MIAMI: Atlantic Sapphire ASA announced that Bjørn-Vegard Løvik will join the Company as Interim Chief Operating Officer, reporting directly to the CEO of Atlantic Sapphire USA LLC, Johan E. Andreassen, as part of a restructuring of the organization to improve transfer of information, knowledge and accountability.
Dharma Rajeswaran will take on a new advisory role as Chief of Staff and will continue to work closely with Johan Andreassen, with a stronger focus on the continued expansion plans in the US.
Johan E. Andreassen, Chairman of the Company and CEO of AS USA, said, “Following a challenging start to 2021 for the Company, which has involved operational disturbances and elevated mortality, especially tied to fish movement issues, smolt facility and the loss of biomass on March 23, 2021, we are making organizational changes to the US operation for increased efficiency and reliability.
I am therefore very pleased that Mr. Løvik will join us here in the US, bringing over two decades of salmon farming competence into the team. Mr. Løvik and I have been working together since we entered the fish farming industry, and I personally know that his experience as a fish farmer is unmatched.
I would like to thank Mr. Rajeswaran for his hard work and dedication as COO of the Company since 2017, and I personally look forward to having Mr. Rajeswaran as my direct advisor in his new role in the Company.”
Bjørn-Vegard Løvik, Interim COO of the Company, commented “I’ve been involved in Atlantic Sapphire since the inception of the Company, and look forward to contribute more actively to the day-to-day operation in this critical stage for the Company. What we’re doing is not easy, but we know we have the right team with unmatched experience to get our US operation into steady state production.”
Bjørn-Vegard Løvik is the CEO of Alsco AS, and co-founder of Atlantic Sapphire. Alsco AS, jointly owned by Mr. Løvik and Mr. Andreassen, is the largest shareholder in the Company. Løvik has significant experience in the salmon farming industry, and the broader seafood industry.
Løvik has previously co-founded Villa Organic with Johan Andreassen, a 30,000 tonnes capacity salmon farming company, and led Villa Organic from idea inception to an IPO and strategic exit. Mr. Løvik owns two Norwegian salmon smolt facilities, Hjelvik Settefisk and Saetre Settefisk, with a combined annual capacity of approximately 3 million smolt and post-smolt. Additionally, Mr. Løvik has founded and led Prophylaxia AS, an R&D-focused net pen salmon farming business in Norway. Løvik is a Norwegian citizen residing in Vestnes and Miami.
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