Tugboats helping naval vessels in and out

Text: Sveinung W. Jensen, Tellus Kommunikasjon

"We are proud to get these types of jobs again and again", says John W. Nilsen, Managing Director at Farmar. This demonstrates that we can deliver competitive services outside our local area as well.

In February and March, the company carried out several back-to-back operations. Both Farmar Athos and FFS Atlas were involved, along with hired tugboats.

"NORWAY IS A popular country for NATO fleets to visit. They usually arrive ahead of exercises to test various warships," explains Nilsen.

The naval vessels typically stay in the same port for about a week.

"They usually leave in the morning and return in the evening. Our job is to assist them coming into and leaving the harbour," says Nilsen.

OVER SEVERAL YEARS, FARMAR has undertaken numerous missions for the NATO fleet.

All three tugboats were in action during the visit to Oslo by the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman last November. Farmar provided escort duties.

In July last year, the company provided multiple services when the damaged British patrol boat HMS Biter was brought to Lundevågen.

WHEN THE WORLD'S largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford, visited Oslo in May 2023, Farmar provided both a tugboat and two barges.

Two months earlier, FFS Ponton 6 was hired as a buffer barge when a German submarine visited Kristiansand. The same barge was used for a similar task during the visit of the British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth to Oslo in November 2022.

"Our advantage in these operations is that we can offer a complete package with tugboats, fenders, barges, guard boats, cranes and the like. We have our own workshop capable of building customised solutions if required or setting up barges and boats with winches, gangways and scaffolding," says Nilsen.

OVER SEVERAL YEARS, FARMAR has two floating, mobile RoRo ramps, which can serve as temporary docks where no infrastructure or existing docks are available. These ramps can be used to land anything from tanks to wind turbines or other heavy equipment almost anywhere.

"Additionally, we can supply oil booms and other emergency equipment that the customer might require during their stay. Everything can be mobilised simultaneously using the tugboats," says Nilsen.