We're going to need this bigger boat

Netherlands boatbuilder Nauplius has published an illustration of a £2.2 million workboat it is building for salmon producer Scottish Sea Farms.

The vessel is currently on order for SSF’s Bring Head site in Orkney.

“We’re proud to announce a new order from our valued returning customer, Scottish Sea Farms. After previously ordering two utility vessels from us, we are honoured to have earned their continued trust with a third order,” Nauplius said in a social media post.

“At the end of last year, Scottish Sea Farms commissioned the construction of a 2108 Utility Vessel, specifically designed to operate in the challenging conditions of the Orkney region.

“Production is already under way, with steel cutting starting last week. Delivery of the vessel is scheduled for the end of this year.”

160-metre pens

At 21 metres long and 8 metres wide, the new vessel is large for a workboat and bigger than some service boats that travel between sites to perform specialist tasks. Its size will ensure it can handle even bigger pens than the 120-metre circumference pens recently installed to replace 80-metre units at Bring Head.

“We wanted to futureproof the vessel so that it can accommodate 160-metre pens, should we proceed with our company strategy of using fewer but larger pens,” explained Orkney regional manager Duane Coetzer.

The new workboat is based on the design of Fair Isle, a 23m x 10m multi-support vessel that was also built for SSF by Nauplius, which also delivered SSF’s smaller (15m x 7m) but robust workboat Sandoyne Lass in 2017.

Coetzer said the Bring Head site manager had some key requirements for the new workboat: the vessel must accommodate a 40-tonne payload, lift a 12-tonne sinker tube, and be more self-sufficient on-site.

Winch system

“One of the more novel features of this boat is a winch system that enables us to lift the Froya ring directly through a winch on the vessel, instead of placing winches on the pens as we’ve done elsewhere,” he told Fish Farming Expert.

The Froya ring (sinker tube) keeps the bottom of the net in shape and under tension. Winching it up directly from the new workboat provides an additional safety precaution for farm staff, as there are no free ropes involved. It also reduces costs at the site, which has 12 pens.

“If we fitted winches to every pen, it would be a significant investment - around half a million pounds. While they are highly effective, this approach allows us to use a more conventional system, making the vessel adaptable for use at other sites with only minor modifications to the pens,” said Coetzer.

The new vessel is part of a £6m infrastructure investment that SSF has made over time at Bring Head that also includes a six-line, 300-tonne feed barge from ScaleAQ that cost £1.7m and was delivered in late 2023. Although the barge runs on a diesel generator, SSF’s in-house team will fit it with a battery pack.