Norwegian polar researchers have long been stressing the need for a new advanced research vessel adjusted to Arctic conditions. Among them has been Jan-Gunnar Winther, leader of the Norwegian Polar Institute in Tromsø.
Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in his speech in Tromsø last Friday admitted that it is about time that a new vessel is built. The delineation deal with Russia on the Barents Sea has made this new vessel extra relevant, the foreign minister believes.
-Personally, I promise to work for this until a [new] vessel is moored in this fjord, Støre told an audience of regional leaders, scholars and students at the Universitu of Tromsø.
Norway today has three polar research vessels, all of which will obsolete in few years.
The full speech of Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre is available at the Norwegian Foreign Ministry’s website (in Norwegian)
