Viking Aqua has completed the detailed engineering phase for the first construction stage and designed a land-based facility to produce 20,000 tons of salmon. The company is now looking forward to capital raising before construction begins in 2024 and has appointed three new Board members who, they say, "will play an important role in the phase that Viking Aqua is now entering".
Bjørn Østbø, Per Braathen, and Bernt Bodal are the three new faces on the Board following the general meeting held on October 19. "With the addition of three seasoned professionals, we are firmly on course toward our vision for a sustainable and innovative future in land-based salmon farming," the company stated.
"Bjørn Østbø's expertise in finance and business development, Per Braathen's broad experience from industrial and investment development, and Bernt Bodal's industry and market experience make them significant assets in realizing Viking Aqua’s ambitions to take a leading position in land-based salmon production and processing," said Chairman Stein-Inge Larsen about the new additions to the Board.
But if three new members have joined the Board, there is also one who has stepped down. Einar Wathne left his position after two years and the company thanked him for his effort and contribution to the company's growth and development. "His expertise and experience have been central to our concept development and strategic direction," Larsen stated. In addition to the Chairman and the three new members, Kristoffer Gjerdevik Vinje Vassdal and Willy Roger Jacobsen complete the Viking Aqua Board.
"This new composition aligns with our current capital-raising process and our ambition to advance technology development within the aquaculture industry," Larsen continued. The salmon producer in Norway aims to be the world's leading center of expertise in land-based aquaculture through innovation and data-driven knowledge. The changes in that direction that are now coming to the Board had already reached the company's management. In May, Viking Aqua appointed Even Hopland as Business Development Director.
As mentioned, Viking Aqua has already completed the detailed engineering phase for the first stage of construction and has designed a facility to produce 20,000 tons of salmon. Currently, its application for a framework permit is being processed by the Gulen Municipality. "We are expecting a positive decision that will bring us closer to the realization of our next-generation RAS facility and our goal of delivering the happiest and healthiest salmon," Stein-Inge Larsen said. To achieve this, they will be assisted by their strategic partner AquaBioTech Group.
Viking Aqua is a land-based salmon farm company in Norway that aims to supply the global market with plastic-free, tasty, fresh, and ethical proteins. Still under construction, the future facility, designed to provide the conditions for total control of ecological safety and fish welfare, will be located on the west coast of Norway. It has been granted a concession to produce 33,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon farmed on land in Skipavika, there of 5,600 tonnes post-smolt, and 27,400 tonnes of harvest-sized salmon. It aims to be "the world's most sustainable circular-production salmon farm."
