Hydroniq lands contract for Larsnes Mek wellboat

Hydroniq Coolers has been awarded a contract by Norwegian shipbuilder Larsnes Mek Verksted AS to deliver a hull-integrated seawater cooling system to a new vessel the yard is building for Norwegian wellboat company Rostein.

The wellboat, NB67, has been designed by Skipskompetanse AS from Måløy, Norway. She is 79.27 metres long, 15 metres wide and has a total storage capacity of 2,800 cubic metres. She will be equipped to transport salmon and smolt, primarily. Hans Robert Almestad, VP Sales & Marketing at Hydroniq, was delighted with the development:

\’This is the ninth Rostein wellboat built by Larsnes Mek, and we have been fortunate enough to supply our seawater coolers to several of these. Both the shipyard and shipowner are therefore well acquainted with our hull-integrated solution for seawater cooling and the energy savings it offers\’.

Hydroniq Coolers will deliver its Rack seawater cooler to the wellboat. This type of marine cooling system is integrated in the hull below the main engine room of the vessel, where it reduces temperatures in the ship’s engines and other auxiliary systems through use of seawater – but without taking up valuable engine room space.

The company will manufacture and assemble the equipment at its headquarter in Aalesund, Norway and deliver it to Larsnes Mek which is located at the Gurskøya island on the north-western coast of Norway. Hydroniq Coolers has not disclosed the value of the contract.

At the end of November this year, the vessel’s hull will be delivered from Marine Projects in Gdansk, Poland, to Larnes Mek, where the boat will be equipped and completed. Delivery to the shipowner is scheduled for the end of May 2021.

Rostein is one of the world’s leading wellboat companies with a fleet of 15 vessels. Almestad added:

\’It is highly gratifying that Norwegian shipowners such as Rostein are able to demonstrate a long-term industrial perspective and place newbuild contracts for wellboats when the industry is in the middle of a challenging coronavirus-period\’.

Hydroniq Coolers is owned by Norwegian investment company SMV Invest AS (formerly Sperre Mek. Verksted AS).