Gael Force Group announced that they have secured an order to build and supply Marine Harvest Scotland with a series of SeaMate 400T concrete feed barges complete with a state-of-the-art SeaFeed Offshore Feeding System.
The deal marks a milestone moment for the Group, making it their largest ever single order.
"In the face of tough competition we are delighted to be favored with this order from Marine Harvest,\" said Stewart Graham, Gael Force Group MD. "We are now building our 80th Feed Barge for the industry, and have been proud to supply all of the main Scottish Salmon producers including many previous barges for Marine Harvest. As a direct consequence of the success of Scottish Salmon we have created many new jobs this year and will continue to recruit on the back of this order."
"It can and should be recognized that when all of the stakeholders in our industry, including producers, planners and regulators, work together then we can grow together," he added. "It is essential that our regulators take an enabling and proportionate approach to supporting the development of the great Scottish success story that Salmon is. There are huge positive benefits to the wider rural economy and its communities and this order is a great example of that positive impact on the Highland economy. We trust that all necessary support will be given to support the further development of our industry in line with our strategy out to 2030”.
Feed delivery from the barges will come via Gael Force’s recently developed offshore feeding system, SeaFeed, a robust and reliable system which offers operators a simple and intuitive, but user configurable control software to accurately deliver feed in an energy efficient manner, with low noise output and reduced maintenance requirements.
The initial three barge order also has options for Marine Harvest to commission further barge construction with Gael Force and allows standardization of the new site locations that are currently being proposed and developed by Marine Harvest. The initial order will also enable the creation of around 20 new jobs at the Group.
