China’s leading aquaculture equipment-makers are “having the time of [their] life,” enjoying unprecedented interest from the global salmon-farming sector, according to a senior employee at the firm that designed one of the most eye-catching offshore farm units of recent years.
Torgeir Torgersen is project manager at NSK Ship Design, which was behind the Havfarm, built in a Chinese shipyard for salmon giant Nordlaks. Built at the CIMC Raffles yard in Yantai, Havfarm is the world’s longest vessel. At 430 meters in length and 54 meters wide, it’s capable of farming 10,000 metic tons of salmon aboard. The first Havfarm model, the Ocean Farm 1, was towed from a shipyard in Yantai to Norwegian waters in July.
A second unit, the Havfarm 2, is planned, but the construction contract has yet to be awarded. Likewise, the firm has designed the FjordMAX, an inshore unit with systems for collection of waste feed and feces, which will also be contracted in 2021. The Yantai yard “would be on the list of potential yards” in the bidding process for both of the new projects, Torgersen predicted.
As the two-year process that Salaks AS went through to receive a decision on the FjordMAX – it was eventually granted six development permits to raise 4,680 MT of biomass, after applying for nine permits in 2017 – Torgersen said rather than cost, the biggest challenge faced by the offshore aquaculture sector is regulatory.
“[The process is] quite thorough, proving that you have sustainable production and won’t have an adverse effect,” he said.
Likewise, systems like Havfarm – which is fully electrified – are required to come with a low carbon footprint.
Nevertheless, interest in Chinese construction of state-of-the-art aquaculture pens has been intense from “all the main players” around the world, according to Torgensen, though deals have yet to be done.
Aside from cost-competitiveness, the quality in Chinese shipbuilding yards is “at a high level,” Torgersen said. Yantai Raffles has significant expertise in manufacturing drill rigs and its resume for aquaculture projects is growing. And while some European shipyards are nearly cost-competitive, some lack the competencies of a yard like Yantai.
“[That’s seen]e specially on a project like the Havfarm 1, which requires 20- to 40-millimeter plate welding as the standard required, as opposed to the 10mm or 12mm seen as standing in shipbuilding,” Torgersen said. “You need a completely different set of welder qualifications and training. CIMC Raffles has that in place.”
Photo courtesy of Salaks AS
