Atlantic Sapphire’s Danish fire remains a mystery
THE cause of the fire which devastated Atlantic Sapphire’s Danish site last year remains unsolved, a seven month police inquiry has suggested.
But the investigators also found no evidence that arson was involved.
The fire, which was the worst of a series of mishaps for the company last year, broke out at night at Atlantic Sapphire’s 10-year-old landbased farm, at Hvide Sande, in September. It caused extensive damage estimated at around US $33m (£25.2m). No-one was injured.
The company said immediately afterwards it would use any insurance settlement to concentrate on its Florida project where it is developing a large land based salmon facility.
It is presently scaling up growth in Florida to produce its Miami Bluehouse brand of salmon for the US market.
Following the police announcement, Atlantic Sapphire said it would continue to work on future plans for Atlantic Sapphire in Denmark.
Meanwhile, Atlantic Sapphire also announced that it has entered into an agreement for a short term credit facility with DNB Capital of up to US $25m (£19.1m) as the next step towards funding the second phase of its Florida facility.
The money will be used to provide immediately available funds and ensures extra liquidity for the group while the details of long term financing for the business are completed.
Atlantic Sapphire has reported a harvest of 850 tonnes for January, February and March, having earlier forecast 1,000 metric tons for both the first and second quarters of this year.