and store red crabs on-board, allowing the vessel to sell directly to retailers and wholesalers. Those amenities will allow for better quality and fresher product.