Norway’s navy hull row
Parliament wants work kept at home, but the tender rules have politicians divided over who will really get the work.
A Norwegian shipyard that wants to build hull sections for the Royal Norwegian Navy’s new vessels could end up tied to a single supplier group. That follows from the model that Norway’s Defence Materiel Agency (Forsvarsmateriell, FMA), the state body that buys equipment for the armed forces, presented on 20 October.
The agency plans two construction contracts: one for naval vessels for Norway and its allies, and one for the Norwegian Coast Guard. As a rule, each yard may take part in only one contract, including as a subcontractor. The rule could prevent the same Norwegian hull yard from working on both vessel series, even if it has the capacity for more.
