Kewatec has delivered a 14-meter work and research boat to Svalbard. Serecraft S14 was first transported from Porvoo by road to Tromsø, from where the transport continued by sea freight to Longyearbyen in Svalbard. The boat will be used for work and research at the world’s northernmost university, the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS). The delivery has been made together with our Norwegian subsidiary Martec AS.
The Serecraft S14 is 14.1 meters long and 4.2 meters wide and has two Yanmar engines of 509 horsepower each. The boat is named after the scientist Hanna Resvoll, who was the first female Arctic scientist in Svalbard, back in 1907. Hanna Resvoll was also a pioneer in environmental protection and was Norway’s first environmentalist.
This is the second boat Martec delivers to Svalbard. In the past, we have delivered a patrol boat to the Governor of Svalbard (2019), says Gisle Johnsen, General Manager of Martec.
We must thank UNIS and project manager Charlotte Sandmo for very good cooperation in the development and delivery of “Hanna Resvoll”, which will carry out research assignments along the coast of Svalbard, “the land with the cold coasts”, continues Johnsen.
We are proud and humbled to have been part of this project,” concludes Gisle Johnsen.
The boat’s training and commissioning for ice conditions and the Arctic climate are underway. The conditions have been good for testing the boat. The temperature has been between -7° and -18°C and the waves in the ice fjord have been up to 3 meters at most.
We have been able to test and establish that the driving characteristics and heating systems are functional, says Markus Magnusson, project manager at Kewatec.
If you are looking for an interesting travel destination, I can warmly recommend a trip to Svalbard, Magnusson continues.
