Danish police have closed the investigation into the fire that on September 15, 2021, swept through Atlantic Sapphire facilities in Hvide Sande, Denmark, finding no indication that the fire was started intentionally. Following the investigations carried out, the Central and West Jutland Police have said that "there is nothing immediately in connection with the fire investigations or the interrogations in the investigation that indicates that the fire should have been started".
Despite this, in the same statement, the police state that they still do not know the exact cause of the fire. "Investigations into the fire have now been completed, but unfortunately it has not been possible to come to any final conclusions as to how the fire originated", says Knud Lauridsen, police commissioner of the Central and West Jutland Police.
Following the conclusion of the investigations, the land-based salmon farmer company can finally regain control of the land where the facilities were located, and, in a market announcement, said it will continue to work on future plans for Atlantic Sapphire Denmark. However, the fact that the cause of the fire is unclear does not help to speed things up. According to statements by Thue Holm, CTO and co-founder of Atlantic Sapphire, to Danish media Ringkøbing Skjern Dagblade, regaining access to the land means that they will soon be able to start tearing down. However, in those same statements, Holm says they are still working with the insurance company to find out how much is covered, so they cannot yet say what will happen to the land.
At the same time, Atlantic Sapphire has announced that it has secured a three-month credit facility of up to $25 million to finance its Phase 2 construction project in the United States, which will provide them with immediately available funds and additional liquidity as the company finalizes the details of the long-term global financing of its Florida facility.