Vard CEO Cathrine Marti opposed building the hulls for Norway's new standardised defence vessels domestically at the Verftskonferansen shipyard conference in Ålesund on Tuesday, November 3, according to a report from Maritimt Magasin.
"I would argue that the necessary capacity to do this is not available here. We have little time and cannot spend a long time rebuilding the necessary capacity and expertise. No, the future is not hull construction in Norway," Marti said.
Vard operates three yards in Norway but does not build hulls there. Its two hull-building yards are in Romania.
Green Yard Kleven CEO Hans Jørgen Fedog disputed Marti's assessment. "At Kleven alone, we can build three to four hulls a year and offer short delivery times. That alone covers the volume the Armed Forces want," he said.
Fedog added that domestic hull construction would give Norwegian yards continuity and develop their expertise.
Westcon Yards CEO Øystein Matre proposed dividing the work. He estimated that Norwegian-built hulls might make the vessels "a few percentage points" more expensive, adding: "Perhaps we can do both, build some in Norway to retain the expertise here and some abroad to reduce costs?"
Norway's defence procurement agency, Forsvarsmateriell, will allow hull construction in countries that have the necessary security agreements with Norway.
The agency plans separate naval and coast guard contracts covering up to 20 ocean-going vessels. It is targeting a construction contract in 2027 and first delivery in 2030.
