FS ''Marjata'' is a Norwegian purpose-built

electronic intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...

ELINT Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...

), which was ordered by the

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in 2010. It was baptized on 6 December 2014 by Prime Minister

Erna Solberg Erna Solberg (; born 24 February 1961) is a Norwegian politician and the current Leader of the Opposition. She served as the prime minister of Norway from 2013 to 2021, and has been the leader of the Conservative Party of Norway, Conservative Part ...

. The ship is crewed by the

Norwegian Intelligence Service The Norwegian Intelligence Service (NIS) or () is a Norway, Norwegian military intelligence agency under the Chief of Defence (Norway), Chief of Defence and the Norwegian Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Defence. History Olav Njølstad says tha ...

Role and specifications

The ship is the fourth bearing the name ''Marjata''. The first was operative in the period 1966–1975, the second in the period 1976-1995 and the third 1995-(still operating, but renamed FS Eger). ''Marjata'' was intended as the replacement for her predecessor, but it was decided to keep both for the same role. Previously, these ships were called research ships, but the new ''Marjata'' is the first to officially conduct intelligence as well. On some missions she has been accompanied by her predecessor, FS Eger; these missions are often intelligence or spy missions. The ship has neither weapons nor helicopters on board. The ship measures 5000 gt, 126 meters long and 23.5 meters wide.

Construction

The

Norwegian parliament The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

granted in 2009 money to invest in a new intelligence vessel. The Norwegian Defence Logistics Organisation announced the project in 2011, and the company Vard Langsten (now

Fincantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

) was given the contract after competing with several other Norwegian shipyards. The hull is built by Vard Tulcea in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, while Vard Langsten in Tomrefjorden in

Romsdal Romsdal is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the Norwegian county Møre og Romsdal, located between Nordmøre and Sunnmøre. The district of Romsdal traditional comprises the areas that are part of Aukra Municipality, Molde Municipal ...

completed the ship. The installment of the technical equipment took place from April to November 2015 at

Naval Weapons Station Yorktown Naval Weapons Station Yorktown is a United States Navy base in York County, James City County, and Newport News in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. It provided a weapons and ammunition storage and loading facility for ships of the Unit ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. The vessel had a cost framework of NOK 1.5 billion. Some sources say NOK 1.2 billion, but the cost frame has subsequently increased from 1,246 billion to NOK 1,379 billion. The new ship is 126 meters long and 23.5 meters wide and came into operation in 2016.

Change of homeport

When the ship entered service in 2016 the NIS confirmed her homeport would be at

Kirkenes (Norwegian language, Norwegian; ), (Northern Sami language, Northern Sami; , or is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Finnmark county, in the far northeastern part of Norway. The town lies on a peninsu ...

, only 7 km from the Norwegian-Russian border. In 2019 the NIS denied to confirm Kirkenes as her home port when asked by the Norwegian

online newspaper An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the electronic publishing, online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical literature, periodical. Goin ...

''aldrimer.no''. In July 2020 the

Norwegian Ministry of Defence The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Defence () is a Norwegian government ministry in charge of the formation and implementation of national security and defence policy, and for the overall management and control of the activities of subordinate age ...

confirmed that

Harstad Harstad may refer to: Places *Harstad (town) Harstad (; ) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Harstad Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is also the administrative centre of Harstad Municipality. The city has a populati ...

, 334 km to the west, is the new official homeport for the intelligence ship. Over the last few years, the region of eastern

Finnmark Finnmark (; ; ; ; ) is a counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland's Lapland (Finland), Lapland region to the south, and Russia's Murmansk Oblast to the east, and by water, the Norweg ...

county, and Kirkenes in particular, has been troubled by Russian jamming of

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marjata Ships of the Royal Norwegian Navy 2014 ships