Narvik is also a favorite tourist destination, a distribution hub for a variety of merchandise. These include iron ore. The port of Narvik has been the main port for exporting iron ore from the LKAB mines in Kiruna since 1902.

LKAB is a Swedish state-owned international high-tech minerals group, and a world leading producer of processed iron ore products. LKAB mines iron ore in Kiruna and Malmberget. From there most of the iron ore is transported by train to Narvik where it is shipped onward.

The beginning:

Our first major project in Narvik was escavation of shafts for the construction company Leonhard Nilsen & Sons.

This was the beginning of Vest Kran's investment in Northern Norway - a development which has led to a very good cooperation with the local construction company TM Transport AS. Together, we have provided the crane work and transportation for several different projects, and we complement each other very well when it comes to meeting the needs of the contractors.

Lundbergsjakta:

Our recent project in Narvik has been the dismantling and installation of the roof at LKAB's iron ore inventory Lundbergsjakta, with Skanska Norge AS as the main contractor.

The dismantling began in March / April, based on the agreement between our partner TM Transport AS and AF Decom.

TM Transport and Vest Kran signed a contract in June this year with Skanska for all crane, lifting assistance and transportation in connection with the project. As a partner with TM Transport, Vest Kran has contributed with equipment and personnel to the project.

Lundberg hunting is a closed warehouse of iron ore pellets located in Narvik. The warehouse was built in connection with the beginning of LKAB's production of pellets in Malmberget in 1955. In 1960 it was decided that the pellets were to be shipped from Narvik, and the following year LKAB started construction of the warehouse. The warehouse was completed in 1963. The decision to start pellets production also in Kiruna, made it necessary to expand the warehouse, a job that was completed in 1966.

This has been a demanding task, in which we have been using our expertise to the fullest, and where we have used the full range of cranes. We've used everything from 80 t crane up to 400 t crane.

Personnel:

We have through this project had a crew of 10 - 18 men, depending on workload. Our crew consisted of both local, who are familiar with the area and the "southerners" who have gotten a new and exciting experience of Narvik's harsh landscape. TM Transport AS has taken good care of our guys in the north and has been a major contributor in terms of local knowledge and social activities.

HSE

LKAB and their subcontractors have a strong focus on HSE. As the crane company, we are very visible on these projects, and we are well followed. This major focus of HSE has balanced very well with our own safety goals, and together we have achieved a fantastic result. At this stage we have an injury statistic of 0, which we are very happy with.

Status

We are now approaching the end of the project, and can look back on an exciting and successful project, a collaborative effort, and of course, challenges and experiences that we use to build even more expertise and to continually reaching new heights.

We have a good basis for further investments in Northern Norway and hope for many jobs here in the future.