Sleipnir Mission- operational test report

It seemed like an impossible task when the world's largest crane vessel, Sleipnir, was to sail through the narrow fjord and into Haugesund harbor. Due to Sleipnir’s enormous width and draft, a port approach could not be planned based on existing electronic navigational charts (known as S-57).

How could this be solved? In order to safely navigate the huge vessel and prove to stakeholders that the port call was feasible, the owner of Sleipnir, Heerema, depended on detailed bathymetric data (known as S-102). 

The access to detailed hydrographic and bathymetric data was obtained with the help from Electronic Chart Centre and the Norwegian Mapping Authority. The port approach was simulated in the S-100 Demonstrator tool developed by Kongsberg Digital, where S-102 provided a high-resolution 3D visualisation of the ocean floor whilst an accurate model of Sleipnir made it possible to precisely simulate all the critical areas of the voyage in 3D. 

For a detailed operational test report, produced by a pilot in the Norwegian Coastal Administration, please fill out the form to the right.