Bespoke delousing vessel puts fish welfare first
A new multi-purpose service vessel has been delivered to Scottish Sea Farms, and the company says it has been designed with fish welfare as its top priority.The Kallista Helen, launched in Glasgow in March, will be fitted with a state of the art thermolicer system.
The 26-metre vessel was built by Ferguson Marine, based in Port Glasgow and designed by Macduff Ship Design in partnership with Inverlussa and Scottish Sea Farms.The Kallista Helen is on long-term lease to Scottish Sea Farms from Mull-based Inverlussa Marine Services and will be used for lice treatment among other functions, allowing earlier intervention.
Ben Wilson, Managing Director of Inverlussa, said the Kallista Helen, named after his niece, was built with fish health and welfare front of mind: “From the outset, Scottish Sea Farms was looking to minimise fish handling and maximise fish welfare, designing the boat around those.
The result is so much better when you start with the fish then consider the boat, rather than the other way round.”
The Thermolicer itself was designed and engineered by ScaleAQ in Norway in partnership with ScaleAQ UK. It features a simpler, straighter pipe layout creating a gentler experience for the fish; a wider than standard pipe of 600mm diameter to ensure a smoother journey through the system; increased capacity of up to 120 tonnes per hour; and a 150-micron filtration to separate and collect the dislodged sea lice for removal.
The Kallista Helen is expected to arrive in Shetland in early May.