SLU news

Sweden’s new research vessel has been launched

Published: 13 August 2018

Sweden’s and SLU’s new research vessel was recently launched and moored to its berth at Armon Shipyards in Vigo, northwestern Spain. Several months of work alongside the quay remain before the construction is ready. So far the project deadlines have been met and the delivery is planned for May 2019.

Until the launching the new research vessel, which will be the largest in Sweden, has been built on a covered slipway. Building under cover has several advantages, not least since Vigo is one of Span’s rainiest cities. But now the construction has come so far that more space is needed.

- It is always exciting when a ship is launched, says Åke Dagnevik, Chief Negotiator with extensive experience of ship construction. When Svea finally was moored at the quay on Wednesday night many were happy and relieved.

The construction of Svea will now continue at quayside. Everything from huge particle filters, laboratories, and cranes to servers, cables and furnishings has to come into place.

- Now in early August the wheelhouse will be lifted onboard and attached, says Anders Englund from the consultancy firm Saltech, Project Manager for the construction of Svea. Then the ship will have its external final appearance. Quite some work still remains but taking into account the way the project has progressed so far, I am confident that we will be able to follow the time schedule in the future.

The Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (SwAM), the Swedish Maritime Administration, the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), and the architecture office Spridd were also represented at the launching. The Swedish Maritime Administration will be responsible for the ship management and crew, SMHI will – just as SLU – use Svea for environmental monitoring, SwAM is the authority responsible for marine environmental analysis in Sweden and Spridd has been working with the ship’s furnishings, which will be the workplace for almost 30 researchers and crew members.

The final delivery date has been postponed by two weeks because of a major additional order to strengthen intrusion security. An advanced perimeter protection will be added to ensure strict demands on safe data handling.

Before Svea is delivered to SLU, in its future home port Lysekil, in early May 2019, the ship will undergo sea trial tests. E.g. noise measurements will be performed in Norway.

Contact:

Anders Englund, projektledare, anders.englund@saltech.se, +46 (0)8-735 85 35

Åke Dagnevik, chefsförhandlare, ake.dagnevik@slu.se, +46 (0)702-09 44 04

Lasse Thorell, chef för SLU:s fartygsenhet, lasse.thorell@slu.se, +46 (0)18-67 15 07

Johan C Thorburn, kommunikatör, johan.thorburn@slu.se, +46 (0)18-67 21 93

Facts:

 

Films and photos from the launching are available at
https://www.slu.se/forskningsfartyg

R/V Svea will be Sweden’s largest and most modern research vessel. The ship will be 69,5 metres long, 15,8 metres wide and have a deadweight of 3 420 tons.

Apart from being extremely silent Svea will have two drop keels for sonars, bow thrusters for exact maneuvering, current meters, and a ferrybox, that will measure e.g. temperature and salinity continuously, as well as specially designed laboratories for handling fish, water analysis, and data management.