When a customer comes to us with a need to treat with Ectosan® Vet, they usually have a specific wellboat. If this wellboat has not performed an Ectosan® Vet treatment before, then an assessment of the technical suitability must first be carried out – either remotely or onboard the wellboat. This is done in cooperation with the wellboat companies, technical inspectors and the wellboat master, and covers all the technical requirements for a wellboat to treat with Ectosan® Vet.

To understand more of what is involved in this process, we spoke with Silje Borge, Technical Services Specialist. Silje holds a D1 master unlimited certificate and has been working on vessels since 2006. In 2017 she went from the offshore industry into aquaculture and started working with hydrogen peroxide treatments. Simultaneously the company she worked for was building the first Hydrolicer with 8 lines, and she took part in this process before she started working as a chief officer and treatment operator on the same vessel. Today in her role at Benchmark, she is responsible for ensuring that the wellboats being used for an Ectosan® Vet bath treatment have been assessed to ensure compliance with the requirements of the medicine and to offer ongoing support for all operators. She is also leading the training of the wellboat crews before they start the Ectosan® Vet treatment.

What is the process for a wellboat assessment?

Pre-assessment

The process for a wellboat assessment consists firstly of a pre-assessment, where we go through the vessel and ensure that it is technically suitable for treatments with Ectosan® Vet. If any modifications or installations are needed, these are then carried out with assistance from the Technical Services team in Benchmark.

Connection trial and training

Once the wellboat is technically ready for treatment, a connection trial with the CleanTreat® wessel will be done. The connection trial ensures that the wellboat systems are functioning, and that they can connect to CleanTreat® in a safe and secure manner to transfer the water between vessels. It is also important to ensure that the wellboat can empty their wells so that all treatment water can be purified by the CleanTreat® system. The connection trial is done with clean sea water and allows both vessels to familiarize themselves with the process and establish good communication lines. Alongside the connection trial the crew will receive theoretical training and practical training will be given during the treatment.

Continual technical support

Once the connection trial is completed successfully the treatment can commence. The first treatment with Ectosan® Vet will be done with a representative from the Technical Services team onboard to ensure that procedures are well understood, the crew receives the appropriate training and to answer any questions that might arise. Once this has been successfully delivered the wellboat can continue to operate on their own but can always call Technical Services to ask questions or request further training for new crew members.

What wellboat types can be used for Ectosan® Vet treatment?

Wellboats that can treat with their wells completely closed while maintaining good water quality and fish welfare, as well as loading and offloading fish over a dewatering unit, can be used for Ectosan® Vet treatments. In some cases, modifications might be needed, a common one being a rinsing system above the outlet for offloading of fish. This will ensure that the fish is rinsed with clean seawater to remove residues of medicine from the outside of the fish.

Wellboats that cannot treat with their wells completely closed or can make modifications to be able to do so, or wellboats without dewater units, cannot treat with Ectosan® Vet. To end the interview, we asked Silje;

What do you find most challenging about your work and what is the best part?

Time management is the most challenging part, in aquaculture planning is hard. Once something needs to be done it should have been done yesterday, and whenever a plan is made in advance the possibility of that changing is quite high. I am constantly reprioritising my workload to support and meet the needs of our customers. The part I enjoy the most is working with the different wellboats. I get to see so many beautiful vessels and meet so many people with interesting stories and so much knowledge. With my background, it is easy for me to understand the challenges they face in their day-to-day work and see the feedback they are giving from their perspectives. I also enjoy my great coworkers, there are so many different backgrounds and so much to learn from their expertise. They always show up when you need them and are more than happy to share their knowledge when you are stuck on a subject and need some guidance. Also, they have a great sense of humor!

Our Technical Services team provide complete customer support throughout Ectosan® Vet treatments, at all treatment stages, supporting treatment optimisation and developing product best practices. If you have any more questions about Benchmark’s support for wellboats and their crews performing Ectosan® Vet Treatments, Silje and the team can be contacted at ectosanvet@bmkanimalhealth.com