New Zealand King Salmon to operate wellboat under long-term lease
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New\u202fZealand\u202fKing\u202fSalmon (NZKS) will operate a wellboat under a long-term lease with Norwegian live fish transport company S\u00f8lvtrans.<\/p>\n
This will make S\u00f8lvtrans’ 2008-built Ronja King<\/em> the first wellboat in operation in New Zealand. NZKS expects that the 57-metre-long vessel will arrive in New Zealand waters in April.<\/p>\n NZKS said that prior to the introduction of Ronja King<\/em>, New Zealand has been the only major salmon-producing country not using wellboats.<\/p>\n Ronja King<\/em> officially joined the NZKS fleet after receiving shareholder approval at NZKS’ annual shareholders meeting held on Wednesday, February 18.<\/p>\n Carl Carrington, Chief Executive Officer of NZKS, said that Ronja King<\/em> will provide greater flexibility to farm productively and efficiently and will also enable the company to sustainably farm in the open ocean.<\/p>\n NZKS expects that once operational, the wellboat will boost annual harvest volumes by around 2,000 tonnes annually, potentially generating NZ$60 million (US$36 million) or more in additional annual revenue.<\/p>\n Ronja King <\/em>features two tanks with a combined well capacity of 1,000 cubic metres. The vessel will support the Blue Endeavour project, under which NZKS will build and operate New Zealand’s first open-ocean salmon farm and the world’s first of its kind for Chinook salmon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n