CLICK ON IMAGE FOR GALLERY OF ALL PHOTOS: The port call by USS New Mexico to this municipal harbor in Tromsø is the first of many NATO submarines to change crew and get supplies in the years to come. Photo: Helene Sofie Thorkildsen/Forsvaret
USS New Mexico surfaced early Monday morning outside Troms, northern Norway. Here sailing Lenangen en route to Tromsø. Photo: Helene Sofie Thorkildsen/Forsvaret
Norwegian military guards at the port of Tønsnes, some 10 kilometers north of Tromsø city center. Photo: Helene Sofie Thorkildsen/Forsvaret
Tønsnes port is a civilian municipal port in Tromsø with military guards during the visit of the American nuclear-powered submarine. Photo: Helene Sofie Thorkildsen/Forsvaret
During May 10 to 12, the port of Tønsnes is heavily guarded and there is a no-fly zone in a radius of 1 nautical mile. Photo: Helene Sofie Thorkildsen/Forsvaret
Fresh air for the crew for first time after weeks of underwater patrol. Here north of Tromsø Monday morning. Photo: Helene Sofie Thorkildsen/Forsvaret
Norwegian special navy forces dive near the port of Tønsnes to secure the waters before the arrival of the American nuclear submarine. Photo: Helene Sofie Thorkildsen/Forsvaret
The USS New Mexico (SSN 779) is of the Virginia class fast attack submarines. The 115 meters long vessel has a crew of 130 and is powered by one reactor. The sub was commissioned in 2010 as the sixth in its class, which so far consists of 19 vessels. Photo: Helene Sofie Thorkildsen/Forsvaret
The US submarine is escorted inshore by the Norwegian Coast Guard. Photo: Kystvakten
This is the first time an NATO nuclear-powered submarine makes port call to a civilian harbor in northern Norway. The guarding and security is comprehensive. In the future, Tønsnes port near Tromsø will have some 3 to 4 port calls by nuclear subs annually, the Norwegian Defense officials inform. Photo: Helene Sofie Thorkildsen/Forsvaret
The Virginia-class USS New Mexico. Photo: Helene Sofie Thorkildsen/Forsvaret
Tønsnes harbor just north of Tromsø is a civilian municipal harbor where Norway has given green light for NATO submarines to dock. Photo: Helene Sofie Thorkildsen/Forsvaret
Photo: Jonny Karlsen / Forsvaret

USS New Mexico docks in Tromsø as Norway, US bolster Arctic military ties

The nuclear-powered Virginia class fast-attack submarine is the first to make port call to the civilian harbor just north of Tromsø in northern Norway.

“We have been working hard with the preparedness and monitoring ahead of this port call,” said Inger Margrethe Eikelmann, head of the regional department of Norway’s Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (DSA).

The radiation watchdog is now intensifying measurements of radioactivity in the air and near the harbor.

“There are obviously several challenges for our monitoring- and emergency preparedness work as the submarine stays in port for several days so close to the city, compared with a short stop out in open waters,” Eikelmann said to the Barents Observer.

The DSA is supported by CBRN troopers from the Norwegian Armed Forces, specialists on chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear tasks.

US nuclear-powered submarines have over the last few years increased sailings in the north. Crew change and supply arrangements have until now been arranged in the fjords outside Troms in northern Norway.

On Monday, however, the first docking took place, as the “USS New Mexico” came to Tønsnes municipal harbor some 10 kilometers north of Tromsø city center.

Security is tight. A no-fly zone is established over the port, and access to the harbor area is strictly guarded by the Norwegian Armed Forces. The military guarding of the port will only last for as long as the submarine stays. Normally, the port in Tønsnes serves civilian vessels in Tromsø, including the oil and gas supply activities offshore northern Norway.

The USS New Mexico is one of 19 vessels in the Virginia class, the United States latest generation of cruise missile-carrying fast attack submarines.

The submarine is 113 meters long and has a crew of 130.

Security cooperation

Spokesperson with the U.S. 6th Fleet, LCDR Matthew Comer, said to the Barents Observer that the submarine is on a scheduled visit to Tromsø.

“This visit serves to deepen security cooperation with Norway, as we work together for a stable secure and prosperous maritime domain,” Comer said. He points to the fact that the Untied States and Norway are close NATO allies and collaborate on a wide range of issues important to both nations and to the rest of the Alliance.

“A free and open maritime domain is critical to the economic security and prosperity of the global economy. The U.S. and Norway have a vested interest in ensuring open sea lanes in the region,” Matthew Comer said.

A few protesters

Arriving at the port around noon on Monday, the American submarine was met by a few protesters from the local organization “No to Nuclear-powered Military vessels in Tromsø” holding banners “U.S. Army out of Norway” and “No nukes in Tromsø”.

Also, Moscow has said it is unhappy with Norway allowing for American submarines to make port calls.

However, Norway gives green light for the use of Tønsnes harbor facility just north of Tromsø for allied submarines with reactor propulsion. The new security situation in Europe, including in the north, requires closer naval cooperation between NATO members.

Keeping track of the Russian Northern Fleet’s submarines sailing out from the Kola Peninsula to the North Atlantic is a priority.

Last Friday, Russia’s by far most advanced nuclear-powered multi-purpose submarine, the “Kazan”, was finally handed over to the navy from the Sevmash shipyard who had spent nearly 12 years to built the vessel. Seven similar subs are currently under construction in Severodvinsk.

The new Northern Fleet submarines sail more silent than the older Soviet-designed vessels. And they sail more frequently out from the Barents Sea to the west of North Cape, into the deeper Norwegian Sea. That worries NATO.

Typically, an American submarine on a mission in the Norwegian Sea would not want to sail all way south to Haakonsvern near Bergen or to a naval base in the United Kingdom to put on shore a crew member or pick up some new devices or supply. Surfacing near the area where the cat-and-mouse hunt with the Russians takes place saves time.

Norway’s Defense Minister, Frank Bakke-Jensen, argues that it is better and safer for a submarine to make a port call than to change crew in open waters.

In recent years, NATO submarines have been inshore Norwegian waters 3 to 4 times per month for crew change or getting supplies. The majority is up north, as previously reported by the Barents Observer.

Last August, the “USS Seawolf” conducted a brief stop in the fjord near Tromsø for personnel change before sailing out to waters inside the Arctic Circle.

Like it was during the Cold War, NATO submarines making port calls to northern Norway is the new normal.

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