Andfjord Salmon dispute puts 76 jobs at risk.
A dispute between land-based farmer Andfjord Salmon and its main contractor AF Hæhre & Contur has created uncertainty for 76 construction workers at the company’s project on Andøya, Norway, according to local newspaper Arbeidsmanden.
“The layoff notice came last week, but it will not be implemented until after New Year,” said shop steward Stein Henrik Hovdekleiv at Contur. “We are working, in cooperation with management, to reassign as many as possible, hopefully all of them.”
Contur is currently attempting to move employees to other projects or lease them out to other companies.
“We hope this will work out. It is a bit uncertain how many will actually be laid off,” Hovdekleiv said, adding that the situation has caused concern among staff. “It has not really sunk in for any of us yet. Everyone on the project has done a good job up here.”
Land-based pioneer hits main contractor with $100 million compensation demand
Billion-krone claim and contract termination
The background to the layoff notices is a conflict between project owner Andfjord Salmon and the joint venture main contractor AF Hæhre & Contur ANS.
Andfjord Salmon has lodged a claim of more than NOK 1 billion ($100 million) against the contractor. The claim concerns what the company describes as “grossly negligent fulfilment of obligations and wilful breach of contract in connection with the construction of the company’s land-based aquaculture facility on Andøya”.
The contractor rejects the allegations.
“We have never been in such a situation before, and this is highly unusual and sad, not least for our employees, partners, hired resources and suppliers who have done a good job in the project and who will now suffer from this,” said Lars Hæhre, chair of Infra Group, owner of Hæhre Entreprenør and Contur, in an earlier interview with trade publication Byggeindustrien.
Hæhre criticised Andfjord Salmon’s handling of the dispute.
“Andfjord has chosen a media strategy where they make serious accusations. We do not understand these and have delivered in accordance with the contract throughout the project. I know what our employees have built and developed, and it is their achievement that the first tanks are as good as they are,” he said.
Hæhre said the contractor itself has significant unpaid claims against Andfjord Salmon.
“It is not they who have claims against us, it is we who have claims against them. We have followed the contract and delivered according to what has been agreed. We have a legitimate claim to be paid for costs incurred in the project,” he said, adding that the company has “outstanding claims of several hundred million kroner”.
“We have negotiated and tried to reach agreement for many months, but when we have not received payment and have such large outstanding amounts, we had to terminate the contract. This was done on Wednesday,” Hæhre said. Demobilisation at the site has now begun.
High quality, but excessive cost and time
Andfjord Salmon chief executive Martin Rasmussen said the company’s claim concerns “grossly negligent fulfilment of the contractor’s obligations and wilful breach of contract for groundwork and concrete works”.
“Even though the end product is of high quality, the consequence has been far too high costs and too much time used because of a lack of cost control at the construction site,” he said.
Rasmussen stressed that the company’s farming operations are not affected by the dispute.
“We have recently stocked approximately 1.1 million smolt in our two completed tanks. The need for new tanks will not arise until spring or summer 2026,” he said.
Andfjord Salmon has halted further payments to the contractor.
“As our claim significantly exceeds the amount AF Hæhre & Contur believes it is owed, we have stopped payments. Our claim is more than one billion kroner,” Rasmussen said. He confirmed that the dispute could end up in court. “It is in the nature of the case that this may become a lawsuit,” he said.
Infra Group press contact Espen Andersen said its personnel will remain involved at the site for a period to secure and dismantle the installation safely, while the company works to move employees to other projects so that as few as possible are laid off.
