Lice work if you can get it...
A new order has taken the value of delousing equipment sold by Norwegian maker FLS passed NOK 1 billion
Published
FLS has entered into its first agreement with the service boat company Abyss, supplying delousing equipment to the boat Fosnasund, which will operate for a fish farmer in Iceland.
Abyss acquired Frøy Akvaservice in the autumn, doubling the size of both its fleet and employees. This is an important part of the basis for the shipping company's focus on the delousing segment.
"This project makes us a service provider in the field of delousing. It is an important and right step for us and for fish welfare," Øystein Kjønhaug, purchasing manager at Abyss, told Fish Farming Expert's Norwegian sister site, Kyst.no.
Fosnasund, which is a 24.8-metre-long service boat, will have the delousing system installed this spring.
The company has also invested in the delousing barge Marcus from Dalseide Shipping Services, which is available to customers when the next delousing is needed.
"We bought Marcus because it is one of the few barges with such high maritime quality. Everything from the steel structure to the interior, and of course also the delousing system itself," added the purchasing manager.
Good neighbours
"This is the first time we have made an agreement with Abyss, which is emerging as a large and important service boat company. It is a collaboration we have been working towards for several years, and it is extra nice that they are neighbours from the Kristiansund area," said FLS chief executive Lars Georg Backer.
Both Abyss and FLS are North Sea companies located in the Nordlandet region in Kristiansund.
"It's nice that those we collaborate with are right nearby. But good quality and our desire to contribute to good fish welfare are the most important things for us, and we believe that FLS's Caligus R600 is the best and most gentle on the market, and right at the top when it comes to efficiency and operational reliability," said Kjønhaug.
The agreement includes the delivery of an R600 delouser and a Seacrest 500 pump. According to Backer, the solution provides high capacity and efficient treatment.
"The system can handle around 250–300 tonnes of fish per hour, and clearly illustrates Abyss' commitment to delousing," said Backer.
The boat will operate in Iceland, a market FLS has great confidence in going forward.
"This will be our introduction to the Icelandic market. We will then be present in all the North Sea countries, and we believe Iceland is a very up and coming market for aquaculture."
Has exceeded NOK 1 billion in sales
At the same time, FLS can point to an important milestone: the company has now passed NOK 1 billion (£75.6 million) in sales of delousing units from the R series.
"We launched our first commercial delouser back in 2015. At that time, we deloused 25-centimetre pipes, which meant that the pipes on the wellboats had to be split. It was not ideal, especially in terms of fish welfare," explained the FLS manager.
The solution was to rethink the design.
"Instead of a round pipe, we developed a rectangular chamber that corresponds to a 500 pipe. This allowed us to maintain the same water pressure, but at the same time achieve better effect."
The R-series was launched in 2022, after extensive preparatory work. Since then, R-Series FLS delousers have been specified as both original and retrofit equipment on wellboats used by the Scottish salmon industry, among others.
"We conducted thorough research beforehand, both on the delousing effect and how the technology affects fish health. That work has proven to be absolutely crucial."
Today, the R-series is available in three sizes: R500, R600 and R670, and is used on both wellboats and workboats.
Request capacity and combinations
Backer points out that customer requirements have changed significantly since FLS started with delousing technology.
"Capacity has become a key issue. Customers want high throughput, less crowding and shorter processing times for the fish."
At the same time, the company sees a clear shift away from purely individual methods.
"Methods such as freshwater or thermal treatment alone are often not sufficient. Customers want solutions where methods can be combined."
He believes this provides both better effect and better fish welfare.
2We see that combination solutions reduce the negative aspects of the individual methods, while at the same time providing a better delousing effect on the fish."
