New Zealand King Salmon (NZKS) will operate a wellboat under a long-term lease with Norwegian live fish transport company Sølvtrans.
This will make Sølvtrans' 2008-built Ronja King the first wellboat in operation in New Zealand. NZKS expects that the 57-metre-long vessel will arrive in New Zealand waters in April.
NZKS said that prior to the introduction of Ronja King, New Zealand has been the only major salmon-producing country not using wellboats.
Ronja King officially joined the NZKS fleet after receiving shareholder approval at NZKS' annual shareholders meeting held on Wednesday, February 18.
Carl Carrington, Chief Executive Officer of NZKS, said that Ronja King will provide greater flexibility to farm productively and efficiently and will also enable the company to sustainably farm in the open ocean.
NZKS expects that once operational, the wellboat will boost annual harvest volumes by around 2,000 tonnes annually, potentially generating NZ$60 million (US$36 million) or more in additional annual revenue.
Ronja King features two tanks with a combined well capacity of 1,000 cubic metres. The vessel will support the Blue Endeavour project, under which NZKS will build and operate New Zealand's first open-ocean salmon farm and the world's first of its kind for Chinook salmon.