PALFINGER Equips Live Fish Carriers with Innovative Lifting Technology

[By: PALFINGER]

As the aquaculture industry continues to grow, companies work hard to provide safe and sustainable live fish transport. In fish farming, live fish carriers play an essential role – allowing the transport of fish to and from the farm. For both the Inter Scotia and Inter Atlantic live fish carriers – currently operating in Scotland – PALFINGER MARINE provided three of its PTM 600A telescopic boom cranes, each fitted with a two-winch setup for the most efficient hose handling. Furthermore, each vessel is equipped with a PK 18500M foldable knuckle boom crane. The order was awarded by the globally active Norwegian wellboat company, Intership, and the vessels were built at the Zamakona shipyard located in Bilbao, Spain. The cranes were delivered in close cooperation with PALFINGER Ibérica in Madrid.

Competitive cranes for the fish farming industry

The combination of low weight and reduced complexity make the PALFINGER marine cranes remarkably maintenance friendly. They are also designed to withstand the toughest conditions during daily operations at sea. While foldable knuckle boom cranes are used for all kinds of lifting operations on other aquaculture-related vessels such as service boats, workboats, and catamarans, telescopic boom cranes are mainly used for hose handling on live fish carriers and similar vessels.

“Over the last ten years, we have gained a very strong foothold in the aquaculture market, selling more than 1,000 of our field-proven cranes. During this project, our partner PALFINGER Ibérica provided us with the best support, starting from order placement and throughout the whole project. This allows us to provide the best on-site support to our local customers in Spain,” says Gunther Fleck, Vice President Sales & Service Region Marine at PALFINGER. What is more, PALFINGER is able to serve its customers in an efficient and timely manner through local service centers in some of the world's largest and most challenging fish farming regions, such as Canada, Norway, UK, Chile, Croatia, Tasmania, the Faroe Islands, and beyond. A team of highly skilled and well-trained service engineers, along with dependable, long-standing service partners, is committed to meeting even the most unique needs along the entire product life cycle.

All the PTM cranes installed on these vessels feature the PALFINGER Central Remote Control, which enables the operator to control each crane separately using two joysticks, directly from the bridge. Additionally, the operator can switch over to controlling the cranes from the deck with a remote control.