A 25-hectare seaweed farm off the Yorkshire coast has welcomed a new vessel, in a major expansion of operations.
The Southern Star has been bought by SeaGrown Ltd to accommodate a seaweed and shellfish hatchery, marine laboratory, company office, visitor outreach centre and a small cafe.
Although she will often be moored in Scarborough, the 37-metre vessel will work at sea during bulk seeding operations, while carrying out a number of other functions on what is understood to be the first large-scale commercial venture of its type.
Co-founded by Wave Crookes, a former Scarborough fisherman who trained as a diver in the Navy, and his partner, Laura Robinson, a marine scientist, SeaGrown has pioneered a low-impact system that only uses the top five metres of the water to grow three species of seaweed on a run of floating lines.
It aims to be the first 海角视频 company to introduce farmed seaweed into new markets such as bioplastics, biotextiles and pharmaceuticals by next year.
Wave said: “It is going to be one of the mainstays of our business. It is going to house some incredibly important key facilities for the business, which we couldn’t function offshore without. When we get it into Scarborough it will make us self-sufficient, allow us to operate how we need to, and not be dictated to by the weather or seasons.”
SeaGrown welcomed 18m Bright Blue in 2019, a twin-hulled aluminium catamaran that in a previous ‘career’ worked as an oil spill response vessel.
Southern Star is currently in a Scottish shipyard undergoing some engineering works, with fit-out to follow.
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“We’re aiming for the summer to get her to Scarborough,” Wave said. “We’ve been set back by coronavirus, but we’re not perturbed, and we’re carrying on. We’re hoping after the Prime Minister’s announcement we’ll be able to make much more rapid progress.”
Support has been attracted from the Coastal Communities Fund to aid the business start-up.
“Our pioneering seaweed farm will ethically produce a sustainable crop which British customers and industry can use in lots of innovative ways – from biodegradable plastics to a new source of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, textiles and biochemicals,” Wave and Laura explained.
“We’re also looking forward to introducing our great new range of seaweed food seasonings which are a fantastic way of adding serious flavour to all your food with the nutritional boost of seaweed.
“Most importantly of all, our super-seaweed crop just needs the sun and the sea - no chemicals, fresh water, power or even land. Better still, it will absorb huge amounts of carbon and release oxygen into the water as it grows – making it good for us, good for industry and good for the environment.”
SeaGrown’s legal advice on the six-figure addition was provided by Rebecca Hardy of Hull-headquartered law form Andrew Jackson LLP. She is part of the shipping and transport department, and her work was described as “invaluable” and “without hitch” by Wave.
She said: “The purchase of Southern Star forms part of an exciting project to sustainably meet the growing consumer demand for seaweed.
“Laura and Wave have put a huge amount of hard work and dedication into the project to successfully bring the first large scale commercial seaweed farm to the 海角视频. We are pleased to have worked with our client and to have been involved in this exciting project.”