Navantia Begins Sea Trials of the Frigate F-314 "Thor Heyerdahll" Navy for Norway

The Fene-Ferrol shipyard on August 31 began the initial sea trials of the frigate F-314 "Thor Heyerdahl," which will last until September 2.

During these three days, the main propulsion system as well as all of the ship’s systems and equipment will be tested. After the ship is reconditioned after this first sortie, formal customer trials will be undertaken with the Norwegian Navy in October.

The "Thor Heyerdahl,” which was launched on February 11, 2009 and is to be handed over early next year, is the last of the five ships of the F-310 class frigate program for which a contract was signed in June 2000.

F-314 is named after the famous Norwegian explorer and anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl, who was linked to Tenerife, because of their work in the Guimar Pyramids Ethnographic Park. Heyerdahl became famous for the Kon-Tiki expedition in 1947, in which he sailed 4,700 miles from Peru to the Tuamotu Islands in Polynesia, in a raft manned by six men and built of logs, plants and other natural materials of South America.

The general characteristics of the F-310 frigates, which are equipped with the U.S.-supplied Aegis combat system that incorporates a SPY-1F radar, are:

- Length overall: 133.25 m.
- Maximum Beam: 16.80 m.
- Height to main deck: 9.50 m.
- Full load displacement: 5,130 t.
- Design draft: 4.90 m.
- Crew: 146 officers and ratings.