Cold war sub base to become Arctic research center
Arctic research institutions want to buy a former submarine base in Northern Norway and make it into a center for research in the High North.
The Norwegian Ministry of Defense supports the plans of the Norwegian Polar Institute and the Institute of Marine Research to buy the huge Olavsvern Naval Base outside Tromsø.
In spite of Norway’s bid to step up its military presence in the High North, the country’s only submarine base north of the Polar Circle was closed in 2009.
Read also: Norwegian submarines need base in Northern Norway
Olavsvern is now out for sale, and several possible buyers took part in yesterday’s showing, NRK reports.
The base consists of 20.000 square meters of buildings and a 25.000 square meter mountain plant, including a large dock and a deep-water berth. The base has through the years been upgraded for NOK 1 billion (app €126.8 mill) – most of it NATO-funding.
The deep-water berth can become home base for a planned ice-protected marine research vessel, says Managing Director of the Institute of Marine Research. -With the right planning and right use this base could become an international base for research in the High North, he adds.
The Ministry of Defense supports the plans of a research base: -We will help to facilitate if the interest for this is big enough, says State Secretary Roger Ingebrigtsen to NRK.
Watch video from the base on NRK
