Norway to donate spare Sea King parts to Ukraine
Norway is to donate spare Sea King helicopter parts to Ukraine, the nation’s Defence Minister has announced.
“As co-chair of the Maritime Capability Coalition, Norway considers it important to ensure that Ukraine is able to build its Coast Guard and increase its maritime capabilities as rapidly as possible,” explained Minister of Defence Bjørn Arild Gram.
The Sea King was retired from service in Norway last year, having served from 1973, and has since been replaced by SAR Queen helicopters. However, with the Norwegian units having reached their maximum number of flight hours, they cannot be donated as airworthy aircraft.
Instead, “Norway will donate spare parts for Sea King helicopters in order to help support the operation and maintenance of the helicopters that have been donated to Ukraine by Germany,” confirmed Gram. Germany has previously announced its intentions to donate six Sea Kings to Ukraine, with the UK to offer a further three.
“The Black Sea and the maritime domain in general are of strategic importance to Ukraine, and are crucial to the country’s ability to export goods,” added Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide. “I am pleased that spare parts from our discarded Sea Kings can help make a difference for Ukraine, and facilitate the efforts to establish the Ukrainian Coast Guard”.
