Leeuwin Coast Expands Vessel Fleet With State-of-the-art Oyster Barge Arriving in Albany This Week

Leeuwin Coast’s oyster farming operations in Albany continue to expand with the arrival of a new purpose-built oyster barge in Albany this week to support production of premium quality rock oysters in Oyster Harbour.

Custom designed in-house and built for Leeuwin Coast by SFM Marine in Perth, LC1, is the first aluminium vessel built on a carbon offset basis making it’s construction carbon neutral.

The barge will be moored in the Harbour and act as a base of operations for our on-farm teams. The current Leeuwin Coast staff will continue to grow as further lease space is developed and this platform reduces the need for vessel traffic to and from the farm.

LC1 will allow us to work directly with our product in situ, resulting in greater efficiency and the very best oysters supplied to market.

LC1 has this week sailed from Leeuwin Coast’s Garden Island farm to Henderson where it was lifted by crane and trucked overland to Albany. It arrived on Monday and was launched into Princess Royal Harbour before being towed to its mooring in Oyster Harbour.

Justin Welsh, General Manager of Aquaculture at Leeuwin Coast, said “Having this vessel in Albany supporting Leeuwin Coast’s operations is an important part of our journey to create a sustainable, large scale shellfish industry that Albany can be proud of.”