SOLVTRANS
30 years of Scottish Aquaculture
Ruling the waves
AFTER OVERCOMING INITIAL INDUSTRY SCEPTICISM, THE NORWEGIAN COMPANY HAS FOUND A WARM WELCOME IN SCOTLAND
By Rob Fletcher
n 1985, seeing a gap in the market, Roger Halsebakk, a fishing boat skip- per with engineering and design skills, decided to take a gamble and rebuild a former cargo ship as a wellboat – with Norway’s fish farming industry growing, the market for live fish transport was ex- panding accordingly. The first boat, called Solvtrans, cost 2 million NOK to convert. And, as the entire capital required was borrowed from the bank, it was a nerve- racking time for its four shareholders. Roger then went to Alaska to captain a longliner but, when he returned to Nor- way in 1993, he noted how the fish farm- ing companies had grown in his absence. Sensing another opportunity, he sought to build a far larger wellboat on a new design. The only problem was raising the 15 million NOK required.
I The other shareholders, who included
Roger’s father, had cold feet, leaving Roger to raise the funds on his own. However, by selling the original vessel and pestering the banks he eventually raised the necessary capital and, with the help of the Aas Mek boatyard, the first of the new generation of wellboats, the Ronja Fiske, was launched in 1996. As the salmon industry has thrived, and fish transport regulations have become tighter, so the company has since gone from strength to strength. Indeed, it now boasts a fleet of 14 boats, six of which are based in Scot- land – the Ronja Commander and Ronja Pioneer operating for Marine Harvest; the Ronja Viking and the Roy Kristian for the Scottish Salmon Company; and the Ronja Skye and Ronja Settler for Scottish Sea Farms.
Although initially designed mainly for the transport of fish for harvesting, the boats have since found a number of uses, including the transport of smolts, transfer of fish within fish farms and for grading. But, perhaps most excitingly, the boats are also being used as ideal contained sites for administering treatment for fac- tors such as sea lice.
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However, as company CEO Ole-Peter Brandel reflects, progress was not always so smooth. ‘In the start we were seen as unconventional, with farmers unwilling to try the new system we offered. And we suffered another setback in 1998, with the outbreak of ISA, when we weren’t allowed to operate our first generation wellboats.’ However, although the virus almost brought both the company and the Scot- tish salmon industry to its knees it did, Ole-Peter explains, have one longer-term benefit – the development of the closed- well system, which had been deemed necessary by the UK government, and can now be used for numerous applica- tions, including sea lice treatment, today.
Closed-well The Ronja Skye, built in 2001, was the first vessel to have this system installed and it has since been added to eight more of the Solvtrans fleet. This, says Ole-Peter, reflects the company’s cease- less drive to innovate and adapt to an ever-changing environment. ‘From 1996-2005,’ adds the CEO, ‘we were actually only present in Scotland, so we have actually adapted the com- pany on the basis of the Scottish market. Indeed, the boats we use in Norway are based on the technology that we devel- oped in Scotland. There’s no legal reason to use closed-wells in Norway, yet, but it’s heading in that direction. Indeed, what we now call the “Scottish model” looks like it will be adopted in Norway, Canada and Chile – so our experience gleaned from our time in Scotland looks as though it will stand us in good stead around the world in the years to come.’ However, despite these advances,
Ole-Peter is not complacent about the company’s future. ‘We would like to stay in the Scottish Market’, he explains, ‘and we would like to further develop new inventions like the lice treatment, which is currently on trial in Norway and awaits assessment and we would like to use
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this system in Scotland, if the demand is there. Although it is not a legal require- ment the system has been sought by the customers,’ he adds. ‘The system has already been installed in six vessels – four in Norway and two in Canada – and, depending on the lice situation in Scotland, it may also need to be used there before too long.’ The company’s progress and its growing confidence are reflected by the fact that they floated on the Oslo stock exchange in March. But, despite the fact they’ve been in business for almost 20 years, their stock is still fairly static. ‘We’re in an exotic and unknown business!’ Ole-Peter reflects.
Nevertheless, the advantages offered by wellboats, not least the fact that the new closed-system models so dramatically reduce the risk of spreading disease, look set to prosper, especially in an era in which bio-security issues have come to the fore.
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