Industry – July 17, 2026
Firda Seafood: €60 million wellboat remains idle after court rejects delousing appeal
Firda Seafood’s new wellboat Firda Eir will remain laid up after a Norwegian court rejected the company’s attempt to suspend a ban on its Tyr Licer delousing system, regional newspaper Firdaposten reported.
Sogn og Fjordane District Court rejected an application from Firda Eir AS to temporarily halt the Norwegian Food Safety Authority’s prohibition on using the equipment to delouse rainbow trout.
The regulator imposed the ban following reports of high mortality after the system was used in autumn 2025. It said further documentation was required to demonstrate that the method adequately protected fish welfare.
Firda argued that Tyr Licer was not a new method but a development of existing thermal delousing technology. The state maintained that the system required additional testing and documentation.
The court found that Tyr Licer was “most likely” not a new method and that Firda’s documentation was sufficient. However, it ruled that the financial losses caused by the ban did not provide sufficient grounds for temporary relief.
The decision leaves Firda Eir, which cost an estimated NOK 600 million to NOK 700 million (€54 million to €63 million), out of operation while the restriction remains in force.
The 5,000-cubic-metre vessel entered service in January and was intended to provide fish transport and delousing services both to Firda and other farmers in western Norway. Firda previously said the investment had created about 25 jobs at sea and onshore.
Firda Eir AS was ordered to pay NOK 174,274 (€15,700) in legal costs to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries.
The vessel and its operating company are wholly owned by Firda Seafood Group, controlled by salmon and trout farmer Ola Braanaas.
