Named after Queen Maud of Norway, the new ship will be the largest vessel ever operated by the Royal Norwegian Navy. With her 180 meter long body, Maud will be used by the navy to provide fuel and fresh water for other units at sea. It will additionally support allies and take part in international and humanitarian missions.
FULL SCALE HOSPITAL
Maud’s primary task is to increase the endurance of the armed forces by providing them with fuel, spare parts, ammunition, consumables and sanitation, wherever it is geographically needed. In modern warfare, mobile logistics is necessary to ensure operational defence both at home and abroad. As the rest of society, the Norwegian navy has undergone a technical generational change and KNM Maud is the latest proof of that.
Apart from her logistic function, Maud houses a fully functional hospital, with all units necessary – such as operation room, x-ray, quarantine and intensive care. The ship has the medical facility to treat up to 48 patients. This means that Maud may be secondarily suitable to support civil society in the event of a crisis or disaster, humanitarian or search and rescue (SAR) operations.
ON THE MILLIMETRE
Fagerhult Norway and Sweden has been involved in delivering equipment for the health and care facilities on board. All health care panels are custom made in order to fit the flexible and unusual rooms of the ship. Since the panels could not be mounted in an ordinary way, due to the ships construction, all panels needed special development and adjustments – down to the very millimetre.
This has been a long journey, with a lot of considerations that had to be made along the way, says Joakim Norin, Customer Support Representative at Fagerhult Sweden. We are proud of the outcome, and our fantastic assembling crew, that could adjust and adapt the panels with such precise measures. It has truly been a team effort and excellent work from our colleagues!
AT SEA AT LAST
Theses type of projects are not managed tongue-in-cheek. The contract for HnoMS Maud was sifned in 2013, and the preliminary launch of the ship was planned for March 2016. But due to delays at the yard, delivery was postponed until the spring of 2019. The Norwegian navy took over Maud in a ceremony at the Daewoo shipyard on 16 November 2018. Command was taken with the hoisting of the Norwegian flag, and the crew moved in for the first time. On 21 May 2019, Maud was christened and commissioned in Bergen. Maud arrived in Norway on 29 March 2019 and is now in full operation, at sea at last.
MORE ON HNOMS MAUD:
https://forsvaret.no/aktuelt/maud-et-lyspunkt-i-en-krevende-tid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arGt7oOlKSI