Norwegian engineering firm lands fish farm contract
The floating aquaculture construction Havfarmen is designed to exploit new offshore aquaculture opportunities in exposed waters
The bespoke Techano equipment will consist of a RMSU on each side of the floating construction, together with a 25m-outreach crane capable of accessing the full width of the six fish pens. A man basket will enable monitoring and service personnel to reach all areas of the 50-m by 50-m pens and the RMSUs will be capable of supporting and controlling remotely operated underwater vehicles.
The vast structure itself, the first of two planned ‘Havfarm’ units with a length of 385m and a breadth of 59.5m, is to be built at CIMC Raffles in China which has one of the world’s largest drydocks. Designed by NKS Ship Design with a capacity for 10,000 tonnes of fish, Havfarmen will be owned and operated by Norwegian aquaculture company Nordlaks.
Van Aalst Group CEO, Wijnand van Aast, commented: “Techano’s knowledge of the fish farm industry and offshore cranes in combination with Van Aalst’s knowledge of gantry-mounted crane units have proved to be a winning combination in this case.”
Havfarmen will be permanently moored at a location southwest of Hadseløya in Nordland, Norway, an area in which aquaculture has not been feasible until now.
