New Zealand King Salmon (NZKS) has welcomed the wellboat Ronja King to its fleet.
The 51-metre wellboat, which recently arrived in New Zealand, will be operated by NZKS under a long-term lease with Norwegian live fish transport company Sølvtrans. This will make the 2008-built vessel the first wellboat in operation in New Zealand.
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 was officially acquired by NZKS following shareholder approval at the company's annual shareholders meeting held last February.
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.
