The Royal Norwegian Navy’s new logistics and support vessel HNoMS Maud is en route home after getting underway from Busan, South Korea, where it was built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME).
The ship started her journey home on Sunday, after being accepted by the navy from DSME in November 2018.
Next stop on HNoMS Maud’s transit to Norway will be San Diego. Should everything go according to plan, the vessel will arrive in Norway by March.
Once in Norway, HNoMS Maud will be outfitted with defense-specific equipment, self-defense weaponry and communications systems. The vessel and her crew are expected to be fully operational by 2020.
Named after Queen Maud of Norway, the new ship will be the largest vessel ever operated by the Royal Norwegian Navy and will replace HNoMS Valkyrien which served as the navy logistics vessel until 2016.
Based on BMT’s scalable AEGIR platform design, which it shares with the larger Royal Navy Tide-class tankers , the 26,000-tonne logistics and support vessel is fully winterized, has a helicopter flight deck and hangar, and a 48-bed hospital capability.
Maud will be used by the navy to provide fuel and fresh water for other units at sea. It will additionally support allies and take part in international and humanitarian missions.