Gael Force lands Orkney contract
Gale Force has won a £1m contract to supply Scottish Sea Farms' newest site with mooring systems and a SeaMate 150 tonne feed barge.
The equipment will be used at the company’s new 1791 tonne site at Westerbister, in Orkney, which is due to be stocked in the autumn.
This latest contract is part of a multi-million pound ongoing investment programme by Scottish Sea Farms, which operates in multiple locations in Argyll, the Highlands, Orkney and Shetland and employs over 400 people. As well as Westerbister, the company has also recently expanded its Orkney sites in Eday and at Toyness in Scapa Flow. This will increase SSF’s farming capacity in the archipelago to an anticipated 7300 tonnes per year.
Jim Gallagher, Managing Director at SSF, commented: “This contract represents a further major investment by Scottish Sea Farms within the Scottish economy. Wherever possible, we are working with Scottish suppliers as we grow and develop our salmon farming business in Orkney to meet the ever growing demand for our product.”
Stewart Graham, MD at Gael Force, said: “Gael Force is delighted to receive these orders from Scottish Sea Farms. We employ around 150 people across our operations and aquaculture is by far the largest and most important part of our business. This order helps sustain 30 jobs in our barge building yard and is another example of just how important it is for the Scottish Highland economy to have a growing aquaculture sector which supports five or six jobs in the supply chain for every job directly employed in the fish growing sector of the industry.”
