Danish police concluded that there was no indication arson played a role in the fire.
A major fire broke out at Atlantic Sapphire’s land-based fish farm in Hvide Sande, on the Danish west coast, burning it to the ground on 15 September 2021.
“The fire investigations have now been completed, but it has unfortunately not been possible to come to any final conclusion on how the fire originated,” Knud Lauridsen, police commissioner at the Central and West Jutland Police, said.
Danish authorities were clear that no reason for the fire starting has been uncovered during their investigation, offering no further comment on the case.
The facility had been insured for more than $33 million. Although, the payout for the fire was delayed, with Atlantic Sapphire stating that it would be many months before the company would make a decision on whether to rebuild the facility.
At the time of the fire, Miami-based founder and CEO of Atlantic Sapphire, Johan Andreassen called the fire “heartbreaking,” emotionally addressing the loss of a “decade of game-changing innovation gone” in a post shared on Twitter in the wake of the blaze.
If the board decides to rebuild the facility, Atlantic Sapphire stated that it will take at least a year and a half before the plant can be ready for production again – 95 percent of the factory was lost in the fire, and up to 300,000 salmon were killed.