About us - History, 1814 - 1990

1988

Aquamaster-Rauma founded

Aquamaster-Rauma Ltd. founded through a merger of Hollming Ltd. Engineering Works and the Deck Machinery Works of Rauma-Repola Oy.

1987

Maritime businesses sold

During a turbulent period all civilian business activities within Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk are sold. Kongsberg Albatross is sold to Simrad and renamed Simrad Albatross. Norcontrol is split up into three companies and sold.

1986

Kamewa AB joins Vickers

Kamewa AB of Kristinehamn, Sweden joins Vickers plc.

1985

Key AHT winches delivered

At 300 tonnes, the world's largest (at that time) anchor-handling & towing (AHT) winches delivered to A.P Möller.

1982

Kongsberg Albatross joins Maritime Division

Kongsberg Albatross becomes part of the Maritime Division of Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk and is later established as a separate company, fully owned by Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk.

1981

Swing-up azimuth thrusters

Ulstein Propeller introduces the swing-up azimuth thruster concept.

1980

Kamewa Water Jets introduced

Kamewa Water Jets introduced on the market.

1979

First ro-ro vessel design

The first ro-ro vessel of NVC design delivered.

First radar navigation simulator

Norcontrol delivers the two first radar navigation simulators for use at maritime colleges and training institutions to Tromsø, Norway and Kalmar, Sweden.

1978

First rotatable thruster

The first Kamewa Rotatable Thruster (Azimuth Thruster) is delivered.

First engine room simulator

The first engine room simulator for use at maritime colleges and training institutions was delivered to Trondheim, Norway by Norcontrol.

GeoAcoustics founded

GeoAcoustics was founded in Great Yarmouth, UK with the purpose of manufacturing sonar seabed survey equipment.

1977

First HPR and DP systems delivered

Simrad delivers the first HPR - Hydroacoustic Position Reference system and Kongsberg Albatross delivers its first Dynamic Positioning - DP system, both to the same ship. HPR is a system to measure the relative position between a transmitter and a receiver under water. A typical usage is for vessels with dynamic positioning to either measure the relative position between a fixed underwater transmitter or to a mobile under water vehicle such as an ROV.

1975

Kongsberg Albatross founded

Kongsberg Albatross is founded by Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk in order to develop and deliver Dynamic Positioning systems. The company achieves its first sale this year.

HPR development starts

Simrad started the development of HPR - Hydroacoustic Position Reference. HPR is a system designed for underwater navigation. It is based on short, long and super short baseline principles or a combination of these.

First UT designed vessel

UT 704 Stad Scotsman, the first UT designed vessel delivered.

1972

First computerised engine room automation

Norcontrol delivers the first DataChief computerised alarm, monitoring and control system for to the tanker M/T Thorholm. The system could consist of three parts: DataSafe for monitoring of the engine room, DataPower for control of the electrical supply and DataTrend for condition monitoring.

1971

New Marine Laboratory

The new Marine Laboratory at Kamewa is completed.

First Kamewa waterjet installed in Swedish landing craft.

1970

US Navy selects pitch propeller

Bird-Johnson controllable pitch propellers selected by US Navy.

1969

Worlds first computerised radar

Norcontrol delivers the world's first computerised radar/ARPA system to the cargo liner M/S Taimyr as the result of a research project. This is a marine radar with Automatic Radar Plotting Aid - ARPA capability. The system calculated the tracked object's course, speed and closest point of approach - CPA, to know if there is a danger of collision with the other ship.

1967

First propulsion control system

June

Norcontrol delivers the first main engine remote control system for diesel driven ships. It was installed onboard the M/S Høegh Belle and allowed the duty officer on the bridge to control the main engine without help from people in the engine room. The system was type approved by DNV for periodically unmanned engine room operation - E0 and named AutoChief. Simplified operation, reliable performance and reduced cost made this a huge success.

1966

First Aquamaster

First Aquamaster Azimuth thruster delivered.

1965

Norcontrol founded

1 April

Norcontrol was founded in Horten, Norway this year. The plan for the company was to provide ship instrumentation within navigation, operation and cargo handling, to increase safety and simplify operation, bringing new technology onboard ships.

First Azimuth Thruster

Aquamaster deliver their first Azimuth Thruster.

1960

First alarm unit

Autronica releases first alarm unit for bearing monitoring of main engines. The MN-2/97 came in 1960-61. Alarm systems together with temperature sensors and pressure transducers became the main maritime products for Autronica far into the eighties, and Autronica was synonymous with Engine room alarm systems in the merchant ship fleet.

1957

Autronica founded

6 September

Autronica AS was founded in Trondheim Norway by Kjell Reinskou, Bjørn Rennemo and Per Just Skaret this year with an initial share capital of NOK 10.000. The founders had the idea of making products based on transistor technology. The first product was a local radio tuner for tape recorders.

1950

First echo sounder

Simrad's first echo sounder for the commercial fishing fleet came on the market this year.

1948

First Controllable Pitch Propeller

The liner M/S Los Angeles becomes the first commercial application of Kamewa Controllable Pitch Propeller technology - power is 7,000 hp per shaft.

1946

Simrad founded

31 December

Simonsen Radio, later Simrad was founded 31 December to manufacture radio telephones for the fishing fleet. Willy Simonsen was one of a handful of Norwegian engineers and scientists who had worked with new warfare technology in Britain during the second world war. Radio communications, radar and sonar were all important research projects at the time, and the engineers brought all their new knowledge and experience back to Norway once peace was established in 1945. Willy Simonsen had spent most of the war designing radio communication equipment, and he wanted to start a company to allow the Norwegian fishing fleet to use the latest technology. The first product was a radio telephone for the fishing fleet. This was our first maritime electronics activity.

Rauma Winches founded

Rauma Winches founded in Rauma, Finland

1945

Anchoring and mooring systems

Production of anchoring and mooring systems started at Rauma in Finland and Brattvaag in Norway.

1941

Test station for propellers

Kamewa build the first hydrodynamic test station for propellers.

1940

Controllable Pitch Propellers

Kamewa Controllable Pitch Propellers enter naval service on 20 Swedish minesweepers.

1937

Propellers and winches

Inspired by the Kaplan concept Kamewa tests its first hydraulically adjustable controllable pitch propeller. The first controllable pitch propeller of the Kamewa principle is delivered.

Hydraulik, forerunner of Brattvaag, is granted a patent on the first hydraulic winch for engine-powered vessels.

1935

Fin stabiliser and pitch propellers

Liaaen (later acquired by Ulstein) develops the first controllable pitch propeller. The Heliston propeller range is introduced with cavitation-reducing blade shapes. Ships include Aquitania, Mauretania, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth.

Brown Brothers designs and installs the first successful active athwartship fin stabiliser.

···

···

···

1814

KONGSBERG established

20 March

This was a defining year for Norway. The nation penned its constitution - a crucial step towards independence - and Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk, one of the country's first industrialised factories, was established on 20 March this y ear.