Chinese owner takes delivery of intelligent aquaculture vessel

China's Qingdao Conson Development took delivery of a new aquaculture vessel during a ceremony in the eastern port city of Qingdao on Thursday, April 17.

Luji Yuyang 60617 has a length of 244.9 metres, a displacement of 150,000 tonnes, and 15 breeding cages with a total capacity of nearly 100,000 cubic metres. This gives the vessel a total annual output of about 3,600 tonnes of high-quality fish of various species such as yellow croaker and salmon.

The onboard facilities include four circular runway pools and 22 breeding test pools. An intelligent aquaculture system is also fitted to ensure that the breeding of the fish can be undertaken even without human intervention, while the propulsion allows the vessel to reach deep-sea farming sites under its own power.

Luji Yuyang 60617 is an improved variant of an earlier aquaculture vessel with a displacement of 100,000 tonnes.

Compared to its predecessor, the overall layout, fishability, safety and operational accuracy of the newer vessel has been significantly improved.

The overall mechanisation rate of the vessel was increased to more than 90 per cent, the level of automation was increased by 45 per cent, the rate of intelligent substitution of farming decision-making reached 30 per cent, and the cost of manpower was reduced by 20 per cent.