The vessel, which will be newbuild number 127, will be built at Havyard Ship Technology's shipyard in Leirvik in Sogn. The contract is worth just over NOK 300 million, and delivery is scheduled for April 2017, with an option for one more vessel that may be delivered Q1 2018, depending on when the option is exercised. Havyard Design & Solutions will design the vessel and deliver the bridge, automation and electrical engineering, Havyard MMC AS will deliver a big fish handling equipment package, and Norwegian Electric Systems will deliver electrical panels, electric engines etc.

Great cooperation
NFT is a dream customer, says Geir Johan Bakke, CEO of Havyard Group ASA. 'They are knowledgeable, demanding and have a burning passion for constantly improving the services they provide to their customers. This causes them to challenge and make demands of us, which means that we have to deliver an even better product. Havyard wants to work for the best and most demanding customers, and we will continue to develop to remain competitive and attractive to customers such as NFT,' concludes CEO Bakke.

Chair of the board of NFT, Roger Granheim, who is also Executive Vice President of Torghatten ASA, is full of praise for the collaboration with Havyard and says that it was an easy decision to choose to build yet another Havyard 587 live fish carrier when the need to expand their fleet arose. 'The way in which Havyard has dealt with the challenges encountered in connection with the prototype Havtrans and the building of Namsos shows that Havyard is among the very best at designing and building modern live fish carriers. We strongly believe that the name that Havtrans and Namsos are now building for themselves in the live fish carrier market will get even more of our potential customers interested in the concept. This will be a good thing for both NFT and Havyard,' concludes chair of the board Granheim.

Further development of technology
Build 127 will be the sister ship of build 124, Namsos, which was handed over to NFT from Havyard Ship Technology's yard in Leirvik in Sogn in December of last year. These vessels in turn are a further development of build 117, Havtrans, which has been operational since May 2014.
Managing director Harry Bøe of NFT says that they have learnt a lot from operating Havtrans and have had a good dialogue with Havyard about improvements to Havtrans, and now to build 127, based on their experience. 'Havtranswas a prototype, and we encountered certain challenges during its initial period of operation. Together with Havyard, we have now resolved these challenges, Havtrans is working as intended, and our customer is very satisfied.'

Harry Bøe has faith in this live fish carrier concept, and explains why:

  • 'Transporting live fish in cylindrical tanks results in optimum water flow, which allows us to ensure good water quality throughout the tank. This makes for better fish welfare than conventional tanks, which in turn improves the quality of the fish we deliver.
  • The cargo capacity, particularly for closed system transport, is considerably greater than in comparable "conventional" wellboats.
  • The hull design gives a high speed potential and optimum fuel economy.
  • The concept is ideal for production facilities with tanks on land and eventually future closed cages.
  • The vessel can carry out delousing assignments in an efficient and environmentally friendly manner.
  • As I said, we strongly believe in this concept and that it will give us a competitive edge in the live fish carrier market in the time ahead,' Harry Bøe concludes.

Contact with Cermaq
The new live fish carrier will upon delivery enter into a five-year contract with Cermac, commencing from April 2017. COO in Cermaq Norway, Geir Molvik, says in a comment: ‘NFT has been a mains supplier of live fish carrier services to Cermaq Norway for many years. We are looking forward to continue this relation in the years to come and strongly believe that the Havyard 587 concept is a step in the right direction for the business.
Managing director of NFT, Harry Bøe, says ‘We are glad to having secured yet another contract with Cermaq, and particularly that they have chosen the new concept with cylindrical tanks.’

Efficient and environmentally friendly design
Special features of the Havyard 587 live fish carrier design include cylindrical tanks for good flow conditions and even water quality for the fish, effective filtering and water treatment systems that allow for closed system transport over greater distances, high lift height for unloading and state-of-the-art fish delousing systems. Combined with an efficient propulsion system and an optimum hull shape for the operating conditions in question, these features make Havyard 587 the world's most efficient and environmentally friendly live fish carrier design.

Main data Havyard 587
Length:                84.6 m
Breadth:              16.9 m
Capacity:             Three cylindrical tanks with a total volume of 3,250 cubic metres
                           640 tonnes RV salmon
                           180 kg / m3 (575 tonnes RV) in closed system
                           1.6 millions of 100 gr. Smolt
Main engine:        3,000kW
Crew:                   12 persons
Speed:                 14.6 knots