VESSEL REVIEW | Toffe – Compact aquaculture workboat for Norway's Kleiva Fiskefarm
Kleiva Fiskefarm, a fish farm operated based in Engenes in northern Norway, recently welcomed a new hybrid vessel to its fleet of workboats.
The Moen Marin-designed Tøffe will be used for daily tasks within Kleiva Fiskefarm’s exposed fish farms sites. Although its relatively compact size means it lacks the carrying capacity of the owner’s other workboats, this was not seen as a major concern, as the idea was to have a varied fleet of vessels that can be adapted to suit a range of requirements.
Hybrid propulsion optimised for heavy-duty use
Kleiva Fiskefarm General Manager Marius Arvesen said that a hybrid propulsion arrangement was selected when the company decided to invest in a new workboat in 2022. The company believed such a configuration was in line with its objective of ensuring sustainability and HSE.
The aluminium monohull Tøffe has an LOA of 11.98 metres (39.3 feet), a beam of five metres (16 feet), and a moulded depth of two metres (6.6 feet). The propulsion setup includes a Danfoss Editron permanent magnet motor, a ZEM 366kWh battery pack, a John Deere generator, a fixed-pitch propeller and a PMH bow thruster.
The electronics suite is a Furuno package consisting of a radar, an echosounder, a GPS, and a chartplotter.
The open aft deck has a total area of approximately 30 square metres (320 square feet) and can be used to transport up to seven tonnes of assorted payloads. With an empty aft deck, the vessel can sail at nine knots at 100 per cent MCR.
Electrically driven equipment for improved safety
The deck equipment includes a Palfinger Marine PK11001 knuckle boom crane with a maximum lifting capacity of 9.5 tonnes and MBH three-ton and one-ton hydraulic vertical tugger winches driven by an electric foot pedal and fitted with emergency stops.
The latter is installed in place of a traditional manually operated capstan to minimise the risk of injury, according to Arvesen.
The features on the main deck include a high-pressure washer with drum, a workshop, and a toilet. Accommodation is available for a crew of five while the diesel fuel tanks and freshwater tanks have total capacities of 1,200 litres (260 gallons) and 250 litres (55 gallons), respectively.
Because the new workboat will be available for general daily tasks at fish farms, Kleiva Fiskefarm can rely on larger outsourced vessels for heavy duty tasks such as anchor handling and towing.
