Salmon farmer invests £4.4m in new boat and feed barge refurb
Bakkafrost contracts benefit yards in north-east and west coast of Scotland
Salmon farmer Bakkafrost Scotland is investing £4.4 million in marine work that will support jobs in the north-east and on the west coast.
The company has signed a £3.5m million contract with Macduff Shipyards in Aberdeenshire for a bespoke moorings and heavy site works vessel, and is spending a further £900,000 to have a feed barge refurbished by Bute Boat Builders.
The new 21-metre by 9-metre vessel will be used for moorings work across Bakkafrost Scotland’s farms. It is due to be delivered in September 2027.
The contract will help support around 250 jobs and more than 10 apprenticeships at Macduff Shipyards, as well as work across the wider north-east supply chain.
Bakkafrost Scotland said the investment would improve resilience across its marine operations and help build specialist skills within its workforce.
The vessel has been designed for moorings work at farm sites, with specialist lifting and towing equipment and thrusters to help crews operate safely around pens.
Barge refurbished
A separate project on Bute will see a feed barge refurbished and returned to use by Bute Boat Builders. The work will involve cleaning out the barge, removing damaged equipment, and carrying out mechanical and electrical refurbishment before it is deployed at Bakkafrost Scotland’s Loch Fyne site.
The project will also reuse equipment from a smaller barge being replaced, making practical use of existing assets while supporting skilled marine work on the island.
Once completed, the refurbished barge will have a feed capacity of 300 tonnes and will be deployed at Bakkafrost Scotland’s Loch Fyne site.
Bakkafrost Scotland has already invested more than £11m with Macduff Shipyards across a series of vessels, including the 18.5-metre catamaran Bradan an Eòlais, delivered in June last year. The vessel is used to prepare pens for freshwater bath treatments and maintaining salmon health.
£8m spent with Bute yard
In April this year, Bakkafrost Scotland also took delivery of a £1.2m landing craft, Spirit of Bute, from Bute Boat Builders. That order took Bakkafrost Scotland’s investment in boatbuilding on Bute to around £7.2m across seven vessels, and the barge takes expenditure above £8m.
Bakkafrost Scotland managing director Ian Laister said: “These latest projects are another significant investment in our marine operations and in the skilled businesses that support salmon farming around Scotland’s coast.
“The new vessel has been designed around the day-to-day needs of our farming operations and will strengthen our capability across farm sites for years to come.
“At the same time, the refurbishment work on Bute shows how existing assets can be repurposed and returned to service through the expertise that exists within Scotland’s marine sector.
“As a business rooted in coastal communities, it is important to us that we continue backing the people, yards, and supply chains that play such an important role in our operations.”
