Ava Ocean Timeline

Events

• 2025-11-10 - Executive Hire - Ava Ocean appoints Torstein Heggstad managing director for fisheries - Heggstad joined after leadership roles at Maritime Partner, Volstad Shipping and Nils Sperre. He will oversee completion of the new vessel rebuild and formation of the fisheries team. The company planned to recommence Arctic scallop harvesting operations in… - source: avaocean.no
• 2025-05-10 - Partnership - Ava Ocean and Optimar develop onboard scallop factory - Optimar is developing an individually quick-frozen scallop-meat factory for Ava Ocean's new harvesting vessel. The Research Council of Norway awarded NOK 3.6 million to the associated SHELL processing project. Nofima and SINTEF joined the work on… - source: avaocean.no
• 2025-03-31 - Partnership - Ava Ocean selects Fiskerstrand for second scallop-vessel rebuild - The former Artemis Arctic will receive Ava Ocean's patented harvesting gear and a frozen-at-sea processing factory. Fiskerstrand also handled the rebuild of Ava Ocean's first harvesting vessel. Innovation Norway, Eksfin and Sparebanken Møre are financing the… - source: avaocean.no
• 2024-08-27 - Award - Ava Ray wins Nor-Fishing Innovation Award - The award recognized a precision water-flow system that harvests scallops without dredging the seabed. Ava Ray was developed over eight years with SINTEF and support from the Norwegian Institute for Marine Research. Arctic Pearl landed roughly one-third of… - source: avaocean.no
• 2023-12-18 - Award - Norway awards NOK 47 million to Ava Ocean-led Ocean Green project - The three-year Ocean Green project targets sea-urchin barrens in northern Norway. Ava Ocean will adapt its low-impact seabed technology to harvest urchins efficiently without damaging recovering ecosystems. Consortium partners will develop products from… - source: avaocean.no
• 2023-08-01 - Funding - Ocean 14 Capital commits up to EUR 10 million to Ava Ocean - Ocean 14 Capital made its first fisheries-technology investment through the Ava Ocean commitment. The investment carries an upper limit of EUR 10 million. Ava Ocean planned to adapt its harvesting concept for more countries, vessels and seabed species. - source: avaocean.no
• 2022-12-23 - Demonstration - Ava Ocean completes first Barents Sea scallop test harvest - The first basket of Arctic scallops came aboard in the early hours of 23 December 2022. The harvesting gear worked on its first attempt in difficult weather and collected scallops with very little bycatch. The two-week voyage reopened Norway's Arctic scallop… - source: avaocean.no
• 2022-11-24 - Production Milestone - Ava Ocean completes Arctic Pearl precision-harvester refit - The former offshore vessel was rebuilt around Ava Ocean's low-impact seabed harvesting system. The vessel carried a research quota covering up to 15,000 tonnes of Arctic scallops per year for five years. The program included continuing impact research with… - source: avaocean.no
• 2022-09-01 - Org Change - TAU Tech rebrands as Ava Ocean before scallop fishery reopening - The Ålesund company adopted the Ava Ocean name ahead of commercial operations. Norwegian regulators granted a five-year research quota of up to 15,000 tonnes of Arctic scallops per year. The Arctic Pearl was being refitted to carry the company's low-impact… - source: avaocean.no