All-electric workboat will advance aquaculture firm’s sustainability goals

Based on a MEST 1508WB design, the catamaran-hulled workboat will support Bakkafrost’s ambitions to reduce its CO₂ footprint from its Faroese operations by 50% by 2030.

“We have sustainability as one of our top priorities,” said Bakkafrost chief executive Regin Jakobsen in a press statement. “This is an obvious project for us to be part of, and we hope the project becomes a success, so that eco-friendly boats become a natural part of farming operations in the future,” he added. Bakkafrost operates some 60 workboats to support its salmon aquaculture business.

This all-electric workboat follows on a 109-m battery-hybrid wellboat ordered by Bakkafrost in 2020. The live fish carrier, with a capacity to carry 1,000 tonnes of salmon, is being built by Turkey’s Sefine Shipyard for delivery in 2022. Designed by Danish naval architectural firm Knud E Hansen, the live fish carrier, one of the largest of its type, will have a total tank capacity of 10,000 m³, composed of 7,000 m³ of seawater and 3,000 m³ of fresh water.

Propulsion and auxiliary power will be supplied by a combination of its five diesel engines and battery energy to optimise load and energy consumption and minimise greenhouse gas emissions. When docked, the vessel connects to shore power.

The Faroese Environment Agency was responsible for the tender process, which was organised as part of a larger project by The Nordic Council of Ministers and the government of the Faroe Islands. The goal of the project was to find power solutions for remote areas such as the Faroe Islands, which must produce and use their own green power solutions as they are not part of the European power supply system.