HNoMS Maud

HNoMS Maud is a replenishment oiler constructed at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in South Korea. She was built on behalf of the Norwegian defense materials agency Forsvarsmateriell, for service in the Royal Norwegian Navy.

HNoMS Maud sailing from the shipyard under Norwegian command
History
Norway
Name: HNoMS Maud
Ordered: 28 June 2013
Builder: Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, South Korea
Laid down: 15 December 2015
Launched: 4 June 2016
Acquired: 16 November 2018
Commissioned: 21 May 2019
In service: Active
Identification:
General characteristics
Type: Replenishment oiler
Displacement: 27,500 long tons (27,941 t)
Length: 183 m (600 ft 5 in)
Beam: 25.9 m (85 ft 0 in)
Draught: 8.62 m (28 ft 3 in)
Propulsion:

Diesel Hybrid (CODLOD) 2 × 7,500 kW Wärtsilä main engines 2 × 3,170 kW Wärtsilä diesel generators

2 × 1,000 kW Wärtsilä bow thrusters
Speed: 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Range: 10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi)
Complement: 43 core + up to 116 additional
Armament: 4 × Sea Protector
Aircraft carried: Hangar space for 2 × NH90 helicopters

Role and specifications

Maud replaced HNoMS Valkyrien as the naval logistics vessel. The vessels primary task is to support naval forces with after-supplies. The ship is the largest ship ever in the Royal Norwegian Navy, and is twice as large as the frigates of the Fridtjof Nansen class.[1] She is named in honour of Queen Maud of Norway, wife of Haakon VII of Norway.[2] Her design is a variation of the Tide-class tankers ordered for Britain's Royal Fleet Auxiliary.[2]

The primary mission of the vessel is to provide supplies of fuel, ordinance and equipment for warships that are part of the Norwegian Task Group (NorTG) to expand the force's operational endurance at sea. Secondary tasks will include sovereignty, support for other military units, civilian support, search and rescue (SAR), humanitarian operations and participation in network-based defense. She also carries a 48-bed hospital.[2]

Construction

The launch of the ship was originally planned for March 2016. Due to delays at the yard, delivery was postponed until the autumn of 2017, with operations set to begin in 2018.[3][4] The delivery was later postponed until 30 April 2018,[5] but due to damage to her main engines her delivery date was again postponed.[6] In September 2017 members of her prospective crew attended training exercises in replenishment at sea (RAS) at the Royal Navy training facilities at HMS Raleigh, Torpoint.[2]

Because of the delays during construction of HNoMS Maud, two Reine-class patrol vessels of the Norwegian Coast Guard, Olav Tryggvason and Magnus Lagabøte, were transferred to the navy as auxiliary ships. Their prefix was therefore changed from "NoCGV" to "HNoMS".[7]

Service history

The navy took over Maud in a ceremony at the Daewoo shipyard on 16 November 2018. Chief of Staff of the Navy, flag commander Øystein Wemberg said "This is a great and historic day for the Navy and the entire maritime Norway. It is not every day we take over a new vessel."[8] Command was taken with the hoisting of the Norwegian flag, and the crew moved in for the first time.[9]

On 21 May 2019, Maud was christened and commissioned in Bergen.[10] Maud arrived in Norway on 29 March 2019.

The ship would be tested for a year until the warranty runs out.

In December 2019, Maud was banned from sailing after global risk-assessment firm DNV GL revealed several safety hazards, deeming the vessel too unsafe to sail.[11] The problems uncovered include heavy doors which pose a "danger" to the crew, the absence of proper lighting on board, new medical equipment that turned out to be faulty or outdated, and an oxygen generator in the operating room that could potentially pose a "major" fire hazard. The firm also found no signs that the vessel had undergone any maintenance for two years while docked at the shipyard.[12]

According to the Navy and the Ministry of Defence, all problems with the ship were to have been tackled during its test run, with the goal of having the vessel in operation during the second quarter of 2020[11][12].However, as of August 2020, the ship was expected to return to operational service in mid-2021.[13]

References
  1. "Nå bygges Sjøforsvarets største skip". tu.no (in Norwegian). 21 July 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  2. "Norwegian Navy train at Raleigh". royalnavy.mod.uk. 8 September 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  3. "Nå er også Forsvaret utsatt for forsinkelser på et koreansk verft". tu.no (in Norwegian). 30 August 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  4. "Forsvarets største skip ligger fortsatt i Sør-Korea". tu.no (in Norwegian). 26 January 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  5. "Ny leveringsdato for KNM Maud" (Press release) (in Norwegian). Norwegian Ministry of Defence. 12 September 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  6. Blich, Vibeke (2 May 2018). "KNM "Maud" ikke hjemme før til høsten - Skipsrevyen.no" (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  7. "Marinen får to nye logistikkfartøy". aldrimer.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  8. Forsvaret (21 November 2018), "KNM Maud overtatt av Norge", youtube.com, retrieved 21 November 2018
  9. Blich, Vibeke (21 November 2018). "Logistikkskipet er endelig overtatt av Norge". Skipsrevyen.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  10. Markussen, Helge Martin (21 May 2019). "Nå er «Maud» døpt". Skipsrevyen.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  11. "KNM Maud får seilingsforbud etter avvik" (in Norwegian Bokmål). ABC Nyheter. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  12. "Dangerous doors & fire hazards: Norway's largest naval ship flagged as unsafe & banned from sailing". rt.com. RT. 25 December 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  13. "To år etter leveransen er problemskipet KNM Maud ute på prøvetur". tu.no (in Norwegian). 13 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.