AKVA Group Chile S.A., a wholly owned subsidiary of Bryne, Norway-based AKVA Group ASA, has won a EUR 10.3 million (USD 11.4 million) contract to supply Cooke Aquaculture Inc. with a land-based recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) facility in Chile, the company announced.
Installation is expected to begin during the first quarter of 2020 and final delivery is slated for Q4 2021, the maker of aquaculture cages and feeding software said.
According to Chilean press, the project has to do with incubation and smolts production in the town of Pargua, in the country’s southern region of Los Lagos.
The project is to be handled by an experienced team of Chilean, Norwegian, and Danish professionals. AKVA Group Land Based’s Americas team is made up of more than 50 full-time staff, including a Chilean-based engineering department, project management and installation teams. These teams have worked on projects within the Americas, as well as some of largest global RAS projects in Norway, the Faroe Islands, and Tasmania, Australia.
AKVA Group Land Based Americas was formed in July in response to what the company saw as strong global growth in the land-based segment. The division – based in Puerto Montt, Chile, and led by general manager Mary Ann Rademacher – specializes in RAS.
“AKVA Group Land Based has experienced strong global growth in sales of recirculated aquaculture systems over recent years. Within the Americas, the delivery of projects into Canada and Chile has been supported by a large experienced team of dedicated professionals,” it said at the time.
In August, the Norwegian parent company named aquaculture veteran Christian Schäfer as the new general manager of AKVA Group Chile. He was previously responsible for software and technology at AKVA Group Chile and replaced Andrew Campbell, who was promoted within the company to regional president for the Americas, Australasia, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.
