AKVA group is making a major commitment at Sandstad, in the Kalvøya industrial area in Hitra municipality, with an upgrade to its service station including an assembly facility for pens, a deep-water dock, a modern workshop and office buildings. The initial building phase will commence in the first half of 2021.
“This demonstrates our commitment and our confidence in Sandstad and the surrounding region. The area is centrally located for aquaculture operations in Mid-Norway and will now be significantly upgraded,” says Odd Jan Håland, AKVA group Nordic’s Service Manager.
In time the service station will provide enough repair capacity to serve the entire Scandinavian market.
“We’ve been working for some time to bring the project to fruition and I want to thank Hitra municipality for its excellent collaboration. They’ve done everything possible to ensure our success at Sandstad,” says Håland.
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New building and pen assembly facility
The existing service station is showing signs of age and it has for a long time existed plans to be able to use the 40-acre site more efficiently. On completion, the new service station will include a modern workshop and office building, a deep-water dock for servicing and maintaining feed barges, a crane to unload equipment from service boats and an assembly facility for pens. The latter will enable the simultaneous assembly of three 160-metre pens, and arrangements will be made for storing assembled pens in the sea.
“The service station will be optimally designed for efficient operation and adapted to current and future requirements. The pen assembly facility will help to reduce the demand on Helgeland Plast’s assembly facility at Mo i Ran, Egersund Net will have good storage space and cleaning stations, and a new, modern workshop will enable us to provide a full range of services,” says Håland.
Completed in 2022
The initial building phase will commence in the first half of 2021 and the new service station is expected to be completed in 2022. Normal operations will be maintained during the construction period, with the existing buildings eventually being converted to a simple storage facility and additional workshop.
“This is good news for our workforce. We will now have purpose-built facilities, fully adapted to meet HSE requirements. It will definitely open the way for more jobs in the region,” says Frank Jørgensen, Department Manager S&AS Region Mid in AKVA group.
The service station will provide the aquaculture industry with service and repair facilities and equipment in Nordland, Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal counties – from Ålesund in the south to Brønnøysund in the north. This venture is a collaboration between the AKVA group companies Egersund Net, Helgeland Plast and AKVA group S&AS.