Exploring two semi-abandoned 1990s warships in Norway

@ElentirENG ES 7·13·2022 · 23:45 0

It is common to see abandoned ships that are 40 or 50 years old, but the case of the Royal Norwegian Navy is very strange.

Cornwall: an airfield with old Harrier fighters and other derelict aircraft
An abandoned air base and a large submarine base in a small country in Europe

In the mid-1990s, the Royal Norwegian Navy purchased nine catamaran mine countermeasures vessels: the Oksøy Class mines hunters and the Alta Class minesweepers. The ships of both classes were almost identical, with some differences in design and equipment for their respective functions. The first setback with these ships came on 19 November 2002, when the KNM Orkla minesweeper, of the Alta Class, caught fire due to a fire in the port elevator fan room (due to a design defect). The ship ended up destroyed.

The second incident occurred in February 2005, when the KNM mine hunter Oksøy, the head of her class, ran aground in the Hjeltefjord outside Bergen, sustaining a breach on her starboard side that affected more than half her length. ship's. The repair was considered very expensive, so the ship was stored for almost four years.

In January 2009, just 15 years after her discharge from the Norwegian Navy, the KNM Oksøy was sold to a private company along with the KNM Glomma Upper Class minesweeper, which had only been in service for 11 years. The ships were demilitarized and the Norwegian Navy placed restrictions on their sale, prohibiting them from being delivered to other naval forces as anti-mine ships.

The Norwegian explorer Kårbø Explores was able to visit these two ships recently. They are semi-abandoned, waiting for a buyer and without their navigation equipment, which makes a possible sale difficult:

Here we see a capture of the video in which the command bridge of one of the ships appears, with all the equipment removed:

The interior seems in good condition, as if the ship had been abandoned two days ago:

It is strange to see such modern ships almost in a situation of abandonment, despite their condition. I hope they get a second chance.