CIMC Raffles wins the first domestic order for intelligent deep-sea fish cages

May 24, CIMC Raffles Ocean Engineering Co., Ltd. signed a construction contract for "25*25 Jack-up Marine Ranch Platform and Hex box C15-35K Deep-sea Intelligent Bottom-sitting Fish Cage" with Changdao Jiayi Marine Delicacies Development Co., Ltd., and signed a construction contract for "Hex box C30-75K Deep-sea Intelligent Bottom-sitting Fish Cage" with Changdao Hongxiang Marine Delicacies Development Company.

These two deep-sea intelligent bottom-sitting fish cages are China's first independently designed and built deep-sea intelligent fish cage aquaculture projects, enabling China's aquaculture to move from nearshore to deep-sea. This marks another breakthrough for CIMC Raffles in the field of marine fishery equipment and will lead to an accelerated upgrade of marine fishery equipment in surrounding counties and cities of Changdao, and even in Shandong Province, which is of positive significance for promoting the intelligent development of China's fishery equipment.

China's first independently designed and built deep-sea intelligent fish cage aquaculture project

The two intelligent bottom-sitting fish cages involved in this signing are China's first deep-sea intelligent fish cage aquaculture projects, specifically designed for China's sea areas, with technical support from Norway's Ocean Aquafarms AS. CIMC Raffles will conduct detailed design and complete the project construction and commissioning at its Longkou construction base until delivery. After completion, the projects will provide intelligent aquaculture services for high-economic-value fish to Changdao Jiayi and Changdao Hongxiang, two marine ranches. The design of the fish cages aligns with international first-class aquaculture cages, integrating automatic feeding, underwater monitoring dead fish recovery, net lifting system, mature fish recovery, cloud data processing, and many other advanced functions into one system.

The two fish cages signed this time are 15 meters and 30 meters respectively, both adopting a bottom-sitting hexagonal steel structure, with the interior divided into six small cages of uniform volume, which can be used for breeding different fish species and sizes. The fish cages utilize new energy sources such as wind power and solar energy to achieve intelligent and pollution-free aquaculture functions such as feed delivery, underwater monitoring, and underwater net cleaning. This allows China's aquaculture to move from nearshore to deep-sea, not only reducing water pollution caused by traditional cage farming but also benefiting the development of coastal tourism resources.

It is worth noting that deep-sea intelligent fish cages can bring substantial economic benefits to users. Taking the C15-35K (15-meter) deep-sea intelligent bottom-sitting fish cage as an example, its effective fish farming volume is 30,000m³. If cultivating black rockfish, with a stocking density of 25Kg/m³ and a cycle of 2 years, it can yield 660 tons. Currently, the unit price of black rockfish is 50 yuan/Kg, with an annual total output of 18.75 million yuan/year. After deducting depreciation costs of the fish cage, fry stocking costs, feed prices, labor costs, etc., the theoretically calculated annual net profit is 7.468 million yuan. Meanwhile, the robust steel structure of the fish cage can support sightseeing fishing, with its benefits accounting for 3% of the overall economic benefits of the fish cage.

The multi-functional marine ranch platform signed this time uses new energy sources such as photovoltaics for power supply, with an area of 625 square meters. It can self-lift and lower on 4 steel piles of 37 meters, staying 4 to 6 meters above the water surface depending on tidal changes, and can accommodate over 30 people simultaneously. The platform integrates multiple functions such as marine monitoring, aquaculture care, safety and environmental protection, supply and processing, recreational fishing, and tourism, greatly enhancing the equipment, management, and service level of marine ranches.

Leading the accelerated upgrade of marine fishery equipment

CIMC Raffles is a high-end marine equipment manufacturing enterprise integrating R&D, design, construction, and commissioning. It possesses world-class facilities and technology. Since entering the marine fishery equipment field, it has seized the favorable opportunity of government support for fishery equipment upgrades, adhered to the customer-first philosophy, and relied on its strong EPC capabilities to provide customers with "design + construction + maintenance" one-stop services. In addition to marine ranch platforms and intelligent fish cages, the research and development of products such as semi-submersible fish cages, live fish transport vessels, and offshore fishery processing platforms are also proceeding in an orderly manner.

Changdao Jiayi and Changdao Hongxiang have both been committed for many years to developing an optimized combination of leisure and fishery aquaculture industrial chains, and both are provincial marine ranch demonstration enterprises. Previously, CIMC Raffles had cooperated with these two enterprises in the construction of marine ranch platforms. After the delivery of the two fish cages signed this time, they will work together with the marine ranch platforms to support the leapfrog development of the two enterprises' "leisure + fishery aquaculture" strategy, and lead the accelerated upgrade of marine fishery equipment in surrounding counties and cities of Changdao, and even in Shandong Province. Against the strategic background of Shandong Province building a "sea granary", this is the result of inter-industry collaboration and provincial, municipal, and enterprise cooperation.

It is worth mentioning that on May 23, CIMC Raffles and Kongsberg signed the "Exclusive Supply Cooperation Memorandum for High-end Equipment for China Offshore Aquaculture Cages" in Beijing, which not only deepened their strategic cooperation but also holds positive significance for promoting the intelligent development of China's fishery equipment.

Jiang Jun, Vice President of CIMC Raffles, stated that with strong support from government departments, the company will implement a "product-industry" strategy based on existing marine ranch platforms and fish cage series products. It will introduce advanced foreign marine fishery technology, optimize designs according to China's sea conditions, and successively launch more types of fishery equipment, building a Chinese intelligent marine fishery equipment industrial chain. This will provide marine ranch customers with one-stop overall solutions, achieve win-win cooperation, and support the national strategy of becoming a maritime power and Shandong Province's "sea granary" construction.