“I can flood the magazines from here,” says Lt. Cmdr. Lars Larsson, the executive officer.
“The engine rooms are not manned. We only have people down there when we’re doing maintenance,” says Petty Officer Remi Kvalheim.
Sensors in the hatches can tell if doors are tightly sealed and the compartments watertight. “I can click on any sensor and I can now see that space in 3-D, and it can show me what’s above or below deck, or what’s in the adjoining spaces,” says Kvalheim.
Lean Manning
Personnel cost has a significant impact on the total ownership cost of a ship – the Nansen-class are designed for “lean manning.” “It is a constant pressure to keep the numbers of employees in the Navy low. As I understand, most Western Navies are now moving in the same direction in order to reduce costs. We are running a 5,500-ton frigate with a crew of 123, including the helo-detachment personnel,” Furu says.
HNoMS Fridtjof Nansen (F 310). Courtesy of Sail Baltimore
Each crew-member performs different functions during different conditions. “We have set the majority of the crew into a two-watch system when we need to man all major systems and weapons. In addition we depend on a high degree of automation, both within the IWS (Integrated Weapon System) and IPS (Integrated Platform System),” he says.
After several work-up periods and deployments, Furu says the Norwegian Navy is still making adjustments to the ship’s complement. “Each crew member has a lot of tasks. We’re increasing the crew size a bit upward to cover some shortfalls, but still the crew is small considering the ship’s size and capabilities.”
With the lean manning, Furu says some capabilities require crew augmentation, such as VBSS (visit, board, search and seizure), explosive ordnance disposal and surgical teams. “These special abilities are therefore integrated to the ship’s inventory when required. Integration and cooperation works fine and has really taken us all to a higher and more professional level within these areas,” he says.
Crew Swapping
There are three and a half crews for five ships – three sailing crews and the other crew takes care of the other two hulls. Crews are formed and then remain together for a three-year cycle. Once certified, they can serve aboard any of the five frigates.
“If you change crews too often, you don’t get connected to the ship,” Furu says.