First seaweed pilot is a success

23 Feb 2020 | Sea Ranger Service

The Sea Ranger Service, North Sea Farm Foundation and Vriezoo BV have carried out a successful first pilot for seaweed cultivation at sea. The aim of the pilot was to determine to what extent the sailing work vessel of the Sea Ranger Service can be effectively deployed to carry out inspection work at the first test location for seaweed farming in the North Sea, about 3.5 miles off the Dutch port of Scheveningen.

During the pilot, employees of Vriezoo BV launched an underwater robot (ROV) from the Sea Ranger ship the SV Fantastiko and were able to record the seaweed farm under the sea surface. This validates that the deployment of an ROV from the sailing work vessel of the Sea Rangers is feasible.

The Sea Ranger Service and Stichting Noordzeeboerderij started their collaboration in November 2019 to promote the development of the offshore seaweed farming in the North Sea. The new collaboration focuses on testing the effectiveness of sailing work vessels for the periodic maintenance of offshore seaweed farms. This would offer a clean, sustainable and cost-effective alternative to the use of motor vessels.

For the Sea Ranger Service, the new collaboration and the successfully executed pilot are an important step in the technical validation of the variety of offshore tasks that the Sea Rangers and their special sailing vessels can perform effectively at sea.

Sea Rangers can carry out periodic maintenance of seaweed farms in a smart and cost-efficient way.

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