Here is the long list of salmon farming wellboats scheduled for delivery to Norway

Though the coronavirus pandemic is making it more difficult, nine new wellboats are expected to be delivered to Norwegian salmon farming companies during 2020, a bonanza of new vessels that shows how bullish the sector is.

The 2,500 cubic-meter boat is being built at the Aas Mek shipyard. Bremnes Seashore has signed an agreement with Solvtrans for full-time rental of the wellboat complete with crew for three years.

Seven new boats

In 2021, Solvtrans will ship two boats of 4,000 cubic meters from Myklebust Verft, and in 2022 the company will deliver three new boats of 3,000 cubic meters from Aas Mekaniske.

The 3,000 cubic meter boats are designed for open and closed transport with refrigerated sea water (RSW) cooling, and have a dewatering system for freshwater treatment of the fish.

Myklebust will also deliver two more boats to Solvtrans in 2022, according to Solvtrans Director Roger Halsebakk.

Halsebakk said new regulations coming in to force are sparking the new orders, as well as a move toward larger smolts. While traditionally salmon smolt have been placed in the water at 100 grams, the trend is toward smolt as large as 700 grams, which will mean significantly more biomass.

The 3,000 cubic-meter boats from Aas Mechanical are specially built for this, he said.

Even with the explosion of new builds, Halsebakk is not concerned about flooding the market.

"If the market is to be saturated at some point, we want to make sure we have as large a share of it as possible," he said.

Reisa is coming this summer

Hordagut delayed

Together with four other fish farming companies -- Austevoll, Fitjar and Bomlo -- Blom Fiskeoppdrett established Hordalaks, which has contracted one of the country's largest wellboats with a total size of 4700 cubic meters, and a pricetag of almost NOK 500 million.

However, due to labor shortages at the shipyard because foreign workers were quarantined, the boat delivery has been delayed until summer.

Dess Aquaculture gets three boats

Dess Aquaculture, which is half-owned by salmon farming giant Mowi, is scheduled to have two ships delivered in 2020.

"We have three ships under construction now," said Jon Are Gummedal, vice president of Dess Aquaculture.

"Two will be delivered in 2020 and it is still our plan to keep this delivery window."

Ship number three will be delivered in the second quarter of 2021.

Rostein

The two vessels are the last in a series of wellboats with the same basic design and with well-proven technology on board.

Rostein also has a smolt boat of 2,800 cubic meters on order, which will be delivered in June 2021.

Rostein Deputy Managing Director Glenn Bradley said given all the new builds, overcapacity could be a potential concern.

"We see some clouds on the horizon -- quite a few companies are going to build boats," he said. "We do not see any growth in demand, but we see to a greater extent than ever that newbuilds will primarily replace some of the existing vessels.

"At least in the Norwegian market, things are starting to look more saturated than before."

So far the company has not had any trouble delivering the boats and only time will tell if the market is crowded, said Bradley.

"We must remember that today's market is characterized by boats that are contracted and not delivered, only when the boats are delivered you get to see the real picture," he said.

Kerko Seatrans

Kerko Seatrans will supply a wellboat of type AAS 3002 ST with a loading capacity of 3,000 cubic meters this summer.

Aas Mechanical Workshop is responsible for the construction. The vessel is scheduled to be delivered to Kerko Seatrans during the summer of 2020.

The new vessel is 90.7 meters long and 18.6 meters wide. Salt Ship Design designed the vessel and it was built by the Astilleros de Murueta shipyard in Spain.

Froy Rederi

The largest of the wellboats under construction is one commissioned by Froy Rederi. The boat will be the world's largest at 7,500 cubic meters, and is being built in Turkey.

Delivery is expected mid-2021, and the boat will be on a long-term contract with a Norwegian customer.

Bronnbat Nord has two well boats under construction. They are being built by Aas Mek. One boat will have a capacity of 1,200 cubic meters, while the other will have a capacity of 3,000 cubic meters. Both boats are scheduled to be delivered in 2021.

Nordlaks

The wellboat will be the very first with battery hybrid propulsion.

The vessel is owned by Nordlaks and will mainly transport live salmon and rainbow trout between the company's facilities.

The second well boat will be delivered in 2021.

Not worried about overcapacity

Coastal shipping industry policy adviser Linn Therese Hosteland is not worried about the market being overcrowded by boats.

"There will be enough boats, if the industry is in 'status quo,' but then the aquaculture industry will grow, and it will also grow outside Norway," she said.

"So if production stops in Norway, there are opportunities outside the country."

Another factor affecting vessel operations in Norway is the new production areas that have been introduced.

In these places it is common to limit the capacity of the wellboats and service boats within one production area, in order to maintain biosecurity and reduce contamination between the areas.

"As we now see it, there is therefore still a need for increased capacity due to the strict regulation of our coast and the necessary biosecurity measures," said Hosteland.

The increased boat building is also beneficial for employment in a time when the economy desperately needs it, she said.

"It's one of the industries that keeps the country going," Hosteland said.

"It is very positive and I hope people outside the industry also see the significance of it."