Crew shortage keeps Arctic patrol ship in Denmark

The Danish Navy has cancelled a two-month North Atlantic mission for the inspection ship Hvidbjørnen because of a shortage of personnel, DR reports. The ship is instead berthed at Frederikshavn Naval Station.

Hvidbjørnen was due to patrol around Greenland, monitor Russian and Chinese vessels, rescue people in distress and enforce the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark.

The mission was also scheduled to take the ship along Greenland’s north-west coast, past the American Pituffik Space Base for its 75th anniversary, and on an exercise with the Canadian navy in Canadian waters.

The cancellation follows several years of temporary fixes, staff loans between crews, breakdowns and heavy workloads. These conditions have increased the risk of stress, post-traumatic stress disorder and exhaustion among naval personnel.

“The squadron has drawn a line in the sand and said that enough is enough with loans from the different units. In my view, cancelling a sailing because of a personnel shortage sends a major political signal,” said senior sergeant Niels Pihlblad, the joint shop steward for the 1st Squadron.

Pihlblad was due to take part in the mission. Although he was disappointed to miss what he described as an exciting voyage, he said he supported the leadership’s controversial decision.

According to information obtained by DR News, the Navy has also temporarily removed two of the six crews assigned to the Arctic inspection ships from the duty roster while it works to fill vacant positions.

The Danish Defence and the Navy are required to provide a set number of sailing days for inspection ships around Greenland. Until now, crews have worked extra hours and filled vacant positions to keep the ships operating despite the shortage of personnel.

Arctic Command in Nuuk directs operations when Danish Defence ships patrol the North Atlantic. In a written response, the command said it “deploys and redeploys units according to circumstances, often with days or weeks’ notice”.

“There has been a need to prioritise, but redeploying units has made it possible to take part in priority tasks this summer,” Arctic Command said. It added that the inspection ship Ejnar Mikkelsen had taken part in the 75th anniversary celebrations at Pituffik Space Base.

Arctic Command said it could not provide further details for operational reasons.

Ejnar Mikkelsen belongs to the somewhat smaller Knud Rasmussen class. Unlike Hvidbjørnen, it does not carry a helicopter, although a helicopter can land on the ship.

Pihlblad said the age and wear of the ships were among the reasons for the personnel shortage. DR has previously reported that both types of Arctic ships have suffered faults and breakdowns that forced them into port.

The Defence has also failed to meet its target for saving lives at sea in Greenland. The Defence itself has attributed this largely to “age-related equipment challenges”.

According to Pihlblad, the mission was primarily cancelled because of a shortage of engine-room personnel, who keep the old ships operating. He said this is also the group leaving the Arctic ships in the greatest numbers.

Some employees have moved to a new ship purchased by the Defence to monitor critical underwater infrastructure such as cables and pipelines. Pihlblad said he understood that choice.

“These are ships more than 35 years old. The hull itself is a fantastic ship, but all the interior equipment, especially the engine room, is worn out. It requires so much maintenance from the people working in the engine room,” he said.

“It may well be that people want to move to something new that does not require as much round-the-clock maintenance as the old ships,” he said.

Pihlblad said the Defence leadership hopes that the new 11-month military service programme can help reverse the personnel shortage and attract more employees to the Navy. He said he shared that hope, but described it as “a slender straw to hold on to”.