New generation harvest vessel delivered

The new vessel is the latest in a new generation of “stun and bleed” vessels designed by Salt Ship Design, also Norway-based.

It is a sister vessel to the Tauroa which is currently in operation. This latest addition  will  now undergo preparation, which, when completed, will enter service with Mowi, with which the company has a long relationship.

The voyage was completed without technical issues, although the vessel encountered difficult weather along the Portuguese coast and in the Bay of Biscay.

Napier, an aquaculture service vessel operator, says the Tauroa and Tautiki are the world’s largest processing vessels that slaughter fish at the edge of the cage.

It also says the use of harvest vessels greatly improves fish welfare, and offers significantly improved biosecurity aspects compared to traditional transport methods.

With a harvest vessel, the fish is stunned and bled out immediately, reducing handling, eliminating transport stress and transport mortality before slaughter.

The Tautiki is 70 metres long and 15 metres wide and has a maximum speed of 14 knots.

Its loading capacity is around 1,000 cubic metres and she is able to take on 750 metric tons of fish at a loading speed of 36,000 fish per hour.

To ensure the shortest possible time, the vessels have a blanching and chilling capacity of 200 tons per hour. The loading capacity is 750 tons of fish, divided into eight tanks.

Napier said the vessel will help to strengthen both fish welfare and biosecurity in the aquaculture industry in Central Norway for many years to come.