Defeating 16 shipyards worldwide, a Chinese shipbuilder has secured an order from a Norwegian shipowner for six live-fish transport vessels.

Recently, Runbang Ocean, a subsidiary of Runbang Co., Ltd., signed a contract with a renowned European shipowner for the construction of 2+4 4,500-cubic-meter live-fish transport vessels, marking another significant breakthrough for Chinese shipyards in the high-end live-fish transport vessel segment.

According to an announcement issued by Runbang Co., Ltd., the total contract value for the construction of these six vessels amounts to approximately RMB 2.8 billion to RMB 3.3 billion, with deliveries scheduled to commence in batches starting 29 months after the contracts take effect.

According to International Shipping Network, this order comes from Norway’s Frøy. As one of the largest companies in Norway’s aquaculture services sector, Frøy offers a comprehensive range of vessels, including service ships, live-fish transporters, diving support vessels, and cargo carriers, making it a key maritime service provider within Europe’s aquaculture value chain.

For a long time, Norwegian live-fish transport vessels have been predominantly built by European shipyards. This time, Frøy placed a bulk order with a Chinese shipyard, following a rigorous global selection process among shipbuilders.

Frøy stated that the decision to select a Chinese shipyard was made following a comprehensive and systematic evaluation. In 2025, Frøy launched a global shipyard tender process, which attracted participation from 17 shipyards. Building on this, the company also conducted a multi‑dimensional assessment—covering technical, financial, and integrity aspects—of the shortlisted shipyards, with support from external expert consultants.

Frøy CEO Tonje Foss stated that this decision was made after an extensive evaluation, as Runbang Marine possesses world‑class shipbuilding capabilities while meeting the company’s stringent requirements for quality and project management.

Foss stated that as the aquaculture industry continues to grow, supply-chain companies and fleets must upgrade in tandem. During its evaluation process, Frøy assessed numerous shipyards across Europe and Asia and engaged in extensive discussions with Runbang Marine, concluding that the latter would prove to be an outstanding partner in terms of quality, safety, and project execution capabilities.

In her view, the decision to partner with a Chinese shipyard is also aimed at fully leveraging global shipbuilding capacity to construct modern vessels in a more cost‑effective manner. Although the ships will be built in China, significant value—spanning design, project management, technological development, project oversight, and equipment and services supplied by Norwegian vendors—will continue to be generated in Norway.

“Our goal is to combine the strengths of two sectors—China’s competitive shipbuilding capabilities and Norway’s world‑leading expertise in aquaculture, maritime technology, and fish welfare.”

Live fish transportation is a key area of development in modern marine engineering and the global fisheries sector, placing heightened demands on live‑fish welfare, operational safety, efficiency, and environmental protection. This project integrates cutting‑edge European fisheries management principles and leverages Runbang Marine’s expertise in building high‑end offshore engineering vessels, with the aim of delivering a next‑generation, industry‑leading, high‑standard live fish transport vessel.

The live‑fish transport vessel contracted by Runbang Marine has an overall length of 87.10 meters, a molded breadth of 20.60 meters, and a live‑fish hold capacity of 4,500 cubic meters. Classed by DNV, the vessel was designed by a renowned European design firm and is equipped with state‑of‑the‑art foreign‑made live‑fish handling and processing systems. It features a 3,000‑cubic‑meter ultra‑large water‑circulation temperature‑control system, with all critical equipment redundantly backed up to ensure stable living conditions for the fish throughout the voyage. The installation accuracy of its 600‑mm‑diameter loading and unloading pipelines is maintained within 1 millimeter—an installation precision that ranks among the highest in the world—effectively minimizing losses during loading and unloading and safeguarding fish welfare. In addition, the vessel is fitted with reverse‑osmosis desalination equipment, enabling environmentally friendly high‑temperature freshwater treatment to eliminate parasites—a groundbreaking technological advancement that fully meets Europe’s stringent ecological regulatory requirements.

This next-generation live-fish transport vessel integrates technologies from marine engineering, aquaculture, water treatment, and aquatic animal welfare, significantly addressing the functional limitations, ecological shortcomings, and quality‑control challenges of conventional live‑fish carriers. It will serve as a high‑end piece of equipment within the marine‑economy value chain, elevating live‑fish transport shipbuilding to unprecedented levels and providing a powerful impetus to the global “Blue Granary” initiative.

Excluding the latest order, Clarkson’s data show that Rongbang Marine currently holds a total of 12 vessels with a combined deadweight tonnage of 836,000 tons, comprising four chemical tankers and eight offshore support vessels, with delivery schedules extending through 2028.