Norwegian Institute News

While the adoption of unmanned/uncrewed surfaces vessels (USVs) was initially in defence, use of these low footprint systems has spread into other sectors, not least survey, and now the race is on for greater capability, endurance and autonomy. Elaine Maslin reports.After starting small, in inland waterways, use of USVs for survey operations has moved into coastal and now offshore waters. Given the extensive amount of seabed and rapid growth in offshore wind, there’s plenty of work out there for them to do.With the travel restrictions posed by Covid and increasing awareness of climate change…

Norway has suspended the sale of a Norwegian engine maker owned by Rolls-Royce Holdings to a Russian-controlled company while it assesses the security implications for the country’s navy and the civilian sector, the government said on Tuesday.Norway’s NSM security agency is assessing the 150 million-euro ($178 million) sale announced on Feb. 4 of Bergen Engines to a company controlled by Russia’s TMH Group, NSM and the justice ministry said.Britain’s Rolls-Royce said it was selling…

Nor-Shipping has postponed its planned exhibition and activity program for June 2021, pushing the event back to January 10-13, 2022, organizers announced. The maritime trade fair is the latest in a string of international shipping events to be postponed or canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Nor-Shipping 2019 was the most successful event week in the initiative’s over 50 year history. It saw more than 50,000 participants (a 34% increase over 2017), gathering from over 85 nations, at the main exhibition halls in Lillestrøm and across venues throughout nearby Oslo.

The Equinor Board of Directors appointed Anders Opedal as its new president and CEO starting November 2, 2020. Eldar Sætre will retire after six years as CEO and more than 40 years in the company.Opedal ascends to the top spot coming from the position as Executive Vice President Technology, Projects and Drilling. He joined Equinor as a petroleum engineer in 1997, spent many years in Drilling and Well and served as Chief Procurement Officer. In 2011, he was chosen to lead Equinor’s approximately NOK 300 billion project portfolio.

Norway stopped all cruise ships with more than 100 people on board from disembarking at its ports from Monday, after an outbreak of COVID-19 was reported late last week on a ship that had already disembarked at the port of Tromsoe.At least 41 passengers and crew who were on board the cruise ship MS Roald Amundsen, operated by Norwegian company Hurtigruten, have so far tested positive for the coronavirus, while hundreds more on board were told to self-isolate for 10 days, local public health officials said on Sunday.Norway is in touch with Germany…

Norwegian cruise line Hurtigruten is halting all its so-called expedition cruises until further notice following an outbreak of COVID-19 on one of its vessels last week, the company said on Monday.At least 41 passengers and crew from the MS Roald Amundsen have so far tested positive for the coronavirus, while hundreds more have been told to self-isolate for 10 days, public health officials said.“A preliminary evaluation shows a breakdown in several of our internal procedures,” Chief Executive Daniel Skjeldam said in a statement.“Our own failure…

At least 40 passengers and crew from a luxury cruise liner have tested positive for COVID-19 and the authorities are still trying to trace a number of passengers from two recent Arctic voyages, public health officials in Norway said on Sunday.Four crew members on the MS Roald Amundsen were hospitalized on Friday when the ship arrived at the port of Tromsoe, and later diagnosed with the respiratory illness. Tests showed another 32 of the 158 staff were also infected.While the crew was quarantined on the ship…

The Norwegian Continental Shelf’s journey from the very first basic marinized subsea trees to today’s complex and sophisticated subsea processing equipment has been a rapid, at times turbulent, but always remarkable.There are many engineers who have seen through that journey, from the first exploration wells using Norwegian rigs in the mid-1970s to today. One has now written the history of subsea technology in Norway and this year’s Underwater Technology Conference (UTC) has been chosen for its launch…

Swedish engineering group Alfa Laval has successfully completed additional tests at the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) to verify the biological efficacy of Alfa Laval PureBallast 3 without holding time.A press release from the company informed that as a result, PureBallast 3 is on target to be the first UV ballast water treatment system with zero holding time in its U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) type approval for all three water salinities. The test reporting is in its final stages.“The ability to discharge ballast without holding time in United States waters is an important issue for many customers,” says Peter Sahlén, Manager Research & Development…

Rolls-Royce is marking another milestone on the journey toward the completion of Britain’s new polar research vessel the RRS Sir David Attenborough being built by Merseyside shipyard Cammell Laird. The last of the vessel’s Bergen B33:45 engines/gensets have been craned into the ship’s hull at Cammell Laird ready to be connected to the RRS Sir David Attenborough’s Rolls-Royce propulsion system. The nine cylinder engines are carefully installed in three separate pieces. The first part of the nine cylinder engine to be craned into place was its double resilient foundation.

An improved and upgraded version of the Miko Marine ShipArrestor system has been delivered to the Norwegian Coastal Administration (NCA). The system has been developed to give nations the ability to protect their coastlines from the danger of ships that have lost engine power and from the pollution that can result when they run aground. The ShipArrestor system uses a specially designed parachute-shaped sea anchor that is connected to a drifting ship by helicopter and secured without any need for crew involvement.

Gondan Shipyard in Figueras today launched a new fishery and oceanographic research vessel to be operated by the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research of Bergen under a program led by NORAD, FAO and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The contract for the construction of this oceanographic vessel was signed in March last year and was awarded to Gondan Shipyard through an international tender, in which it competed with eight shipyards in Norway and one in Spain. Designed by the company Skipsteknisk…

Five nations set moratorium on fishing near North Pole; no fish there now, but thaw is drawing stocks north. The United States, Russia and other Arctic nations signed an agreement deal on Thursday to bar their fishing fleets from fast-thawing seas around the North Pole, an agreement delayed more than a year by tensions over Ukraine. The accord, also signed in Oslo by the ambassadors of Canada, Norway and Denmark, is a response to global warming, which is melting sea ice in the central Arctic Ocean, an area the size of the Mediterranean. The central Arctic probably has no commercial fish stocks now, experts say, but melting sea ice may draw fish such as cod farther north. Forty percent of the area was briefly open water when summer sea ice shrank to a record low in 2012.

Rolls-Royce has been awarded a contract by ship builder Fincantieri to supply a fully integrated propulsion system for Norway’s new Polar Research Vessel, which will carry out significant environmental research at the North and South Poles. The Rolls-Royce system includes gen-sets with a power electric system, a range of thrusters and automation and control systems. The vessel, to be named FF Kronprins Haakon, is a NVC 395 POLAR design from Rolls-Royce ordered by the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research. Detailed design will be carried out by Fincantieri. It is designed to operate through rough ice conditions, and will be equipped to cover a wide range of marine research operations, such as monitoring fishing stocks, metrological studies, sea floor sampling and mapping.

Rolls-Royce informs it has been awarded a contract by shipbuilder Fincantieri to supply a fully integrated propulsion system for Norway’s new Polar Research Vessel, which will carry out environmental research at the North and South Poles. The Rolls-Royce system includes gensets with a power electric system, a range of thrusters and automation and control systems. The vessel, to be named FF Kronprins Haakon, is a NVC 395 POLAR design from Rolls-Royce ordered by the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research. Detailed design will be carried out by Fincantieri.

The Thome Group has announced the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer, Olav Magnus Nortun, who will take up the position on 1st April, 2015. Mr Nortun, a Norwegian national, brings with him vast experience in the maritime industry, especially in the areas of strategic development and governance of production, knowledge management and systems related to ship classification. He has worked with DNV GL for many years in different locations around the world, culminating in his most recent role as Executive Vice President of its Classification Division.

Following a full product trial in New Zealand, the Norwegian Coastal Administration (NCA) has signed its acceptance of the first of two ShipArrestor systems from Miko Marine, making Norway the first country with a system that gives it the ability to protect its shores from the danger of drifting oil tankers and from the disastrous pollution that can result when they run aground. The newly manufactured ShipArrestor was put through a complete customer acceptance trial in Tasman Bay, New Zealand using chartered helicopters and vessels.

Odfjell SE held a general meeting November 12, 2014 at which the nomination committee elected Annette Malm Justad as its new director of the board. Annette Malm Justad is a Norwegian citizen born in 1958. She has a master's degree in chemical engineering from the Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTH) and a master in technology management from MIT Sloan School of Management. She has a broad experience in logistics, marketing and purchasing within manufacturing and industrial shipping in Europe…

In the power sector DNV GL supports the industry in delivering a secure, sustainable, available and affordable energy supply. In his new role Hans Tormod Hansen will be responsible for offering energy advisory services to the Scandinavian market, assisting power transmission and distribution companies with strategic advice, planning, implementation and energy delivery optimization – from policy to use. “Having started my career at DNV, I’m fascinated by how the company has evolved over the years,” said Hans Tormod. “Scandinavia’s current energy transition offers many opportunities and I am excited to share DNV GL’s expertise in transmission and distribution, risk management and renewables with the energy industry in the region.

The challenges of managing efficient procurement  processes and getting the right funding in the shipping and offshore sectors is the topic for a major half day conference in Singapore later this month. Coinciding with the Asia Pacific Maritime (APM) event on March 20, the Norwegian Procurement and Finance seminar is aimed at operators seeking to build vessels, capital goods or services within the shipping and offshore industries, or Norwegian exporters in these fields. The session will also see the release of a major report into procurement processes in Asia which was commissioned by the Norwegian Oil and Gas Partners (INTSOK) organization. The main findings will be revealed at the event.

The Norwegian Coastal Administration (Kystverket) has signed a contract with Miko Marine AS to become the first national agency to purchase the ShipArrestor system. The two packages ordered are due for delivery this summer and feature sea anchors that can be deployed on ships by helicopter. The systems will help protect Norway’s coastline against the pollution and other hazards caused when ships lose engine power and drift before running aground. By dramatically slowing the ship’s rate of drift, the ShipArrestor creates more time in which it can be reached by a rescue tug.

Calecore opened office in Stavanger, Norway. The office is located on the quayside in the city centre with many of Calecore´s Oil and Gas clients within easy walking distance. In addition to serving as a meeting facility for clients, the office will also serve the crucial role of local presence to further strengthen Calecore´s position in the Norwegian market and involvement in the push towards the Barents Sea and the Arctic. “After completing a number of highly successful Norwegian contracts in 2012…

The ShipArrestor system invented by Miko Marine AS of Oslo has been chosen as one of 50 exhibits at the first European Innovation Convention being held in Brussels on 5-6 December. The ShipArrestor was chosen from among 1200 projects funded by the European Union as it may be used to defend coastlines against the huge environmental damage that can be caused when a drifting oil tanker runs aground. A consortium of eight European organisations was created to develop the ShipArrestor idea under Miko’s leadership and was partly funded under the European Union's Research…