“What I learned from the visit is that Faroese suppliers and farmers like to keep things simple in operating and servicing sites”.
In a press release, the developer and manufacturer of high quality fishing gear and aquaculture equipment Vonin writes it wanted to hosted Mowi to show them how Faroese salmon farmers operate in highly exposed environments that regularly withstand exceptional hostile conditions
Mowi Regional Seawater Manager Kris Laird wanted to bring back information for the high-energy aquaculture sites he is overseeing in Scotland’s Western Isles.
Faroese Vonin explained that early last year, he arranged a trip with some Mowi colleagues from Scotland to the Faroe Islands, visiting key suppliers to the Faroese aquaculture sector and to see how fish farms operate under the islands’ tough conditions, with year-round strong currents and wild weather in the winter months.
Simple
The three main companies serving the Faroese aquaculture industry are cage and workboat supplier KJ Hydraulic, JT Electric and Vónin.
“What I learned from the visit is that Faroese suppliers and farmers like to keep things simple in operating and servicing sites. All the suppliers and farmers work closely together to reach the best solutions on these challenging sites,” Laird said.
‘The Faroe Islands have a number of high-energy fish farm sites. At Mowi we are always looking at new ways and ideas of improving our equipment and farm practices, especially as we move towards more exposed areas. So we wanted to see how they operate under extreme conditions and what equipment they use,” the Mowi Scotland manager added.
Mooring system
Mowi subsequently chose Vónin to be a supplier of moorings and nets, with JT Electric and KJ Hydraulic also supplying equipment to a number of sites in Scotland.
Vónin’s technical team design all mooring systems using Aqua Sim which is accredited by the Norwegian government to perform mooring analysis for the aquaculture industry, in accordance to the NYTEK-regulations. The engineering software takes into account all location conditions and factors that could affect the sites ensuring that all mooring systems meet the required standards.
Vónin’s technical moorings engineer Torkil Thompson said: “Based on each site’s location and the different environmental data produced, the requirements for secure installations becomes very complex and it’s vital to communicate with site personnel, environmental teams and installers so that we have as much information and data as possible to be certain that systems meet every requirement, especially as we go more to exposed sites”.
