Support beyond the horizon
As naval vessels patrol ever farther from home, support from their key suppliers needs to move with them to ensure longevity and peak operational performance
Building effective navies requires more than upfront investment in the latest designs and technology. Modern, blue water navies need support and competent technical assistance for ever longer periods of time, especially as deployments are increasingly global in nature and vessels’ service life spans are growing.
These are the kinds of tasks that Kongsberg Maritime’s dedicated aftermarket naval team is geared to achieve.
“We see that our clients want to have a system working perfectly on the day they buy it and working just as well throughout the lifetime of the vessel,” says Per Bruun, Kongsberg Maritime Vice President of Aftermarket Sales – Naval. “We follow the vessel for its lifetime, and we ensure that all the functionality we have sold will continue working the same way.”
“We follow the vessel for its lifetime, and we ensure that all the functionality we have sold will continue working the same way.”
Kongsberg Maritime’s support for naval vessels allows longer deployments away from home waters. That ensures that newer vessels and older vessels alike continue to perform to the standard expected when the vessels were commissioned.
Just as importantly, Kongsberg Maritime provides navies with customised solutions. Whether it is a frigate that needs servicing in home waters or a carrier-class vessel on patrol in the South Pacific needing upgrades, Kongsberg Maritime is in position to take care of it.
Global support for modern navies
Kongsberg Maritime has offices and service centres in 32 countries that provide support and after-market sales as needed to naval clients, with engineers in all product segments prepared to provide support 24/7.
Those centres provide everything from spare parts and onboard service, to overhauls and upgrades. Kongsberg Maritime also provides crucial training for crew and officers on its engineering and bridge systems, both remotely and onboard a vessel.
“We are doing midlife upgrades, retrofits, and refits, and that is part of our support and planning throughout the lifetime of the vessel,” says Bruun. “We will do retrofits when required, depending on type of system and products we have onboard that specific vessel. We can ensure that it remains compliant with all the rules and the functionality requirements.”
Bruun adds that this work is the key to the relationship between Kongsberg Maritime and naval clients. “It is a very important role for us. Our clients need to know that they can trust us to guarantee that the systems we supply will work as expected, even if the vessel is 40 years old.”
Bruun points out that Kongsberg Maritime has three regional hubs that offer the full spectrum of sales, technical support, service, and spare part support to any naval vessel. One is in Singapore covering the all-important Asia-Pacific region, while another is in Norway and a third hub is in New Orleans, supporting vessels in the Americas.
This level of service gives naval commanders and decision-makers the confidence they need to deploy their vessels for extended periods away from home waters.
Kongsberg Maritime will continue to rise to the occasion, with development focused on providing the after-sales support blue water navies need to maintain operations in remote regions.
“We will always ensure that we are present wherever our customers’ global operations take them,” says Bruun.