Aker BioMarine acquires Atlantic Navigator

Aker BioMarine doubles its in-house production capacity for krill meal through its acquisition of the factory ship Atlantic Navigator.

“With two licenses for harvesting krill in Antarctic waters and two ultra-modern vessels for krill harvesting and processing, Aker BioMarine is well on its way in building a marine biotechnology company,” says Aker BioMarine President and CEO Helge Midttun.

Aker BioMarine Antarctic AS will acquire Atlantic Navigator from the Faeroe Islands-based company P/F Næraberg. Aker BioMarine has a 33 percent ownership interest in P/F Næraberg. The transaction price is approximately NOK 370 million. The vessel will be acquired without any cash payments, through the assumption of debt and account settlements.

Converting the vessel for krill harvesting and processing will begin in the second half of 2007. The company’s factory trawler Saga Sea is already operating in Antarctic waters. Together, the two krill vessels will have an annual capacity of some 170,000 metric tons of krill after both are in service in 2009. Aker BioMarine will extract high-value krill oil from the krill meal for applications in food and beverages, nutraceuticals, functional foods, and animal growth and nutrition products.

Antartic II sold
As part of the adaptation of Aker BioMarine’s vessel fleet, the long-line vessel Antartic II, which has been operating in Argentina fisheries, has been sold for NOK 42 million. The sale generates an accounting gain of approximately NOK 1 million.

Following the Antartic II sale, Aker BioMarine has a single long-line vessel fishing Chilean sea bass in Argentina fisheries. The vessel has sufficient capacity to harvest the company’s allotted quota, and the fleet adaptation contributes to more efficient operations.