Seafarms to award $78m in contracts

Perth-based Seafarms Group will award five contracts to progress the development of a large-scale prawn aquaculture project in the Northern Territory.

The project, Sea Dragon, is a staged development that will comprise up to 10,000 hectares of prawn production ponds, intended to produce volumes year-round for export markets.

Sea Dragon is supported by a series of separate facilities located across northern Australia, including a quarantine and founder stock centre at Exmouth and a processing plant in Kununurra, Western Australia.

On Thursday, Seafarms said it had signed a project framework agreement with Queensland-based construction group Canstruct, following a memorandum of understanding announced in March.

The agreement formalises key commercial matters and governance of the management process, as well as pricing for an initial package of construction works, which includes five contracts valued at about $78 million in total.

Seafarms said the package of works would allow the company to begin work on the Sea Dragon grow-out facility at Legune Station, during this year’s dry season (May to October).

Canstruct will now send a small team to Darwin to help with local engagement and project construction ramp-up, Seafarms said.

Its shares closed up 7.8 per cent on Thursday to trade at 8.2 cents.