Salt Ship Design: - An opportunity to demonstrate our capabilities

- We will be busy setting up kick-off meetings.

So says Torbjørn Bringedal, managing director Salt Ship Design, Bergen, after his team secured the first phase of what could become the largest defence contract in the Nordics for decades.

- Of course, we are very pleased. This is a contract we have worked towards strategically for a long time, and we have now succeeded, he says.

Earlier on Monday, the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (Forsvarsmateriell) announced it had awarded a contract for the design and concept development of a new standardised vessel class to Salt Ship Design and Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace (KDA).

A primary objective

The companies describe the design phase itself as having "limited economic value".

However, it forms part of a wider maritime procurement programme covering 28 vessels for the Royal Norwegian Navy, with an estimated value of between NOK 38 billion and NOK 84 billion. 

Bringedal says Salt and KDA have been working together since 2019. Shortly after the new year, the two companies established an additional office in Bergen with this contract as a primary objective.

The Norwegian Navy contract follows a nine point six million US dollar award to the joint venture Kongsberg Vanguard LP, a partnership between Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace, Salt Ship Design and Ottawa-based Adaptive Marine Solutions.

The consortium will design the Canadian Coast Guard’s future mid-shore multi-mission vessels, based on the Vanguard programme.

- These are two important steps at the beginning of what we expect to be further activity within the naval segment, Bringedal says.

Work on both the Canadian and Norwegian programmes is due to begin in April. 

While the Norwegian project has been long in development and delayed for two years, Bringedal stresses that the aim is to design ships around naval requirements, not the reverse.

- We have reviewed some of the Navy’s specific requirements and made suggestions. This is an opportunity to demonstrate our capabilities as a designer, but we have also been clear that we remain flexible and ready to adjust based on evolving requirements.

- We will not see the final design until this phase is complete.

More than 60 vessels

Based in Stord, south of Bergen, Salt is an independent ship design company working with industry-leading clients worldwide. Since 2012, more than 60 Salt-designed vessels have been built.

At an early stage, the company identified that the Navy was not only seeking a technical platform, but an integrated solution including weapons systems and command and control. It therefore partnered with KDA.

- We saw it as a natural step to submit a joint offering with KDA. This is also reflected in the evaluation. We are likely among the few teams able to deliver a complete solution incorporating all military elements, he says:

- This demonstrates a productive cooperation.

That position was reinforced recently by Kongsberg. Speaking to Defence Nordic, Kyrre Lohne, vice president of international relations, highlighted a shift in emphasis:

- What makes these vessels, and particularly Vanguard, distinct is that the vessel itself is not the most important element. It is what you add in terms of unmanned systems and associated capabilities.

Bringedal agrees with Kyrre Lohne. He now expects the Navy to pre-qualify candidates for the shipbuilding phase of the programme.

Important step

To avoid conflicts of interest, the design partners have established a firewall between their work and any Kongsberg teams involved in the ship delivery contract, he adds.

- We will operate in our own environment, working closely with the Navy as requested. We will respect that separation:

- Our priority is to be the preferred designer for all shipyards bidding in the next phase.

Defence Nordic was not able to obtain comment from Kongsberg. However, in a LinkedIn post, Eirik Lie, president of Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace, described the contract as an important step.

- We look forward to contributing our expertise and technology to develop the standardised vessels of the future in Norway and internationally, he said.