Haakon News

Wallem Group, a leading global maritime partner, is celebrating the centenary of moving its headquarters to Hong Kong.The celebrations will be marked by a special event on November 12, 2025 in the presence of Guest of Honour Hong Kong Finance Secretary, commemorating 100 years since the relocation—22 years after Norwegian shipbroker and agent Haakon Wallem formed Wallem & Co. in 1903.By 1925, Haakon had earned the nickname "Typhoon Wallem," reflecting his energy and business acumen and his deployment of both to support Chinese shipowners.In the 100 years since…

Wilhelmsen Ship Management announced its chief operating officer Haakon Lenz will assume the role of CEO, succeeding Carl Schou, who is retiring after 19 years of service, including 16 years as CEO.Lenz will assume the role of CEO on January 1, 2025, and Carl Schou will remain with the company as a senior advisor for a period of six months.A naval architect with hands-on experience in ship management and global operations, Lenz, is a seasoned maritime leader with extensive experience across various operational and technical functions.

Yara Birkeland, the world’s first electric, autonomous container vessel, was christened in Norway on Friday.The battery-driven vessel completed its maiden voyage in November 2021 and is due to enter service this year, transporting fertilizer across the fjord from Yara International’s Porsgrunn plant to Brevik port, eliminating the carbon emissions of 40,000 diesel truck loads per year, Yara said. Initially, the 80-meter ship will start operations as a manned vessel as part of a two-year trial period to become certified as an autonomous…

Norwegian energy firm Equinor on Tuesday announced the opening of the New York offshore wind project office, located in Sunset Park’s Industry City neighborhood near the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal.The project office will serve as the hub for Equinor and BP's large-scale offshore wind operations in the region, including Empire Wind and Beacon Wind. "Together, Empire Wind 1 and 2 and Beacon Wind 1 are poised to provide 3.3 gigawatts of renewable power to New York, enough to power approximately 2 million homes.

An interview with Ian Sage, director for marine operations, NATO Center for Maritime Research and Experimentation, La Spezia, Italy.NATO’s 3,100-ton, 305-foot research vessel NRV Alliance has been a leading platform for underwater acoustics research to the benefit of NATO navies. The ship operated with a civilian crew under the German flag for many years for the NATO SACLANT Center, later renamed the NATO Undersea Research Center, and now known as the NATO Center for Maritime Research and Experimentation. Now Alliance flies a new flag, and has a broader mission.

Wilhelmsen Ship Management (WSM) adds another ship management office in Southampton, England, to increase their global footprint in the region. “Southampton is a city with one of the longest histories in the maritime industry. It has an established maritime cluster of infrastructure and human resources that we can tap into immediately to support growth,” said Carl Schou, President of WSM. WSM’s Southampton office has an initial staff of five and 11 vessels in management for now. “With a local presence in the UK, we look forward to strengthening our position in the UK tonnage fleet both flagged and owned. We believe this is a geographical location that has great potential in the future,” said Haakon Lenz, Vice President for WSM Region Europe & Americas.

A new icebreaking research vessel built for the Norwegian governmental body for oceanographic research and fishing, was delivered this week in Norway. After the building process was completed at Fincantieri’s Integrated shipyard of Riva Trigoso and Muggiano in Italy, the new vessel, named Kronprins Haakon, sailed to the Vard Langsten shipyard in Norway for final tests and preparation for delivery to the Institute of Marine Research (IMR). The 9,000-gross-ton icebreaker is more than 100 meters long, 21 wide and can reach speeds up to 15 knots. She is able to move independently through ice up to one meter thick. She is built to ensure minimum environmental impact and reduced underwater noise, so as to allow studies on fish and marine mammals.

The 1914-built three-masted steel bark Statsraad Lehmkuhl is the oldest of the large square riggers still in operation today. The century-old tall ship, which is currently in use as a Norwegian sail-training ship, will be able to cruise out of Bergen harbor next year without any greenhouse gas emissions, thanks to a hybrid power system from Rolls-Royce. Norway’s state-owned company Enova, which works to facilitate the country’s transition to a low-emissions society, is providing just over NOK 4.2 million for an innovative project to equip the historic tall ship with shipboard battery power.

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.

Norsepower Oy Ltd., a leading provider of low-maintenance, software operated, and data verified auxiliary wind propulsion systems, has announced that its CEO Tuomas Riski is this year’s recipient of the ‘Young Entrepreneur Award’. The accolade was presented to Tuomas yesterday, by His Royal Highness Prince Haakon of Norway, during the opening ceremony of the 2017 Nor-Shipping Conference. Launched in 2013 in collaboration with Nor-Shipping and YoungShip International, the Nor-Shipping…

A new oceanographic icebreaker being built for the Norwegian government has been launched at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Muggiano, La Spezia. The vessel, Kronprins Haakon, touted by the builder as “one of the most advanced oceanographic icebreakers in the world,” will continue to undergo final outfitting ahead of its delivery by the end of 2017. Kronprins Haakon will be owned by the Norwegian Polar Institute for the Norwegian Government, while the vessel, taking its name from the heir to the Norwegian throne…

Following a comprehensive exercise to insource all ship management functions and to build a fully integrated shipping company, Golar LNG recently chose the BASSnet software as the core building block for the management of its fleet of 23 LNG carriers. Based in Oslo, Golar Management – the ship management unit of Golar LNG – has joined other shipping industry leaders, such as Stolt Tankers, Anthony Veder, NYK, “K” Line, Wallenius, Hapag Lloyd, Wilhelmsen and CMA CGM, in the BASSnetTM customer community. “BASSnet is fast becoming the number one choice in shipping software solutions for major ship owners and ship managers around the world due to its constant resolve to develop and implement the software as per industry requirements and customers’ needs”…

As part of a Whitsunday voyage from Bergen to Shetland, the crew and trainees will be treated to a celebratory welcome from harbour tugs Knab and Kebister when the ship arrives at Lerwick on Friday morning. Later that evening, Captain Marcus Seidl will host a reception for invited guests in the ship’s quarterdeck to mark this special occasion, with a presentation being made by Lerwick Port Authority. The ship’s 2016 itinerary includes six visits to Lerwick comprising Navy charters, sail training experiences for trainees and Norwegian student exchange trips. The ship has called at Lerwick every year since 1988 and its seasonal visits are now a regular feature on the port’s annual calendar.

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.

The new RV Kronprins Haakon, the first Norwegian Icebreaker built for Polar research, and the first purpose built polar research vessel since Roald Amundsen’s Maud launched in 1917, will start regular science cruises in 2017 with a complete hydroacoustic systems package from Kongsberg Maritime. Builder Fincantieri has selected a combined delivery of Kongsberg Maritime survey technology, including a wide range of Simrad scientific research systems for the Kronprins Haakon. Kongsberg Maritime will also supply an extensive K-Bridge system…

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.

Sagem (Safran) has won a contract from the Royal Norwegian Navy in competitive bidding for the navigation system on its polar research ship, the RV Kronprins Haakon, as well as the future 26,000-metric-ton ocean support vessel to be built by the Korean shipyard DSME under a contract signed in July 2013 with the Norwegian defense logistics organization. Both navy ships will be equipped with SIGMA 40 laser-gyro navigation system, which was developed and produced by Sagem as an inertial navigation system based on laser gyros and designed for harsh military environments. The Sigma 40 is a high-precision, autonomous navigation system that contributes to the effectiveness of naval weapon systems and mission success, its developer said.

Thor Offshore, an offshore support services provider and fisheries company, has chosen the integrated software suite BASSnet Fleet Management Systems as a part in its strategy to expand offshore operations globally. In parallel with Thor’s fleet expansion, BASSnet is being implemented across its current fleet of 29 vessels and its shore-based organization. Giving a resounding endorsement to BASSnet software solutions, Thor, based at the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic, has chosen to install the complete BASSnet suite covering planned maintenance…

Royal Dutch Shell has dropped one of Norway's biggest and most innovative industrial projects due to rising costs and complexity, dealing a blow to a technology that some hope could revolutionise offshore production. Shell said on Friday it would postpone a project to provide subsea compression at the North Sea's Ormen Lange, the second-biggest Norwegian gas field, despite the objections of a key license partner. The decision will not be re-evaluated for several years, until new technology and reservoir information become available, Shell said. Costs have soared in Norway's vast offshore oil sector over the past decade, and oil firms are cancelling or delaying major developments to save on costs and earn more cash for dividends.

DNV GL announced that it has moved into a new office that was officially opened by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and Henrik O. Madsen, Group President & CEO, DNV GL. The official ceremony was part of the program of the Norwegian trade delegation visiting Vietnam this week. Besides the Crown Prince, the Norwegian Minister of Trade and Fisheries, Monica Mæland also attended the inauguration ceremony. DNV GL has had a presence in Vietnam since 1995. Starting out as a Representative Office…

The ship will be named “Kronprins Haakon”, in honour of the heir to the Norwegian throne and will be built in Italy in the Fincantieri integrated shipyard in Riva Trigoso-Muggiano, before undergoing final outfitting and sea trials in Norway at VARD – a member of the Fincantieri Group. The new vessel, designed by Rolls Royce Marine, is due to be launched in the second half of 2016, and to be fully operative from the beginning of 2017. The project, promoted by the Norwegian government, has a total value of about 175 million euro.

E.ON Exploration & Production's (E&P) Tolmount gas discovery in the UK North Sea could contain significantly higher volumes than originally estimated, making it one of the largest discoveries made in this part of the North Sea for several years. The recently completed appraisal well reached its targets within time and budget on 6th July. A 855 m side-track was completed on 30th July, 2013. "This successful discovery in UK is an important step for our growing upstream business. Tolmount will significantly contribute to the implementation of our business strategy," said Jørgen Kildahl, member of the E.ON Board of Management. The Tolmount gas accumulation is situated near existing gas infrastructure in the UK North Sea.