Progress made on Inverlussa thermolicer for Mowi

An artist's impression of the new workboat

With the easing of lockdowns, staff at Nauplius Workboats in Holland are now hard at work building the new 35m vessel for Inverlussa Marine Services, which they will operate on behalf of Mowi Scotland.

Delivery is still expected to be on the original timescale, which will be before the end of Q2 in 2021. The 35m x 14m vessel will be equipped with twin, triple Stranda Prolog vacuum tank fish delivery systems, a twin line bespoke Thermolicer system designed by Scale AQ with filtration provided by Smir by way of twin Hydrofilters, along with secondary belt filtration. Additional equipment such as oxygen generators and a UV water treatment system will also be prepared to further enhance the vessel’s capabilities.

Mowi Scotland will have four operators, working two week shifts, living onboard along with the vessels’ own crew.

The vessel will cover all of Mowi Scotland’s sites on the West coast along with having the option of operating with colleagues in Ireland. The Thermolicer system uses lukewarm water to quickly remove and collect sea lice that may attach to and cause stress to the salmon. The system will be designed for a maximum throughput of 250t/hour and will prepare Mowi Scotland very well for the progression into larger 160m pens over the coming years.

Mowi Operations Manager Don MacLeod explained:

\’This is a very important project for Mowi as we advance our sea lice management systems on to a high capacity thermal system that will broaden our options as we move into larger pens that contain larger fish biomass in each. The process has been a great collaboration between experts and has included Thistle Engineering (Dougie Gibson and Tony Moynihan), Nauplius Workboats (Gerrit Knol), Stranda Prolog (Jonny Holsen and Klaus Hoseth), Scale AQ (Tore Laastad) for the specific layouts of the treatment system, and also Inverlussa Marine Services (Ben Wilson) who have provided an economical vessel to operate from\’.

Thermolicer ScaleAQ sales manager Tore Laastad said this about the new bespoke Thermolicer system for Mowi Scotland:

\’It has a significantly higher capacity compared to previous installations, and a number of improvements, this will be an important asset for Mowi in years to come. We have been working towards this with Mowi for quite some time, and I would like to commend Mowi and their technical crew for attention to detail and strong focus on fish welfare\’.

Inverlussa Marine Services Managing Director Ben Wilson said that it has \’a long standing relationship with Mowi Scotland and we are delighting to build on our partnership with the construction and operation of this new vessel.\’ He added:

\’She will be the largest vessel in our fleet and will bring an additional service that our company can offer. We continue to invest in the best vessels and crew for our customers.\’

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