MEST Shipyard

CHARTING

SUSTAINABLE HORIZONS IN THE FAROES

MEST Shipyard, based in the Faroe Islands, is a leading maritime and offshore company with a rich history going back over 120 years. Today, the company continues its reputation for flexibility and innovation with the delivery of cutting-edge new builds and the integration of high-tech software solutions. CEO Mouritz Mohr outlined how the yard is staying ahead of the industry’s latest trends, developments and challenges. Report by Richard Hagan.

MEST Shipyard is part of the MEST Group which is divided into three core business areas: ship yards, a fish processing equipment division and PAM Offshore Service.

MEST Shipyard offers new ship builds, ship refits, repairs and maintenance to the local and regional commercial maritime industry. Its 500 on-site staff are skilled in various trades, including steelwork, electrical work, hydraulic systems, woodwork and painting.

These skills were put on grand display in late 2022 with the company’s delivery of a ground-breaking new oceanic research vessel.

Building a battery-powered cat

In September 2022, MEST Shipyard delivered the first 100% battery-driven catamaran workboat in the Northern Hemisphere. The vessel, Grønarók, was developed for Faroese salmon farmer Bakkafrost, a large aquaculture company.

“Grønarók is 100% electrically driven and is able to spend a whole day working at the fish cages, returning to land in the evening,” said CEO Mouritz Mohr. “It can then be recharged from affordable, renewable energy at the port, supplied by the local utility company during the night –a period of time when there is a lot of electrical energy available.”

MEST was selected out of four companies who had tendered on the contract, in a competition organised as part of a larger project by the Nordic Council of Ministers as well as the Government of the Faroe Islands. Bakkafrost was a part of the project aligned with its own objectives of reducing its greenhouse emissions by 50% by 2030.

Grønarók’s construction required MEST’s skilled teams to overcome a series of substantial engineering challenges, according to Mr Mohr: “The weight of the batteries - at a total of six tonnesand the space that they occupy in the ship is a major challenge that we had to resolve. The batteries completely fill two of the rooms in each of the boat’s two hulls. To accommodate the weight, we had to make the vessel 30cm deeper.”

In addition, the revolutionary nature of the project put it at the cutting edge of rapidly evolving regulatory requirements. These shifting goalposts had to be accommodated throughout the project’s lifetime, at substantial effort by the MEST teams. “We even had to dismantle the

battery installation in order to undertake some changes that were called for by the regulation later in the project,” Mr Mohr recalled.

Despite also contending with various supply chain delays and challenges during the vessel’s construction, MEST Shipyard successfully completed the project. Grønarók’s delivery was an unmitigated success and earned MEST the Australian Baird Magazine Award for Best Small Fish Farm Support Vessel in 2022.

Sustainable salmon farming

Mr Mohr explained that MEST’s successful completion of Grønarók highlights the company’s own sustainability programme

and journey: “We are committed to meeting and exceeding the shipping industry’s sustainability targets. This is in line with the Faroese aquaculture and fishing industry’s own commitments to taking sustainability seriously.

“In order to meet growing global demand for our world-famous Faroese Salmon, the aquaculture companies are now seriously considering moving part of their production to the open sea. This will be an interesting challenge that MEST looks forward to tackling.”

Facilities expansion

Another challenge that the company is already tackling is the growing size of the vessels serving the local fishing and

aquaculture industry. “Many of the new vessels in Iceland, Greenland and the Faroes are too big for our existing dry dock,” Mr Mohr confirmed. “Consequently , we’ve now decided to build a much bigger dry dock.”

The company’s vast new dry dock will measure 150 metres long and 30 metres wide, boasting a depth of 12 metres. Planning for this impressive new facility is well underway and it is hoped that construction will be completed by early 2025, pending final approval from the local authorities.

In the meantime, MEST has begun seeing an uptick in new enquiries and opportunities from the renewable energy markets. The company is already serving the service and maintenance needs of all the wind farms in the Faroe Islands, but the ample

space in its new drydock will create an opportunity for MEST to offer new builds of floating wind turbines as well.

The company is now also eyeing potential opportunities to serve the oil and gas industry, particularly the busy fields east of the Faroe Islands. “These are the biggest UK oil fields and are close to our border, so we’re optimistic about future opportunities for us in that market,” Mr Mohr remarked, while cautioning that any new opportunities in that industry would still have to fit within MEST’s sustainability commitments.

Propelling project management

While its physical infrastructure is receiving various upgrades, MEST shipyards’ technology platforms have not been left behind The company has recently introduced

advanced new project management procedures as well as high-tech 3D rendering tools into its workflows.

The project management platform is expected to substantially professionalise the company’s project management workflow and grow its bottom line. The new 3D software, called Ship Constructor, will positively evolve the company’s customer experience and service, as it offers the ability to view every new ship build in full 3D before a single plate is welded.

“It’s very helpful for everyone involved, particularly for our customers as they are now able to see exactly what they’ll be getting,” said Mr Mohr. “The entire hull can be virtually dismantled, down to the

smallest parts. The client loves to be able to see that level of detail.”

Given MEST’s award-winning delivery of Grønarók, the upcoming expansion and the new opportunities awaiting the company, MEST Shipyard is justifiably upbeat about the future. Concluding, Mr Mohr reflected on the company’s successes: “Between 2015 and 2022, MEST Shipyard doubled its turnover to approximately 450 million DKK, with a profit of 23 million DKK in 2022.

“And now, as we look towards 2023, we’re excited that our order books have never been as full as they are now; so we’re optimistic about 2023 and the years to come.”

Mouritz Mohr, CEO