Triton
Since 2000, Triton has led the development of the global underwater logging industry through technology design, harvest concession development, inventory assessments, logging services, and eco-wood sales. Triton’s headquarters is located in Victoria, B.C., but the company expertise in underwater logging takes Triton right across the world, serving reservoir operations and industrial services clients. This privately-held company also operates as Triton Logging Brasil Ltda. in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro), and as CSR Developments (GH) Ltd. in Ghana.
Triton recovers standing, submerged lumber in a safe, efficient and environmentally-friendly manner, and it is the only company in the world that developed mechanized systems capable of harvesting lumber at virtually any depth. Simply put, Triton efficiently recovers this effectively lost resource, and provides consumers and manufacturers with a unique and environmentally certified source of high quality wood.
Sustainability
The chief upside of the underwater lumber harvesting is in reducing the need for traditional logging and therefore curbing deforestation of the planet. Each tree Triton salvages helps reducing logging of woods, forests, and rainforests.
Triton redefines global sustainability in the lumber industry, and the Triton vision is to grow underwater logging industry and deliver tangible triple-bottom line benefits: creating value for local communities and national governments, demonstrating strong environmental leadership, and producing financial returns to the visionary shareholders who made Triton Logging the global leader it is today.
In 2004 Triton received “Rainforest Alliance Certified™” Rediscovered Wood producer certification, which makes it the longest continuous certified underwater logging company in the world. While producing financial returns, Triton believes that business should produce social welfare and contribute to the sustainability of global ecosystems, and Triton lumber will be the first certified lumber in Africa.
Additionally, to engage global communities Triton prefers hiring and training local workforce. The company intends to maximize the number of employees from the countries in which it operates, and hire and promote such employees at all levels of the organization. For example, over 90 per cent of the company employees at the Volta Lake operations are Ghanaian, including senior leadership.
Technologies
Triton began with the belief that trees did not belong underwater and that they could be brought “back to life” in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. But before the company could do that, the right technology was necessary, and the company developed Sawfish™ and SHARC™ Harvesters.
Triton designed the Sawfish™ Harvester (U.S. patent No. 6,789,587) for deep water reservoirs (depth of more than 40 metres). Sawfish™ is a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) system based on proven components used in other subsea industries such as oil and gas, scientific surveying, and marine construction. This unmanned, remote operated system is armed with video and sonar guide to bring submerged lumber to the surface.
The second Triton technology, the SHARC™ Harvester (U.S. patent No. 8,096,334), is a versatile underwater logging system capable of harvesting trees in shallower reservoirs (depth of less than 40 meters). This autonomous, barge-mounted system incorporates proven forestry and marine equipment into a proprietary platform. The four main components include a self-propelled barge, excavator, a telescopic arm, and grapple-cutting head. A single pilot navigates, cuts, tracks and retrieves the lumber through software integrated in the cabin.
International Impact
Triton has harvest operations and project development teams active around the world and has worked on reservoirs in North America, Asia, South America, and Africa.
The company’s North American projects included a trilateral partnership with First Nations and the hydro industry to harvest trees from a northern Canadian reservoir, to survey and remove submerged trees for a U.S. hydroelectric company.
In Ghana, where Triton operates as Clark Sustainable Resource Developments Ltd. (CSRD), the company owns and manages the world’s largest underwater logging licence at Volta Lake. Formed in 1965 with the construction of the Akosombo dam, with a surface of 8,515 square kilometers (3,861 square miles), Volta Lake is the largest man-made lake in the world.
Company’s Volta Lake Lumber Concession covers 350,000 hectares for 25 years and has been ratified by the Parliament of Ghana. Signatories include the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, and the Volta River Authority. As part of an overall lake safety and transportation strategy for the Volta Region, the company has been contracted to survey, map and clear important shipping channels to create a safer boat navigation on the lake, and in the coming years the company will play an important role in developing safe transportation corridors for local people, national services, and the growing global trade that utilizes Volta Lake. The company has established its commercial operations as well as lakeside mill and drying facilities, offices, and employee accommodations.
In Brazil, the demand for certified and legal wood represents an important opportunity for Triton. The Brazilian natural forests cover approximately 470 million hectares, and the Amazon Forest represents the vast majority of this area. Brazil’s many reservoirs contain significant amount of flooded forests, with merchantable, good quality wood.
Triton’s South American headquarters in Rio de Janeiro works with public and private reservoir managers, and the government of Brazil on creating sustainable economic, social and environmental value from the region’s immense volumes of submerged tropical lumber.
From assessments and surveys, to underwater logging project execution, Triton Logging emerges as a saving grace for the lost lumber worldwide.
