New Zealand King Salmon’s (NZKS) new service vessel – MV Whekenui – has arrived in Picton and will soon commence work at Blue Endeavour, the country’s first open ocean salmon farm.
On Friday, leaders from across the Marlborough region were given an exclusive tour of Whekenui while berthed in Picton, led by NZKS’ Project Manager Zane Charman.
Guests included Deputy Mayor of Marlborough David Croad, Marlborough District Council (MDC) Chief Executive John Boswell, Port Marlborough Chief Executive Rhys Wellbourn, as well as senior Councillors and industry representatives.
“It was a privilege to share Whekenui with Marlborough leaders last week,” says NZKS Chief Executive Carl Carrington.
“This vessel is a critical piece of infrastructure for our Blue Endeavour pilot and signals another step in our journey out to open ocean aquaculture.
On Friday, New Zealand King Salmon welcomed Marlborough Councillors and leaders aboard the company’s new Blue Endeavour service vessel, Whekenui. Credit: Jim Tannock.
“New Zealand King Salmon is an ambitious company on an exciting growth trajectory, and we are grateful for the opportunity to connect with local leaders who share a passion for Marlborough and want to hear our plans to continue to contribute to the region.
“It is important to share this vessel, and its role in our farming operations, with the wider Marlborough community, who will likely see Whekenui out and about in the Marlborough Sounds. Hopefully, they feel a sense of connection and pride that a project of Blue Endeavour’s significance is underway in their backyard.”
Whekenui was built in Vietnam by Southern Ocean Solutions and arrived via a 186-metre-long lift-ship to Port Nelson in mid-October. The name Whekenui was gifted to New Zealand King Salmon by Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Kuia, and a special ceremony – ‘Te Whakamānutanga o te waka’ – was held on October 22nd.
At 220 tonnes and measuring just under 24 metres long by 9.2 metres wide, Whekenui has self-contained accommodation for five people and the capacity to carry more than 100 tonnes of cargo. As a dedicated service vessel, Whekenui will fulfil a number of important functions, including transporting and discharging feed to the Blue Endeavour site; providing a power supply, including for winching of the farm nets; retrieving monitoring and photographic data from the site; and transporting personnel.
NZKS, in partnership with MDC, collaborated to bring leaders together for Friday’s event. As well as giving an update on the Blue Endeavour pilot, NZKS representatives shared the company’s ambitious growth plans, including the purchase of a commercial site at the Cloudy Bay Business Park in Blenheim and the current Westshore Warehouse feed storage project with Port Marlborough.
“I am very pleased to welcome MV Whekenui to the Marlborough Sounds, home of aquaculture in New Zealand”, says Marlborough Mayor Nadine Taylor.
“Marlborough District Council acknowledges New Zealand King Salmon’s significant investment in this specialist new service vessel designed to support the new open ocean salmon farm, Blue Endeavour. We wish Whekenui and New Zealand King Salmon well.”
Having launched two pilot pens into the water for the first time back in April, NZKS is finalising the remaining infrastructure for the Blue Endeavour site, before pilot-scale operations begin in the coming months. As well as Whekenui, this includes installation of a comprehensive mooring grid which is currently underway.
Once the mooring grid is complete, the salmon will be relocated from the inshore ‘nursery’ to their new home in the open ocean at the Blue Endeavour site, seven kilometres off the coast of Cape Lambert outside the Marlborough Sounds.
The progress to date represents important milestones for the ‘Future Farming’ programme – a significant, multi-year partnership with the New Zealand Government. Across its five-year duration, the ‘Future Farming’ programme will pilot the technologies that will provide the ‘blueprint’ for substantive and sustainable salmon farming growth in New Zealand, especially within new open ocean environments.
NZKS acknowledges the co-funding of this project by the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund (recently changed to the Primary Sector Growth Fund).
About Blue Endeavour:
Blue Endeavour will be New Zealand’s first open ocean salmon farm. It will also be the world’s first farm of its type for the valuable King salmon (Chinook) fish species.
Open ocean salmon aquaculture is the farming of salmon in enclosed fish pens, anchored in place to the seabed, in exposed marine environments.
When fully operational, the farm will comprise two blocks of ten circular pens; the total farm area will be less than 12 surface hectares in size. Blue Endeavour will have the capacity to produce ~10,000 metric tonnes of King salmon, with an anticipated annual revenue of ~$350 million per annum.
Watch the video here of NZKS’ progress on the Blue Endeavour pilot to date – including the pen build at Port Marlborough, and tow to the pens’ temporary home at Waihinau Bay.