The International Aquafeed team take a tour of the AKVA Group’s technology titan - designed to distribute 850 tonnes of salmon feed - the AKVA group automatic feed barge, Wavemaster AC850 Panorama

1. S U P P L E M E N T
SUPPLEMENT
FISH FARMING
TECHNOLOGY
FEED BARGE
The AKVA group automatic feed barge
The Wavemaster AC850 Panorama

2. by Peter Parker, International Aquafeed Magazine
WAVEMASTER
AC850
PANORAMAThe AKVA group automatic feed barge
The International Aquafeed team take a tour of the
AKVA Group’s technology titan - designed to distribute
850 tonnes of salmon feed - the AKVA group automatic
feed barge, Wavemaster AC850 Panorama
002 | INTERNATIONAL AQUAFEED | Fish Farming Technology
FISH FARMING TECHNOLOGY

3. O
n the final day of the AquaNor 2015 exhibition, my
colleagues Darren Parris, Tom Blacker and I had the
pleasure of being shown through AKVA Group’s
technology titan, the AKVA group automatic feed
barge, Wavemaster AC850 Panorama.
It is the world’s largest steel feed barge with the storage potential of
850 tonnes of salmon feed and 12 parallel feed lines. The second one
of its kind, this feed barge has been sold to Marine Harvest, one of the
world’s largest fish farming companies.
It is intended to be put into operation in Fosen, Mid Norway, and
serve the site with up to 7200 tonnes of salmon. We met with AKVA
Group department manager, Andres Lara at the busy Skansen wharf
only five minutes walk from the event.
Welcoming lounge
After crossing the plank onto the barge, we were welcomed into
what we were told is usually the control room but, in the case of
this barge, was something of a lounge. There were three large black
couches, each with the sleek AKVA group logo on; a Sony surround-
sound system installed and Projector TV on stand by. Indeed, initial first
impressions suggested that this barge was going to be of a superior
quality.
Unique outfit
This particular barge will be positioned only one kilometer from
the coast, and so the few members of staff on board will travel to and
from work daily.
As a result, this barge was custom built to exclude accommodation
space, with the exception of basic fold out beds should dangerous
weather restrict leaving the barge. A typical AKVA group barge can
have up to five rooms, although this is not common for Norwegian
barges.
However, I suspect a ‘typical’ AKVA group barge does not exist, as
AKVA group aim to be as flexible as possible within realistic structural
and financial limitations, this is something they pride themselves on. For
example, this barge had heated floors in the lounge only, but should the
customer request it, heated floors can be installed on as many levels of
the barge as they like.
Flexible design
Flexibility for customers seems to be the crux of AKVA group.
When we asked Mr Lara how long he suspected it would take for one
of these barges to be produced if we were to order one today, he
suggested around six months, with an additional three months if the
desired design was not already in existence.
Towards the end of the tour, Mr Lara made a humble but honest
comment; at AKVA group they are excellent at producing barges, but
at the end of the day it is the fish farmers who are out there working
day in day out, this is why they work so closely with customers in the
design process, because the customer really does know what is best
for them.
Of course AKVA group do their best to cater for customers
requests but they need to be realistic, these barges float out there
exposed to the harsh elements of the ocean, therefore balance
and structure must always be considered. Positioning a barge is
a careful process, AKVA group do research on the weather in
the proposed location, the final direction in which the barge is
positioned is dependent on where the most challenging weather
comes from.
BOC is a leading end-to-end supplier to fish farms, offering:
gas supply, specialist oxygenation and control equipment,
installation and consulting services.
The BOC SOLVOX® range
Better conditions for fish, cost efficiencies for
fish farmers.
Contact us
UK www.BOConline.co.uk/aquaculture, Tel 0800 111 333
IE www.BOConline.ie/aquaculture, Tel 1890 355 255
Key Benefits
→ Reduced feed conversion rate
→ Reduced fish mortality
→ Improved growth rate
→ Higher stock densities
Fish Farming Technology | INTERNATIONAL AQUAFEED | 003
FISH FARMING TECHNOLOGY

4. Below: The Wavemaster AC850 Panorama is the world’s largest steel feed
barge with the storage potential of 850 tonnes of salmon feed and 12 parallel
feed lines.
"Judging by our
discussions with Mr Lara,
AKVA Group is growing;
the barges are growing in
size and capacity - with
up to 20 currently being
delivered globally per
year"
Above: Peter Parker and Darren Parris from the International
Aquafeed team, walk the steap gangway onto the deck of the
AC850 feed barge
004 | INTERNATIONAL AQUAFEED | Fish Farming Technology
FISH FARMING TECHNOLOGY

5. Control room
After finishing our drinks and receiving a brief introduction on how
this barge compares to the other barges AKVA group has produced,
we went downstairs to the control room. My first impressions were
that it felt like walking into the cockpit of a space shuttle, after seeing
this I was beginning to understand how the day prior, the AKVA group
COO of export, Trond Severinsen had told us that with this set up,
it would be possible to operate the entire barge with just one highly
skilled technician on board. This particular control room had three
desks and seats, each with three large monitors and an additional wall
full of screens displaying all necessary information in real time.
Garage
We made our way down to a room referred to as the garage. This
room had three memorable features, the first of which was a cupboard
where hot air from the blowers would pass through, Mr Lara said that
workers will store all of their wet clothing and boots here and they will
be completely dry within a few hours.
In this room we saw the first of many electronic tablets built into the
wall, these tablets were connected to the same AKVAconnect system
as the control room computers and would provide users with remote
access to much of the same information and controls.
In the corner were manual levers and stopcocks, in the unlikely
event of a fire or other emergency; these devices enable a user to
manually shut off air or diesel flow. When I asked Mr Lara if these
shut offs could be controlled by a remote, he said that they do not
currently offer this feature but there is potential for it in the future.
There was also an emergency stop electronics box. Fire extinguishers
were located all around the barge, in addition to multiple 360 degree
turning cameras.
With emergency plans posted throughout and a range of safety
specific instruments, this barge seems well equipped in terms of safety.
Storage room
As we travelled deeper into the barge we reached the storage
room, this barge has 16 integrated silos with the capacity to store 850
tonnes. 16 parallel feed lines are used in a ‘4 x Quattro system’ to
distribute feed to the cages, with a total feeding capacity of over 150
tonnes per day. Sometimes the feed travels up to 200 metres before it
is dispensed. This is achieved by using powerful air blowers.
Additionally, the blowers move air through cooling channels which
are in contact with water, this cooled air reaches regular steel material
pipes until they reach the silo cone where the doser is located, this
is done so the stainless pipes that transport the food are never over
heated.
Mr Lara gave us an astonishing fact at this point in the tour, even
with a storage capacity of 850 tonnes “all of the barge’s storage can be
depleted in as short as one week.” At which point a ship is required
to re-stock the barge.
One of the machines I thought was especially innovative were the
“cleaning plug injectors”, these devices were only introduced a year
ago. When there is up to 850 tonnes of feed being air propelled
through the pipes each week, naturally build-ups of dust from feed can
occur. The cleaning plug injectors are cylindrical pieces of equipment
that contain buoyant balls which have a diameter the same as the feed
pipes into the lines. The balls are blown through the pipes and remove
dust in the process. The balls are then left waiting in the respective nets
to be fished out by workers and returned back into the plug injector.
Ensilage
After the storage room we moved into a room decked out with
electric cabling and pneumatic tubes. In the centre of the room stood
what Mr Lara said could be understood in simple terms as a giant
blender. On average the daily mortality rate in the fish farms is around
2-3 percent. The dead fish are frequently collected from the bottom
of the net using the AKVAsmart Mort system and are then brought
back to this machine that breaks them down into slurry. Formic acid
is added to the mix in order to balance the pH of this protein rich
product that is then referred to and sold as ‘Ensilage’. On this particular
barge we were told that up to 60 tonnes of Ensilage can be stored at
any given time.
While this process might at first be perceived as distasteful to some,
it is actually an innovative approach to reducing waste and ultimately
developing a more efficient system as a whole.
Engine room
My impressions of the engine room were that it appeared to be
"A ‘typical’ barge does not exist - because
AKVA group aim to be as flexible as possible
with the customisation of each project"
It would be possible to operate the entire barge
from the control room with just one highly skilled
technician on board
Fish Farming Technology | INTERNATIONAL AQUAFEED | 005
FISH FARMING TECHNOLOGY

6. tidy, compact, and safe but very noisy. The blowers and machines in
operation meant we were unable to hear each other.
In the proceeding conversation Mr Lara explained to us that in
some countries there is legislation around the maximum decibels
that can be emitted. In response to this AKVA group have noise
insulated the engine room to decrease the level of decibels around
the barge, additionally any blowers located outside of the engine
room are contained in noise enclosures to reduce the volume.
Although not applicable on this particular barge, accommodation
is also insulated.
Harmonic filters are installed onboard to protect the wider electri-
cal system of the barge from the harmonic effect, which is mainly
caused by the blowers.
On the deck
Two hours later we were at the end of our tour. On the deck of
the barge the quality of technology was just as high as everything else
that we had seen below deck. As is required on a feed barge there was
a crane, customers are given the option of enabling remote control use
of this and are given the option of where they would like to position
it on the deck.
There is a small veterinary laboratory situated on the deck that has
the facilities to function as a means for inspecting fish.
Another point of interest was the bright yellow Feed selector valves
of the AKVAsmart CCS feed system. The AKVAsmart CCS has been
the world’s best selling feed system, for both land based and cage
operations for the past 30 years.
Final thoughts
This AKVA group barge was produced for MarineHarvest, one of
the largest fish farming companies in the world. The complex compo-
nentry throughout was simplistically coded into four colours; red, yel-
low, grey, and green to catagorise their wide range of products. Judging
by our discussions with Mr Lara, AKVA Group is growing; the barges
are frequently growing in size and production, 20 of these barges are
delivered globally per year. It seems to me that flexibility, innovation
and open-mindedness are at the core of this company. Their barges
are truly bespoke.
Left to right: Peter Parker, Andres Lara (AKVA Group department
manager), Tom Blacker and Darren Parris (IAF team)
006 | INTERNATIONAL AQUAFEED | Fish Farming Technology
FISH FARMING TECHNOLOGY

7. Fortaleza - Brazil
Nov. 16-19, 2015
The World Aquacultu-
re Society (WAS) has decided to hold
the Annual Latin American & Caribbean Chapter,
WAS meeting (Lacqua 2015) and the first Regional World
Aquaculture 2015 (RWA’15) in Fortaleza, Brazil. The Associação
Brasileira de Criadores de Camarão (ABCC) has decided to work
with WAS/LACC to join LACQUA15/RWA’15 with FENACAM ‘15 in-
cluding the XII International Shrimp Farming Symposium and the VIII
International Aquaculture Symposium.
Fortaleza, Brazil
More info on
www.was.org
SCIENCE & INDUSTRY joining forces to meet seafood
d
em
ands
Do you want to understand
the challenges of developing
aquaculture as a means of
sustainable food supply? Do you
want to do this in an established
and renowned Masters
programme within a vibrant
and international postgraduate
community? You will develop
an in-depth understanding
of fish, shellfish and algal
production with an emphasis
on nutrition, feed management,
health, welfare and the need for
sustainable technologies. You
will gain skills hands-on with a
focussed aquaculture research
project and undertake technical
training from nutritional analyses
to microbiome sequencing.
SUSTAINABLE
AQUACULTURE
SYSTEMS
WITH
PLYMOUTH
UNIVERSITY
MSc SUSTAINABLE AQUACULTURE SYSTEMS
Be the future of food security
Programme Lead: Dr Daniel Merrifield
More info: www.plymouth.ac.uk/courses
@plymouthbiol +44 1752 585858
admissions@plymouth.ac.uk
School of Biological Sciences, Plymouth
University, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA
Fish Farming Technology | INTERNATIONAL AQUAFEED | 007
FISH FARMING TECHNOLOGY
Turning ideas into opportunities.
PROGRESSIVE AQUAFEED PROCESSING
Imagine the possibilities
wenger.com
BELGIUM TAIWAN BRASIL CHINA INDIA
Wenger develops and assembles unique components
that allow our clients to meet specific industry and
application demands. Whether dictated by raw
material availability, species requirements, growth
stages or feeding habits, Wenger will tailor a system
to meet your specific needs.
The Wenger C2
TX Shrimp Feed Extruder – with
unique die technology and high shear conditioning
– is the superior choice for uniform, high density
aquatic feeds down to 0.8 mm in size.
If maximum volume is crucial, the Wenger TX-3000
High Capacity Aquafeed Extruder produces the
full range of products – at capacities up to 12,000
kg/hour. Complement the TX-3000 with the High
Intensity Preconditioner (HIP) and use higher levels
of fish oil or slurries.
We’re ready to help you select the right tools.
Contact us now for industry-changing
designs backed by the leading name
in extrusion.
Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.
—Vincent Van Gogh
BRINGING TOGETHER INNOVATIVE TOOLS FOR CUSTOMIZED AQUAFEED PROCESS SOLUTIONS.
Wenger15.InnovativeTools.Ad.210x147.indd 1 6/24/15 5:51 PM

8. Innovations for a better world.
Aquafeed – complete solutions from a single source. Turn to Bühler for one of the
most comprehensive lines of aquafeed process technology available anywhere:
from raw material handling, cooking and shaping through extrusion to drying
and coating of finished products. With an extensive know-how and a passion
for quality we ensure not only product uniformity and production efficiency, but
also maximum sanitation and safety. Bühler – gentle processing at its best.
More at nutrition@buhlergroup.com