The Njord Pioner wellboat is readied at the Cflow facility in Langevåg, part of Sula local authority. Photo: Cflow
Two refrigerated seawater (RSW) plants of 1 100 kW delivered by PTG have now been installed on Njord Pioner at Spain’s Balenciaga yard for a company associated with Norwegian salmon farming entrepreneur Helge Gåsø.
Launched in Spain during May 2021 under the name Aqua Caledonia, this vessel is a well-equipped and fully functional wellboat and harvest vessel.
“We’ve delivered RSW systems to smolt plants, wellboats, land-based industry and the fishing fleet for more than 40 years,” says Johnny Valle, sales and marketing vice president for marine and industry at PTG. “We’re proud to be able to add another wellboat to our list of references.”
According to local newspaper Hitra-Frøya and Intrafish, Frøy Kapital – the investment vehicle for Gåsø – has established the Njord Aquashipping company in connection with its acquisition of Njord Pioner.
With a cargo capacity of 1 500 cubic metres, the vessel was originally ordered by Aquaship in Kristiansund. Hitra-Frøya and Intrafish report that Aquaship cancelled its contract with Balenciaga and that Frøy Kapital then took over the order.
The wellboat has already arrived at the Cflow facility at Langevåg in western Norway for completion work up to the end of May. PTG has supplied the RSW plants on board via Cflow.
Frøy Kapital CEO Roger Granheim has told Intrafish that the company is a small player with a single vessel, but believes the wellboat market to be generally good.
“With several solid players in the Norwegian market, we’re aware that competition is strong,” he said. “But that’ll be the case regardless of where you get involved in these times. That doesn’t frighten us.
“We’ll eventually consider more vessels, but have no specific expansion plans. That’ll depend on what opportunities open up.”