China sets sights on high seas fish farming with 'aquaculture platform'
Hard on the heels of news this week that China has put its third purpose-built Guoxin 1 fish farming ship into operation, a different type of aquaculture vessel has now been delivered in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, in southern China.
Unlike the Guoxin 1 design or cargo ship conversions that have a conventional hull enclosing fish tanks, the Zhanjiang Bay 1 - also known by its Chinese name of Yue Po Yu Yang - is a semi-submersible aquaculture platform with open sides to allow water to flow through net pens.
Measuring 154 metres in length overall, 44m in beam, and 24.25m in depth, the platform boasts a maximum aquaculture draught of 20m and an 80,000m³ cultivation volume, reports China aquaculture journalist Daniel Huang on LinkedIn. The vessel is said to have an annual production capacity of 2,000 tonnes of premium fish species.
Zhanjiang Bay 1 integrates multiple functions including autonomous navigation for typhoon avoidance, green energy supply, and intelligent control.
Outlining the development of the vessel, Ou Xianwei, director of Zhanjiang Bay Laboratory, said an expert team had come up with an integrated design philosophy of “vessel as body, cage as core”, pioneering the “semi-submersible super-wide opening hull” to solve the core challenge of wave resistance. This should enable China to extend use of fish farming ships from nearshore to deep-sea areas.
The ship is said to be self-sufficient in energy generated by a combination of solar panels, wind power, and energy storage, although it also has diesel back-up.
Artificial intelligence is utilised in a comprehensive smart system covering everything from environmental monitoring and precision feeding to disease early warning and harvesting/processing.
Sensors provide real-time data on metrics such as water temperature and dissolved oxygen, while AI visual recognition systems rapidly assess fish health status, laying a solid foundation for achieving intelligent fish farming.
The vessel, moored at Zhaoshang Cruise City Terminal in Zhanjiang, is now open to the public for scheduled visits.
Upon commissioning, it will conduct comprehensive intelligent aquaculture trials, marking what its operators say is a significant breakthrough in advancing aquaculture into the deep and distant seas.
