The two chartered Korean vessels Melilla 201 and Melilla 203 arrived in Dunedin on March 25 and April 3 respectively, and have discharged their cargoes, been bunkered and moved around different berths in the upper harbour.
A United Fisheries spokesman said when contacted yesterday the vessels had finished their deep-sea contract with United, but it could be several weeks before he knew where the pair would next be contracted to fish.
''They're tied up until a final decision is made where they will go,'' the spokesman said.
United Fisheries has its own quota, covering most of the main commercial species of New Zealand. It has company owned and operated fishing vessels, and also uses chartered deep-sea factory trawlers.
It was understood the vessels' main crews had been paid off and the boats have a skeleton crew aboard.
United supplies both the domestic and export markets.
The fresh-fish vessels catch mainly hoki, warehou, barracouta, monkfish, skate, flounder, sole, groper, tarakihi and gurnard and the fish are landed fresh in ice.
Its freezer vessels catch generally squid, hoki, orange roughy, hake, ling, southern blue whiting, red cod, smooth oreo dory, silver warehou, warehou, mackerel and barracouta, which are snap-frozen at sea.
