A new seiner/trawler has been delivered to a Scottish fishing family while an enclosed farming pen was recently launched in Norway. A Russian seafood company has purchased three unfinished trawlers at a local builder. A Norwegian aquaculture operator has placed orders for new hybrid workboats.
Norway's Bauta Fishfarms has launched Varig 001, which the company describes as the world's first enclosed aquaculture pen built in steel. The company announced the launch on Monday, November 2.
The unit will undergo completion work before being towed to Gjermundnes in Vestnes municipality. There, salmon farmer Prophylaxia will stock 200,000 fish six to eight weeks after handover.
The fish will remain in the pen for nearly four months before transfer to open pens. During this commercial operation, Prophylaxia will test the pen's water circulation, oxygen supply and sludge handling systems.
The first pen was purchased by OceanDock, a company set up by Bauta Group, Rofisk and Prophylaxia.
Danish builder Karstensens Skibsværft has handed over the 83.7-metre purse seiner/trawler Pathway to Lunar Fishing of Peterhead, Scotland.
Karstensens Shipyard Poland constructed the hull in Gdansk while the remaining construction took place in Skagen. The vessel was formally named on Saturday, October 24.
Pathway replaces a similarly named vessel that Karstensens delivered to the Buchan family-led company in 2017 and that was sold to Icelandic owners in May 2025. She will combine pelagic trawling and purse seining for mackerel, herring, and blue whiting.
The new vessel has a moulded beam of 17.5 metres, a gross tonnage of 4,392, and 3,100 cubic metres of RSW capacity across 14 tanks.
Russian fishing company Norebo has bought three unfinished Project 170701 freezer trawlers from United Shipbuilding Corporation business unit Severnaya Verf, according to the yard's report for the first half of 2026.
The transaction was identified by local financial newspaper Vedomosti, which matched yard numbers in the report with those of the trawlers Norebo had ordered. The vessels are Kapitan Breikhman, Kapitan Tuzov and Kapitan Abakumov.
All three were ordered under Russia's investment quota programme for operations in the Northern Fisheries Basin, including the Barents Sea and the North Atlantic. Kapitan Breikhman was launched on May 25, 2022, Kapitan Tuzov on October 26, 2022, and Kapitan Abakumov on March 29, 2024.
Only three of the 10 trawlers Norebo originally ordered now remain with Severnaya Verf.
Norwegian shipbuilder Salthammer Båtbyggeri handed over the hybrid fish farm workboat Kaizen to Freyja Fleet Management on Wednesday, October 14.
The vessel is the first newbuild the yard has delivered to Freyja. She was designed by Tomra Engineering in collaboration with Salthammer and the operator.
The new workboat is fitted with a 1,600kWh battery that can be charged via shore connection. The companies said this capability will allow continuous electric operation while working alongside fish pens in addition to significantly reducing CO2 emissions, fuel consumption, and noise.
The deck equipment includes two cranes while accommodation is available for up to five people.
Norwegian aquaculture service company the Abyss Group has placed orders for two hybrid multi-purpose workboats.
The vessels were designed by Marin Design. Each will have a length of 22 metres and a beam of 12 metres.
The vessels are scheduled for delivery in the spring.
Abyss said the workboats will operate continuously with two shifts. They will be used for net washing during the summer and for service and fallowing work for the rest of the year.