RV ''Kronprins Haakon'' is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

icebreaking An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

polar

research vessel A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated ...

owned by the

Norwegian Polar Institute The Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI; no, Norsk Polarinstitutt) is Norway's central governmental institution for scientific research, mapping and environmental monitoring in the Arctic and the Antarctic. The NPI is a directorate under Norway's Min ...

. The shiptime use is divided between the main users, the

University of Tromsø The University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway (Norwegian: ''Universitetet i Tromsø – Norges arktiske universitet''; Northern Sami: ''Romssa universitehta – Norgga árktalaš universitehta'') is a state university in Norway an ...

(50%),

(30%) and

Norwegian Institute of Marine Research The Norwegian Institute of Marine Research ( no, Havforskningsinstituttet) is a national consultative research institute which is owned by the Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs. The institute performs research and provides advisory services ...

(20%). She was built at

Fincantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

shipyard in

Genova Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of Ge ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, and delivered in 2018.

Technical details

With a length of , beam of and draft of , ''Kronprins Haakon'' is the largest Norwegian icebreaker ever built despite being slightly shorter than ''Svalbard'', the 6,375-ton icebreaking offshore patrol vessel operated by the

Norwegian Coast Guard The Norwegian Coast Guard ( no, Kystvakten) is a maritime military force which is part of the Royal Norwegian Navy. The coast guard's responsibility are for fisheries inspection, customs enforcement, border control, law enforcement, shipping ...

. The research vessel has accommodation for 55 personnel in 38 cabins, including a crew of 15–17. She is equipped with hangar for two small to medium-sized helicopters, but the helipad in the bow is strengthened also for the heavier helicopters such as

NHIndustries NH90 The NHIndustries NH90 is a medium-sized, twin-engine, multi-role military helicopter. It was developed in response to NATO requirements for a battlefield helicopter which would also be capable of being operated in naval environments. The NH90 ...

operated by the Norwegian Coast Guard and

Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma The Airbus Helicopters H215 (formerly Eurocopter AS332 Super Puma) is a four-bladed, twin-engine, medium-size utility helicopter developed and initially produced by the French aerospace company Aérospatiale. It has been subsequently manufactu ...

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

(SAR) helicopters based in

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...

. Like most modern icebreakers, ''Kronprins Haakon'' has a diesel-electric propulsion system. Her power plant consists of two 3,500kW

six-cylinder The straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine balan ...

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

B32:40L6 and two 5,000kW 9-cylinder Bergen B32:40L9 medium-speed

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s that produce power for two 5.5MW Rolls-Royce US ARC 0.8 FP

azimuth thrusters An azimuth thruster is a configuration of marine propellers placed in pods that can be rotated to any horizontal angle (azimuth), making a rudder unnecessary. These give ships better maneuverability than a fixed propeller and rudder system. T ...

and two 1.1MW

bow thruster Manoeuvering thruster (bow thruster or stern thruster) is a transversal propulsion device built into, or mounted to, either the bow or stern, of a ship or boat to make it more manoeuvrable. Bow thrusters make docking easier, since they allow th ...

s. The propulsion system also gives her

Dynamic Positioning Dynamic positioning (DP) is a computer-controlled system to automatically maintain a vessel's position and heading by using its own propellers and thrusters. Position reference sensors, combined with wind sensors, motion sensors and gyrocompass ...

(DP) Class 1 stationkeeping capability.New Norwegian ice going Research Vessel Kronprins Haakon
Norwegian Polar Institute, 2015. In open water, she has a maximum cruising range of and endurance of 65 days at cruising speed. The

bollard pull Bollard pull is a conventional measure of the pulling (or towing) power of a watercraft. It is defined as the force (in tonnes force, or kilonewtons (kN)) exerted by a vessel under full power, on a shore-mounted bollard through a tow-line, commo ...

of the vessel is 158 tonnes. The hull of ''Kronprins Haakon'' is strengthened according to

International Association of Classification Societies The International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) is a technically based non-governmental organization that currently consists of eleven member marine classification societies. More than 90% of the world's cargo-carrying ships’ to ...

(IACS) ''Unified Requirements for Polar Class Ships'' for operations in winter ice with pressure ridges, multi-year ice and glacial ice inclusions. Her ice class, '' Polar Class 3'', is intended for vessels designed for "year-round operation in second-year ice which may include multi-year ice inclusions". During full-scale ice trials north of Svalbard, ''Kronprins Haakon'' was found out to be capable of breaking ice with a snow layer at a continuous speed of at full propulsion power, slightly exceeding her contractual requirements. Ridges up to in thickness were successfully broken by

ramming In warfare, ramming is a technique used in air, sea, and land combat. The term originated from battering ram, a siege weapon used to bring down fortifications by hitting it with the force of the ram's momentum, and ultimately from male sheep. Thus, ...

. A high-end research vessel, ''Kronprins Haakon'' has an extensive scientific outfit for oceanography, marine biology and geology. The main deck is largely dedicated to scientific activities with 15 fixed and three container laboratories, refrigerated storage rooms, large working deck with cranes and an

A-frame An A-frame is a basic structure designed to bear a load in a lightweight economical manner. The simplest form of an A-frame is two similarly sized beams, arranged in an angle of 45 degrees or less, attached at the top, like an uppercase lett ...

for trawling, and a hangar and moon pool for sampling as well as AUV and ROV operations. Underwater acoustics instrumentation is fitted in two drop keels as well as special "arctic tanks" for operations in ice-covered seas.

Development and construction

In 1999, the

issued a proposal for acquiring a new research vessel to replace the 1978-built ''Lance'', a former fishing and sealing vessel that had been rebuilt as a research vessel in 1992. After a feasibility study was completed in 2007, the design contract was awarded to Rolls-Royce Marine (today Kongsberg Maritime Ship Design) in 2008. The initial design was further developed in close co-operation with the Norwegian Polar Institute and other future users of the research vessel and the Kongsberg Ship Design ''UT 395'' vessel concept was approved by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance in 2011. The funding for the construction of the new research vessel was approved by the

Norwegian Parliament The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years base ...

and included in the 2013 budget.New Norwegian ice going Research Vessel Kronprins Haakon
Norwegian Polar Institute. On 29 November 2013, the construction of the

NOK Nok is a village in Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site. Archaeology The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, of which these ...

1.4 billion (approximately 175 million euro) polar research vessel was awarded to the Italian shipbuilder

and the shipbuilding contract was signed on 19 December. The vessel, named ''Kronprins Haakon'' after

Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway (; Haakon Magnus; born 20 July 1973) is the heir apparent to the Norwegian throne. He is the only son of King Harald V and Queen Sonja. Haakon represents the fourth generation of the sitting Norwegian royal famil ...

, would be built by

-based Riva Trigoso-Muggiano shipyard. Final outfitting and sea trials would be carried out at Fincantieri-owned

VARD Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

in Norway.Fincantieri to build an oceanographic ship for Norway
Fincantieri, 29 November 2013. Italians to build "Kronprins Haakon"
BarentsObserver, 29 November 2013. The first steel for the new Norwegian polar research vessel was cut on 15 June 2015 and the keel was laid on 2 September. ''Kronprins Haakon'', named after the crown prince of Norway, was launched on 3 March 2017 and delivered in April 2018. The main user of the vessel will be

, also known as the Arctic University of Norway.Kronprins Haakon – icebreaker research vessel
Norwegian Polar Institute.
Kongsberg Maritime Ship Design
later used the experience gained from designing the Norwegian polar research vessel to develop the RRS ''Sir David Attenborough'' for the

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on ...

Career

One of the primary users of the new Norwegian polar research vessel is the Nansen Legacy project which will include over 370 ship-days by 2020 primarily on ''Kronprins Haakon''. In addition, the vessel will regularly sail to the Antarctic. In July 2019, one of ''Kronprins Haakon''s propulsion units developed a lubricating oil leak during icebreaking operations north of Svalbard, forcing the research vessel to cancel a scientific cruise ahead of schedule and return to Norway for repairs. During inspection in

Harstad ( se, Hárstták) is the second-most populated municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is mostly located on the large island of Hinnøya. The municipal center is the Harstad (town), town of Harstad, the most populous town in Centra ...

, the cause of the leak was discovered to be a loose bolt in the port side propeller shaft seal. There were no visible signs of damage and the repairs consisted of tightening the bolts in both port and starboard propulsion units and securing them with

thread-locking fluid Thread-locking fluid or threadlocker is a single-component adhesive, applied to the threads of fasteners such as screws and bolts to prevent loosening, leakage, and corrosion. Most thread-locking formulas are methacrylate-based and rely on t ...

. The scientific cruises were resumed in August. On 28 July 2022, ''Kronprins Haakon'' arrived at the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...

for the first time, becoming the second Norwegian vessel (after NoCGV ''Svalbard'') to reach the northernmost point on the Earth. Although the ice conditions were reportedly easier than expected, the research vessel was sailing together with the French icebreaking cruise ship '' Le Commandant Charcot'' operated by Compagnie du Ponant.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kronprins Haakon Icebreakers of Norway Research vessels of Norway 2017 ships Ships built in Genoa Ships built by Fincantieri