Sharing knowledge - Marine Donut project

Marine Donut is a pioneering closed containment facility addressing the needs of future fish farming. The concept has been awarded development permits by Directorate of Fisheries due to its potential to solve many of the environment and area challenges that the industry is facing.

With SalMar as project owner, the construction of the first Marine Donut is underway. Here you can follow the project's knowledge sharing.

2015

Nils-Johan Tufte has the idea for a donut-shaped closed containment facility. The concept development starts.

2018

SINTEF conducts a pool test of a 1:10 scale model with promising results.

2019

The Directorate of Fisheries awards a development permit to test the Marine Donut concept on a full scale.

Q2 2022

SalMar signes contract with Bluegreen to build the world's first Marine Donut.

Q3 2022

Construction of Marine Donut starts at Bluegreen's construction site in Bamble.

Q4 2022

The construction is according to plan, and steering towards launch in end of March.

Q1 2023

The ring is closed! The main structure is complete and the Donut is getting closer to launch.

Q2 2023

Finishing touches on the fish volume! Soon up to 1,100 MTB salmon will be swimming here.

June 2023

The Marine Donut is launched at sea!

July 2023

The Marine Donut has embarked on its journey from Bamble to Romsdal Fjord, covering a distance of 510 nautical miles.

July 2023

The Marine Donut is in place in the Romsdalsfjord, and it has been lowered into the water. Now, we are awaiting commissioning and testing before it can be filled with fish.

Project Partners

SalMar

Customer, project owner.

Bluegreen

Contractor, engineering and construction

ABB

Electrical work, automation and instrumentation

Agru

Thermoplastic material (HDPE)

Xylem

Pumps

Sterner

UV lamp og Bernoulli filter

Nippon

Oxygen og emergency-oxygen

Signify

Lighting in fish volume

Solar Energy

Solar panels from REC

Stressmann

Global analysis and detailed structure design

Ranold

CFD analysis og simulations

Aquastructures

Design verification and product certification

SINTEF

Pool test of scale model 1:10

Project plan

The project started in August 2022. The facility was completed the summer of 2023 and is scheduled to be filled with fish this fall.

Reporting

The project's status reports will be published here.

Image gallery

Nils-Johan Tufte

Partner / CEO

Email E-mail

Phone +47 48 30 48 35

News

Watch the film: Bluegreen is an “Ocean Titan”

The series "Ocean Titans" showcases businesses that promote the sustainable use and management of ocean resources on Reuters. Bluegreen was handpicked to participate in the series with our Marine Donut.

Floating Closed Containment Systems - Solving the Industry's Challenges

During Aqua Nor, we organized a seminar in collaboration with our friends and competitors, FishGlobe and Ovum. The aim was to put Floating Closed Containment on the agenda and share insights and experiences from our three different concepts - Marine Donut, FishGlobe, and Egget.

Aqua Nor: Meet us at booth A-123.

Aqua Nor 2023 is approaching! Bluegreen is, of course, present, and we hope you'll stop by our booth. The number is easy to remember: A-123.

Technical Weekly: "This donut is set to yield healthier farmed fish."

When the Norwegian Technical Weekly (TU) was preparing a special edition with a focus on the aquaculture industry, Marine Donut was one of the main features. Read the article here.

Watch the movie about the Marine Donut

"I came up with the idea for the Marine Donut in 2015, and after ups and downs, winter and summer, the first facility with a volume of 22,000 m3 is complete!"

Marine Donut: "On its way!"

On Friday afternoon, Marine Donut embarked on its journey from Bamble to Romsdal Fjord, covering a distance of 510 nautical miles.

Free mini-conference at Aqua Nor: "The Future is Now"

Together with FishGLOBE and OVUM, we want to highlight floating closed-containment systems, which we believe is the solution to several challenges that the aquaculture industry is facing right now.

Marine Donut: - Getting closer!

The excitement was palpable as the gigantic closed containment system, Marine Donut, was jacked up and moved from the construction dock onto a barge. There, we will do the final touches and prepare for transport.

Marine Donut is being prepared for launching: The barge is in place.

It requires both cleverness, strength, and precision when transporting a "donut" weighing over 500 tons for 510 nautical miles along the Norwegian coast. The biggest challenge is transferring it from the construction dock onto the barge.

Former Minister of Fisheries: "It is like a cathedral"

Per Sandberg was the Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture when Marine Donut was granted a development permit. He remembers the project well and wasted no time accepting our invitation to visit the soon-to-be-completed fish farming facility.

PE 100-RC material supplied by AGRU takes reliability of the Marine Donut to the next level

Austrian company AGRU is one of the world's largest suppliers of thermoplastics. We have been closely collaborating with AGRU for several years, and they have supplied all the thermoplastic materials for Marine Donut.

Bluegreen finalist in Aquaculture Awards

Aquaculture Awards celebrates projects, companies or individuals making an outstanding contribution to the global aquaculture industry.

Marine Donut - should be exempt from resource rent tax?

This is the opinion of Norsk Industri, who visited Bluegreen earlier this week. The delegation from Oslo got the full tour of "The Donut".

Event in Canada: – The Blue Food Solution

Aquaculture is an important part of securing healthy food for the world’s increasing population. But the fish farming solutions have to be sustainable. The event "The Blue Food Solution: Aquaculture Technology Showcase" showcases this.

Christmas greetings from our CEO

- Our second year of operation is coming to an end. 2022 has become a year that has exceeded my expectations - and I'm not known for being modest! Watch a compilation of this year's highlights.

The industry wants to contribute, but need the appropriate conditions.

Let's further develop the Norwegian fish farming industry and export technology, was our message when parliamentary politician Jone Blikra and mayor Hallgeir Kjeldal came on a company visit together with NHO (The Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise).

iLaks reports: Bluegreen is happy about the contract with SalMar

The industry media iLaks.no visited Bluegreen last week. They were given a tour of the facility where Marine Donut is being built, and a good chat with our managing director Nils-Johan Tufte.

The Directorate of Fisheries on Donut inspection

Salmon lice, escapes and access to area are among the challenges the Directorate of Fisheries sees within the aquaculture industry at present. The system of development permits will help to solve these challenges. The Directorate of Fisheries is pleased that the Marine Donut concept is now being realized.

Norwegian National Broadcasting reports on Marine Donut

Norwegian National Broadcasting (NRK) joined SalMar and the Directorate of Fisheries on an inspection to see the world's largest "doughnut" being built. See the feature here.

SalMar signs contract to build the cutting edge fish farm Marine Donut.

The idea for the doughnut-shaped fish farm came in 2015. Now SalMar and Bluegreen have signed a contract to take over the development permits and build the first Marine Donut. This will become the world's largest construction in thermoplastics.

Marine Donut arriving in Canada for sea trials

A scaled model of the closed-containment fish farm Marine Donut has arrived in Newfoundland to be modified and tested locally. The aim is to build a full-scale model in the province for ocean trials over the next growing season.

Bluegreen subsidiary established in Canada

We have established a Bluegreen subsidiary in Canada, aiming to introduce the Marine Donut to salmon farmers in the Americas.

Seminar at Aqua Nor: State-of-the-art Solutions for Closed Fish Farming

Together with Uponor Infra, Waister and Signify, we have the pleasure of inviting you to a seminar during the Aqua Nor trade fair. The topic is "State-of-the-Art Solutions for Closed Fish Farming" and we will present four important disciplines for eco efficient fish farming.

Innovative product for the future aquaculture industry

In order to increase fish production and ensure good fish welfare, we must find solutions to the challenges of escape, lice and overconsumption of medicine and feed. The new, sustainable and cost-effective product Marine Donut, solves these problems, writes Fiskeri og Havbruk in an article about Bluegreen.

Fantastic start to the first operating year

We know from experience that two things are crucial for the success of a start-up: the right partners and ongoing solid control of the economy. That is why we have hired Erik Ritch-Reinfjord from BDO as our CFO. We have a fantastic first quarter behind us, and are poised to turn over tens of millions in the start-up year. In this article from Finansavisen, Erik and Nils-Johan talk about the collaboration.