Seafarms raises $92.5m to start one of the world’s largest prawn farms in the NT

Seafarms has successfully raised $92.5m to kickstart the much anticipated stage 1a for Project Sea Dragon.

SEAFARMS has successfully raised $92.5m to kickstart the much anticipated stage 1a of the Top End’s Project Sea Dragon, one of the world’s biggest prawn farms.

It follows the share placement announced by the company on June 23.

Eligible shareholders can participate on the same terms under a share purchase plan to raise an additional $15m for the project.

Seafarms aims to produce more than 150,000 tonnes of tiger prawns a year at sites in the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

The project includes a founder stock centre at Exmouth in Western Australia, a hatchery and breeding centre near Darwin and the development of about 400ha of production and nursery ponds at Legune ­Station, plus the upstream and downstream facilities at Legune and other sites in the NT.

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Seafarms’ biggest shareholders as well as its executive chairman Ian Trahar invested $20m into the capital raising by converting current loans of about $15.2m to equity.

The capital raising enables Seafarms to start immediate construction activities for ­Project Sea Dragon.

This will drive the project towards its first black tiger prawn harvest in the third quarter of 2023.

Mr Trahar said Seafarms would now work with its construction partner Canstruct to start the initial work packages for the aquaculture project.

Construction projects funded by this capital raising ­include:

LEGUNE Station, NT – substantial infrastructure including 24 nursery ponds, 20 growout ponds, and seawater intake earthworks and internal roads;

EXMOUTH, WA – expanding the Exmouth Founder Stock Centre with extra facilities completed to advance the ­Specific Pathogen Free Domestication Breeding Program; and

BYNOE Harbour, NT – construction of the Broodstock Maturation Centre Shed 1, with water systems and ancillaries completed to enable breeding of the domesticated population.

Project Sea Dragon is being developed in stages, and stage 1a is designed to produce 6000 tonnes of premium black tiger prawns within the first full 12 months of operation, with the first harvest due towards the end of 2023.

The estimated capital cost of stage 1a is about $281m, with $150m of that funding shared infrastructure to service the entire first stage of the project.

The company has a framework agreement with Canstruct as the managing contractor for stage 1 construction of Project Sea Dragon.

This agreement locks in the initial package of construction works, which will enable construction to start this dry season.

Advantages of capital raising to start construction of stage 1a of Project Sea Dragon include:

ENABLING stage 1a of the project to be completed by the third quarter in 2023;

MAINTAINING the momentum of the specific pathogen-free domestication program with the need to house animals at Bynoe Harbour to reduce biosecurity risk and broaden genetic diversity of the domesticated population; and

MEETING Seafarms’ commitments under its project development agreement and major project status.

Originally published as Seafarms raises $92.5m to start one of the world’s largest prawn farms in the NT