The Norwegian engineering company Techano AS, part of the Dutch Van Aalst Group of Companies, has secured a substantial contract to design and produce highly specialized offshore and marine equipment for the world’s largest floating aquaculture construction “Havfarmen”. Havfarmen is designed for exposed waters and aims to make use of new areas for aquaculture.

“I am very pleased to announce that Techano was able to secure the order for two advanced Rail Mounted Service Units (RMSU) and an offshore crane,” confirms Øystein Bondevik, Commercial Director at Techano.

The contract was entered with CIMC Raffles in Yantai, China. This yard has one of the world's largest drydocks, with a length of 400 meters and a width of 120 metres. The agreement is for the first of two planned ’Havfarm’ units.

The 385 metres long and 59,5 metres wide aquaculture construction– owned and operated by the Norwegian aquaculture company Nordlaks–is designed by NSK Ship Design, will hold up to 10.000 tonnes of fish. This first Havfarm will be permanently moored in a position southwest of Hadseløya in Nordland, Norway. The area has up until now been impossible to utilize for aquaculture.

The RMSU is unique and a bespoke design for this Havfarm, enabling the farm operators take care of aquaculture equipment and the fish in a safe and efficient manner. One RMSU will be mounted on rail on each side of the construction. Due to the outreach of 25 meters of the cranes on the RMSU, the full width of the six fish pens can be reached. A man basket can also allow operators to reach all parts of the pens, measuring 50 by 50 meters on the surface. Furthermore, the RMSU allows for ROV support and control.

Wijnand van Aalst, CEO of the Van Aalst Group, said “Techano’s knowledge of the fish farm industry and offshore cranes in combination with Van Aalst’s knowledge of gantry mounted crane units have proved to be a winning combination in this case. Moreover, the Van Aalst Group is a regular supplier to CIMC Raffles. Entering the rapid developing offshore fish farm market, establishing strong foothold in Norway and a jumpstart in the specialized 3D offshore cranes were our main drivers to invest in Techano. With this milestone contract, the mutual vision of Techano and Van Aalst receives a flying start.”