FISH FARMING TECHNOLOGY
#3 Robust and durable material, smart safety details and a pleasure to ride—these are just a few reasons why increasing numbers of fish farmers swear by Polarcirkel work boats.
High demands for high quality Norwegian workboats By AKVA Group, Norway
AKVA Group recently signed its largest boat order to date as Bremnes Seashore, one of Norway’s largest privately-owned salmon businesses, ordered two Polarcirkel 1050 Cabin and two Polarcirkel 845 Cabin at once. “We strongly believe in the material the boats are made from, which is very durable and robust,” said Technical Manager in Bremnes Seashore, Ernst Olav Helgesen. “This, combined with smart details ensuring the safety of our crew, made us decide on Polarcirkel. We’ve previously invested in a Polarcirkel 845 Cabin, which we’re very pleased with.”
Custom built
The Polarcirkel boats’ unique quality features are highly valued by customers all over the globe. Last year, the Fujian Provincial Law Enforcement Team of Ocean and Fisheries ordered five Polarcirkel 685 work boats to supervise the coastal fisheries in the Fujian province. “We receive up to 15 orders a year from Chinese customers, and have experienced an ever-increasing demand from customers in Scotland, Brazil, Africa and the Mediterranean countries,” says Sales Manager John-Atle Figenschau. “Having recently increased our production capacity, we’re now able to deliver up to 150 boats a year.” Fish farmers are not the only occupational group who have taken a liking to the Polarcirkel boats, the Sales Manager reveals. The boats are also used for preparedness by police and fire departments and by subsea contractors, the offshore industry, tourist industry and a wide range of private and public players. “As the boats are custom built and hand-welded, we can tailor the boats in ways others cannot,” Figenshau explains. “This way our customers will get the perfect boat for the tasks they are designed to perform. We develop anything from pretty standard workboats for aquaculture services to autonomous boats for detecting and removing mines in national waters.”
Safety first
The Polarcirkel boats are produced in the small town of Mo I Rana by the Norwegian company Helgeland Plast, a subsidiary of AKVA Group. Mo I Rana is situated near the Arctic Circle, which the brand name of Polarcirkel derives from. The boats’ hulls are comprised of locally produced, impact resistant PE plastics. With its unique buoyancy and hardy quality, PE plastics are an ideal building material for boats that are exposed to rough sea and extreme weather conditions. “We emphasise safety and stability on board in our designs,” Sales Manager Figenschau adds with great confidence, “which has resulted in smart details like self-adhesive tires and extra strong longitudinal hull ridges for stability. The boats are so solid that they can withstand a rough encounter with a submarine skirt and you can do a beach shovel almost everywhere.” www.akvagroup.com You can visit AKVA Group at Aquaculture UK in Aviemore, Scotland on stand 157/OS48. 52 | May 2018 - International Aquafeed