Kings Bay
| Kings Bay AS
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| legal form | State enterprise of Norway |
| founding | 1916 |
| Seat | Ny-Ålesund |
| Number of employees | 32 (2007) |
| sales | 36.8 million NOK |
| Branch | Originally mining, today infrastructure |
| Website | www.kingsbay.no |
Kings Bay AS is a Norwegian state company managed by the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry. The company is responsible for the infrastructure in the Ny-Ålesund settlement on Svalbard . The company supplies the residents and the research facilities there with water, electricity, catering and transportation. The company is also responsible for the maintenance of buildings and roads. It operates the only hotel in the village, the North Pole Hotel, the post office, the retail business and Hamnerabben Airport .
The company is also responsible for the administration of Bjørnøen AS , another state-owned company in Norway. This owns the whole island of Bjørnøya (Bear Island) in the North Atlantic.
history
The company was founded in 1916 as Kings Bay Kull Company , with the intention of mining coal in Ny-Ålesund. Mining began in 1917 and initially lasted until 1929. The company was nationalized in 1933 after running into financial difficulties. Coal mining was only started again in Ny-Ålesund after the Second World War. However, this was finally stopped in 1963 after several serious mining accidents with dozens of deaths. The ensuing Kings Bay affair , in which the government was subject to neglect of supervision, leads to the resignation of the government of Einar Gerhardsen .
Today Ny-Ålesund is a research settlement and Kings Bay AS is responsible for the infrastructure.
Web links
- Official website (English)