Haulier gears up for big increase in salmon cargoes

A Shetland-based haulage company that transports farmed salmon to Scotland’s Central Belt has begun preparing for increased demand from one of its major customers, Scottish Sea Farms (SSF).

Northwards is investing £640,000 in eight “Insuliner” curtain sided trailers to haul the growing volume of salmon that will be produced by SSF in Shetland and Orkney. Some of the trailers have already been delivered by Northern Ireland manufacturer SDC Trailers Ltd, with the rest due before the end of the year.

The new insulated trailers are particularly efficient for use on the Shetland–Aberdeen ferry service, where deck space is limited. The Insuliner trailers, at 4.55 metres high, make maximum the available height on the ferry.

Fish out, diverse freight back

The Insuliner design was first pioneered by Northwards to enable temperature-controlled fish to be transported from Shetland. On the return journey, the trailers can accommodate a range of other freight items that can be side-loaded, rather than being restricted to the rear doors of conventional refrigerated trailers.

Northwards delivers general cargo on return trips to around 900 customers in the islands, with the salmon business helping to keep transport rates low.

The cargo also includes salmon feed from SSF’s supplier, BioMar, based at Grangemouth. Currently, Northwards transports around 40,000 tonnes of salmon feed a year to the islands.

Northwards’ commercial director, Neil Leslie, said: “The new trailers are based on the original concept we introduced 14 years ago and insulated to the same high standard. The Advancer A400 fridge units, supplied by Thermo King Northern keep the fish chilled using a more efficient and environmentally friendly refrigeration motor.

“All trailers are equipped with advanced tracking systems that provide real-time temperature monitoring throughout transit and automatically issue alerts if any deviation from the required conditions is detected.”

More lorries needed

Leslie explained that offering a frequent service to transport fresh salmon between the Northern Isles and the mainland requires far more lorries than it would to make the same number of journeys between two locations on the mainland because the vehicles spend so much time either travelling on or waiting for ferries. A return journey from Shetland to the Central Belt via Aberdeen can take the best part of four days, whereas a driver delivering fish from a factory at Peterhead to the same destination, for example, could be there and back in a day.

Demand from SSF is expected to increase as a consequence of its policy to have fewer but larger sites. It has won permission for two such sites - Billy Baa and Fish Holm – by surrendering biomass permits for smaller, mostly unused farms, in return for permission to farm higher biomass at its preferred, more suitable locations.

Billy Baa, at the southern end of Sandsound Voe on the west of Shetland Mainland, has a maximum allowed biomass of 4,091 tonnes, and was due to be stocked for the first time this summer.

Fish Holm, on the other side of Mainland, is expected to have a biomass limit of around 6,000 tonnes.

SSF is also considering applying for a new farm by Skerries, Shetland, and expanding the size of a farm at Shapinsay, Orkney.