KV "Bjørnøya" is nominated for Ship of The Year
KV "Bjørnøya" of the Jan Mayen clas, is part of VARD's prestigious project where the shipbuilder group is building three new coast guard vessels for the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency: KV "Jan Mayen”, KV "Bjørnøya” and KV "Hopen”.
20. April 2023
Develop the maritime industry
The Jan Mayen class are large and modern with good sea keeping capabilities. To be able to patrol and solve mandatory tasks throughout Norway's area of interest, including Arctic waters, the helicopter-carrying vessels are ice-strengthened and have collective CBRN protection through a gas fort. That is, the vessels can sail with internal overpressure to avoid gas attacks. The Jan Mayen class satisfies modern requirements for emissions to both air and sea.
The vessels must be able to perform all operations at an average wave height of 2.5 to 4 meters, and to be at sea for eight weeks without resupply of fuel or provisions. The ships can supply helicopters with fuel while in the air.
The proportion of Norwegian subcontractors is large in the construction of the three vessels. This helps to further develop national expertise and capacity in the maritime industry.
"We are very proud that our work with the Coast Guard vessels is being noticed. This shows that VARD has the expertise, adaptability and innovation competence needed to handle such an assignment."
– CEO in VARD, Alberto Maestrini.
Innovative and modern vessels
These are modern vessels based on available and known technology. The Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency has designed them together with LMG in Bergen, based on the actual needs of the Norwegian navy.
After an extensive design and engineering period in Norway of almost two years, with associated model tests, analyses and simulations, the hull production of the Coast Guard vessels started at Vard Tulcea in Romania in April 2020.
"The good cooperation between the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency, VARD and the civilian actors means that the Armed Forces will have updated and modern Coast Guard vessels. Our goal was not to be nominated, but it is of course very nice that the project gets this recognition", says project manager Odd Magne Nilsen in Norwegian Defence Material Agency.
After the hulls are completed, they are towed to Vard Langsten in Norway for outfitting, testing and commissioning.
Will replace the Nordkapp class
The ship will be handed over to the Norwegian Armed Forces during this year and is part of the Armed Forces' renewal of the Coast Guard fleet. "KV Bjørnøya" is the second of three new Coast Guard vessels built by VARD for Norwegian Defence Materiel. By 2024, the Coast Guard's vessels in the Nordkapp class will be replaced by the Jan Mayen class after more than 40 years of service for the Norwegian Armed Forces.
The Jan Mayen class has a length of 136.4 metres and is 31 metres longer than the Nordkapp class. The vessels have cabin capacity for more than 100 people. The acquisition of the three new Coast Guard vessels "KV Jan Mayen", "KV Bjørnøya" and "KV Hopen" is one of the largest defence procurements made in the maritime sector in Norway, ever.
Ship of The Year
There are three ships nominated for Ship of the year 2023. This is an award organized by the newspaper Skipsrevyen where a jury has selected the nominees on the basis of submitted contributions. The announcement of the winner of the award will take place in Oslo on 6 June.
