Norwegian Intelligence Service News

Russia has increased its naval activity in international waters close to Norway and its military capabilities are a growing concern, Norway's navy chief said on Thursday. Norway has an Arctic border with Russia and its economy is highly reliant on its free access to the seas. Rear Admiral Nils Andreas Stensoenes, Chief of the Royal Norwegian Navy, told Reuters it was Russia's legal right to operate in international waters. "We are worried about the increase in activity and the increasing capability because that might be used to their advantage and to our disadvantage later," he said on the sidelines of a Royal United Services Institute conference in London.

Vard Holdings Limited (“VARD”), one of the major global designers and shipbuilders of offshore and specialized vessels, stated that the surveillance vessel “Marjata” was named at Vard Langsten by the Norwegian Prime Minister, Mrs. Erna Solberg. The vessel was contracted by the Norwegian Defence Logistics Organisation in 2011 and will be operated by the Norwegian Intelligence Service. It is especially equipped for surveillance activity in the Barents Sea and the High North, and is one of the most technologically advanced of its kind world-wide. The naming ceremony for the vessel took place on 6 December 2014 and was attended by the Minister of Defence, Mrs. Ine Eriksen Søreide, as well as high-ranking representatives of the Norwegian Armed Forces and Norwegian Intelligece Service.

The first photo of what is to be the most important military intelligence vessel for NATO in the Barents and Arctic Seas is to be seen on the right. “This is an important project to ensure Norway’s interests in the North. Control with the development there is strategically important for Norway,” says Head of the Norwegian Military Intelligence Lieutenant General Kjell Grandhagen. The hull was completed in a Romanian shipyard then towed to Norway's Vard Lansten Shipyard where it…