It was delivered in recent days at the Norwegian shipyard of Vard Langsten "Kronprins Haakon", an oceanographic icebreaker intended to operate in polar waters, built by Fincantieri for the Institute of Marine Research (Imr), the oceanographic research body and government of the Norwegian government.
After the completion of the construction process at Fincantieri's integrated shipyard of Riva Trigoso and Muggiano, the ship traveled to Norway for final testing and preparation for delivery. With a gross tonnage of 9.000 tons, a length of over 100 meters, a width of 21 and a maximum speed of 15 knots, it can move autonomously through a layer of ice up to one meter thick. It was built following criteria that minimize the environmental impact and reduce the noise radiated underwater in order to allow studies on fish and marine mammals and will be able to carry out its oceanographic and hydrographic research activities in any operational theater.
The ship is capable of accommodating 55 people in 38 cabins - research staff, students and crew members - and is equipped with the highest standards of comfort for passenger ships. At the bow it has a hangar that can accommodate two helicopters and is equipped with complex instrumentation capable of investigating the morphology and geology of the seabed.
The sensors and equipment installed constitute the state of the art of technology and guarantee a very high flexibility in the execution of various scientific missions, allowing it to carry out research also in the fields of geology, geophysics, chemistry and seismology. The ship will carry out missions on a global scale and will be used to study the modalities and consequences of climate change in the Arctic environment. "Kronprins Haakon" represents an important technical result for Fincantieri, achieved thanks to the various specific know-how developed in the many sectors with high added value in which the company operates, including that of military ships, submarines, cruise ships and that of special ships.
Fincantieri is a multinational company with twenty operating sites in Europe, the Americas and Asia, about twenty thousand employees, of which 60% is engaged abroad and a turnover exceeding 4 billion. Today the Group, listed on the Milan Stock Exchange, is one of the largest shipbuilding groups in the world.