VESSEL REVIEW | Hanna Resvoll – Compact research boat built for Norwegian Arctic waters

Finnish builder Kewatec Aluboat has delivered a new research boat to the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) on the Svalbard archipelago in Norway’s far north. The newbuild has been named Hanna Resvoll after Hanna Resvoll-Holmsen, a famed Norwegian Arctic expedition scientist, botanist, and environmental protection advocate.

The custom boat measures 14.1 by 4.2 metres and is powered by two Yanmar 6CX engines that each produce 379 kW and drive Quick thrusters via ZF 286IV gearboxes. It is capable of operating in temperatures as low as minus 18 degrees Celsius and wave heights of up to three metres in Arctic waters.

The vessel uses a Kewatec workboat design that was developed to be suitable for a diverse range of roles from marine survey to harbour terminal support, maritime security, and even search and rescue.

Charlotte Sandmo, boat engineer at UNIS, said the boat is capable of whole-day operations by ensuring the embarked researchers are kept dry and warm. This will then allow data collection in the waters around Svalbard to be conducted in greater safety and for longer periods. Up to 12 passengers can be carried on each trip aside from the standard crew of three.

The new boat’s duties will encompass research activities and related functions such as seabed mapping, water sample collection, inspection of research buoys, and passenger transport. It has a larger operating area compared to contemporary vessels and can sail for up to 250 nautical miles in between refuelings. A draught of only 1.4 metres will allow the boat to safely navigate through Forlandsundet, the 88-kilometre-long sound that separates the Svalbard islands of Prins Karls Forland and Spitsbergen.

The vessel is also fitted with a dynamic positioning system supplied by Martec, a Kewatec sampling winch, navigation electronics from Simrad and Olex, a deck crane from Amco Veba, a Tenfjord capstan, and liferafts from Viking Life-Saving Equipment.

The array of scientific equipment incorporated on Hanna Resvoll will enable it to assume the roles once undertaken by larger research vessels and to do so with reduced environmental impact, said UNIS Director Joran Moen.

Hanna Resvoll will be homeported in Longyearbyen on Spitsbergen and will be used in fieldwork from May to October of each year.