Only the best is good enough for the upgrading of MS Finnmarken, which Hurtigruten calls «the most comprehensive upgrade in Hurtigruten’s history». Elpro has supplied custom bridge consoles for the ship.
Reborn as an expedition ship, MS Finnmarken will deliver world-class expedition experiences worldwide. Following the upgrade, everyday working life for the crew on the bridge will also be at the same premium level as throughout the rest of the ship.
Custom bridge consoles
Elpro has designed state-of-the-art bridge consoles which ensure good ergonomics, smooth work flow and an excellent user experience for the crew onboard MS Finnmarken. Elpro worked closely with Hurtigruten to design the solutions to ensure that the bridge consoles meet the crew’s needs.
«The project was a collaboration between a number of links in Elpro’s supply chain, from us here in the sales team, which was responsible for the provision of drawings and instrument placement, to our colleagues at the factory, which custom-designed and produced the bridge consoles,» says Hans Marius Mauseth, Sales Manager Marine at Elpro.
Unrestricted movement and simple operations
Elpro’s team focused on a solution that allows the crew to move around more freely on the bridge than they can with traditional bridge consoles.
«The result is an open and flexible solution, which enables the crew to perform operations from their seats, without having to move around or stretch to reach controls», explains Mauseth.
An open solution gives the crew a better overview and more room to move around. The entire solution has been adapted so that the captain can stand amidships – a position which offers major advantages when navigating narrow waters.
Ergonomic design
To ensure that the crew has a pleasant working day onboard MS Finnmarken, Elpro focused on ergonomics as a key feature of the bridge consoles. The ergonomic positioning of the instruments in relation to working positions in particular makes an enormous difference.
«On older ships, it is often difficult for the captain to reach the equipment from where they are sitting, forcing them to stand up in order to perform simple operations. Everything can now be executed from a sitting position – or a standing position if they wish to vary their working position a little. In that case, chairs simply need to be pushed back in order to have a clear space in which to work», explains Mauseth.
The fact that the bridge consoles and equipment are designed and positioned in a carefully considered manner also helps to improve safety onboard.
«The crew have a better overview of the instruments and the water, and can perform operations more quickly when the equipment is readily accessible,» adds Mauseth.
Complete electrical installation
In addition to the complete installation of bridge consoles, we delivered all electrical installations included technical engineering, system integration and commissioning, applications and solutions on MS Finnmarken, such as:
- Replacement of the technical- and propulsion system
- Navigation system
- Fire alarm system with remote indicators
- Computer network Cat6a and fiber backbone cabling
- Thruster control system
- Pump Starters
- Remotely controlled Xenon searchlights
- Cable transits from STI Marine
and all sockets, lighting and lighting systems. This includes lighting in all cabins and suites, corridors, restaurants and lounges, as well as architectural lighting that gives the ship an exclusive look.
About a hundred Elpro employees have worked on the ship’s electrical systems, included comissioning and testing after the refurbishhment was completed.
«Elpro has many years of experience of electrical installations in maritime settings and is in its element when carrying out such upgrades,» concludes Mauseth.
