“You don’t wait until the feed silos are empty or for the silage tanks to be full before we carry out such logistics operations,” said Nordlaks’ head of communications Lars Fredrik Martinussen.
According to an overview SalmonBusiness has collected from Barentswatch, there has been significant shipping to and from “Jostein Albert” over the past six-seven weeks. Among the vessels that have visited the facility in recent weeks are the silage vessels “Hordafôr II” and “Hordafôr IV”, both specialized for collecting dead fish.
The two Hordafôr boats have had 11 calls since March 9th.
Planned
“The ocean farm has a closed dead fish management system that has to be emptied regularly by special vessels,” Nordlaks’ head of communications Lars Fredrik Martinussen told SalmonBusiness.
“Jostein Albert” is anchored at Hadseløya, Nordland, Northern Norway.
“The logistics of the ocean farm require good planning and are weather dependent. This means that we must plan well in advance to carry out operations, also to maintain the capacities and emergency preparedness that we need on board. The frequency has also been influenced by the need for improvements to the equipment on board,” explained Martinussen.
Logistics operations
“This means that this type of operation is carried out when it makes practical sense, when the vessels pass by and there are conditions for ship-to-ship operations. One does not wait until the feed silos are empty or for the silage tanks to be full before conducting such logistics operations,” he added.
In addition to silage vessels, several wellboats, including “Grotanger”, as well as feed and work boats have visited the huge steel rig.
“Wellboat traffic is also part of the normal operation of seafarms, and recently related to harvest. This has been going on for a while. From the weekend it is planned that “Bjørg Pauline”, who returned home to Vesterålen on Monday, will also be put into operation on the ocean farm,” said Martinussen.
Winter year
Quality downgrades and a high proportion of production fish have been a recurring theme for many fish farmers this year. Nordlaks has also struggled with it.
“We have had a winter that has presented challenges with winter years along much of the coast, and the ocean farm has been no exception. In some cages, we have also had increased mortality as a result of winter wounds. We have also looked at such variation at other sites, and it has not been possible to link it to special conditions at the sea farm,” continues Martinussen.
SalmonBusiness has tried, but failed, to get a comment from Hordafôr CEO (operator of the silage vessels) Siv Ingerid Østervold.
