Fish Welfare

Fish welfare is one of our strategic objectives and highest prioritized areas in both our daily operations as well as our long-term goals and strategies.

Our vessels are designed in a way that promote fish welfare. In combination with a strong focus on hygiene, we aim to minimize potential stress on the fish while delivering high-quality products and services to our clients.

We have automatic tracking systems on all our vessels that monitor parameters such as carbon dioxide, oxygen, ammonia, temperature, and pH. It is essential for fish welfare that our staff are trained and have relevant experience with monitoring fish behavior and ensure that a high level of welfare is maintained.

All our vessels also have backup systems that protects the basic needs of the fish in case of a system failure or other unexpected events. To ensure fish welfare, all fish handling and bath treatments are carried out in close collaboration between veterinarians and our crew members.

Biodiversity & Biosecurity

Biodiversity and biosecurity are embedded in our five strategic objectives and places emphasis on how the environment, biodiversity, and biosecurity are pivotal for our activities. Our mitigation efforts are aimed at reducing the impact our operations may have on the local marine environment.

All our live fish carriers are operating in closed circulation mode, which ensures that no water is discharged from our vessels while transporting fish. Similarly, our harvest vessel is designed to ensure that no products or residues are discharged to the sea.

We place a very high priority on biosecurity. To reduce the risk of spreading contagious animal diseases, we have dedicated vessels for smolt transportation. All our vessels can run with close-valve systems. The closed system reduces both the risk of disease spreading, as well as the levels of stress in fish.

Sølvtrans has been an industry leader in biosecurity innovation for decades.

Consumption and Emissions

Everyday we strive for efficient operations and we do our utmost to reduce GHG emissions in our fleet

• Our initiatives focusing on decreasing engine hours and fuel consumption. We are continuously working on efficient engine and generator usage. These efforts have led to reductions in fuel usage, GHG consumption, and maintenance hours- without compromising safe and secure operations.

• Whenever possible, all our vessels are expected to run on shore side electricity (SSE) when at port.

• We have installed LED lights on all vessels. Apart from being less energy-intensive, LED lights requires less replacements and makes the working conditions on board safer.

Alternative Sources and Plans Going Forward

Sølvtrans will continue to have a modern fleet of ships and we have several modern vessels under construction. Together with our suppliers, we are continuously developing technologies to optimize fish welfare and biosecurity, as well as minimizing fuel consumption and GHG emissions. With the majority of our fleet built after 2013, and no vessels older than 20 years, we have one of the youngest, most flexible and modern fleet in our industry.

All our vessels have engines that can run on biodiesel. Some of our vessels have installed energy storage options in large lithium-ion batteries to reduce fuel usage, maintenance costs, and emissions. While our ships still primarily use diesel as a main energy source, our battery solutions help reduce usage at peak times. This is especially important for reducing local air and noise pollution while loading, offloading, or staying at port.

One of our vessels, Ronja Storm, makes use of a direct current (DC) supply of 1,000 volts. This gives us the option of having variable rpm on the diesel generators, allowing a more efficient use of these engines, and reducing the overall fuel consumption. These efforts contribute to lowering our GHG emissions.

Two of the vessels under construction will be equipped with dual fuel main engines. While they will primarily use LNG as fuel, they are also prepared for using ammonia as fuel. This is an important innovation linked to a development project that has been granted financial support from the Norwegian NOx Fund.

Going forward, we will continue to invest in the development of efficient and environmentally friendly wellboat technology.

Transparency and Due Dilligence

Sølvtrans continuously makes assessments of the risk of adverse impact on fundamental human rights and decent working conditions linked with the company's activities and business relationships. The company continuously tracks any violations of human rights or violations of decent working conditions that is connected with the company's activities. In addition, Sølvtrans shall conduct due diligence in accordance with the Transparency Act each year and publish a report on the assessments and findings. The annual transparency report for 2022 is available here.