Svea (Svalbard)
| Svea | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||
| Basic data | |||||
| Country | Norway | ||||
| Outdoor area | Svalbard | ||||
| Coordinates : | 77 ° 54 ' N , 16 ° 43' E | ||||
| Residents : | 208 (December 31, 2013) | ||||
 
| |||
Svea and the locations of the two mines still producing on Spitsbergen |
Svea ( Norwegian also: Sveagruva ) is a coal mining settlement on Spitsbergen . The associated mine Svea Nord was the largest still active coal mine on Svalbard until it was closed in 2016; the other two active pits are the No. 7 pit at Longyearbyen and the Barentsburg pit . Svea Nord was operated by the Norwegian state-owned company Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani AS .
Location and residents
Svea is the southernmost place on Spitsbergen, apart from the Polish research station on Hornsund . It is located in Sveabukta in the innermost part of the Van Mijenfjord and not like most other settlements on the Isfjord . As usual in Svalbard, there are no road links connecting the settlement with other settlements. Instead, a landing strip enables flight connections to Longyearbyen.
Only a few people live permanently in Svea. Most of the miners lived in Longyearbyen with their families and airlifted to the settlement on a weekly basis. The typical work rhythm corresponded to about three weeks of work in Svea and living in the residential units there, followed by two weeks of free time at her place of residence. About 200 people last worked in Svea.
history
Svea was established in 1917 by the Swedish company AB Spetsbergens Svenska Kolfält and became Norwegian property with the purchase of Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani in 1934. The settlement was destroyed in 1944 during World War II, but mining operations were restored a short time later. This initially ended in 1949 and was not to be resumed until 1970. The settlement was almost abandoned in the 1990s as the mines in Longyearbyen were more productive and more accessible at the time.
In 2002 the new Svea Nord mine went into operation. It has been Svalbard's most productive coal mine since then. In 2011 it produced around 1.52 million tons of coal . In April 2016 the mine was closed for the time being due to the low coal price. However, it is planned to take care of the maintenance of the buildings, the infrastructure and the mine so that production can be restarted at any time if the coal price should rise high enough.
traffic
Flight connections between Longyearbyen Airport and Svea are made with small aircraft of the type Dornier Do 228-202K and are handled by the Norwegian company Lufttransport AS on behalf of Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani . Until the beginning of 2016, the connection was operated around 30 times a week, but now much less frequently.
The coal extracted was transported out of the mountain on conveyor belts and transported by truck to the coal depot at the port of Kapp Amsterdam and temporarily stored. From there it was finally transported away by water in summer, as the Van Mijenfjord usually freezes over in winter.
climate
Due to its location in Sveabukta and away from the open sea, the climate in Svea is more continental compared to the other settlements on Svalbard. The settlement thus has lower winter temperatures and low annual precipitation. The annual mean temperature in Svea is −7.1 ° C, the mean annual precipitation is 260 mm.
|
Monthly average temperatures and rainfall for Sveagruva
Source: Norwegian Meteorological Institute eKlima , values for normal period 1961–1990
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Picture gallery
The main street of Svea with administration building and post office (2013)
Aerial view of Svea and Port Amsterdam (2013)
Aerial view of Svea with airstrip (2012)
Aerial view of Port Amsterdam (2012)
Aerial view of Port Amsterdam (2012)
Aerial view of Svea and Port Amsterdam (2012)
Web links
- Current weather Svea (English)
Literature and Sources
- Sveagruva . In: The Place Names of Svalbard (first edition 1942). Norsk Polarinstitutt , Oslo 2001, ISBN 82-90307-82-9 (English, Norwegian).
- Kapp Amsterdam . In: The Place Names of Svalbard (first edition 1942). Norsk Polarinstitutt , Oslo 2001, ISBN 82-90307-82-9 (English, Norwegian).
- Sveabukta . In: The Place Names of Svalbard (first edition 1942). Norsk Polarinstitutt , Oslo 2001, ISBN 82-90307-82-9 (English, Norwegian).
- Braganzavågen . In: The Place Names of Svalbard (first edition 1942). Norsk Polarinstitutt , Oslo 2001, ISBN 82-90307-82-9 (English, Norwegian).
- C10: Braganzavågen 1: 100,000. Topographic map for Svalbard. Norsk Polar Institute , 2008.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Rolf Stange: The population in Longyearbyen is shrinking. In: Spitzbergen.de. February 11, 2014, accessed September 30, 2014 .
- ↑ a b Svea. In: snsk.no. Store Norske, 2016, accessed December 21, 2016 (Norwegian).
- ↑ Information brochure for workers and employees in Svea. (PDF; 5.61 MB) In: Sveabrosjyre. Store Norske Spitsbergen Grubekompani AS, November 2010, archived from the original on March 6, 2016 ; accessed on February 20, 2013 .
- ^ Herdis Lien: Sveagruva. In: svalbardmuseum.no. Svalbard Museum, accessed December 22, 2016 .
- ^ Svea Nord. In: snsk.no. Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani AS , archived from the original on November 21, 2015 ; accessed on February 20, 2013 .
- ↑ Important dates in Store Norske's history. In: snsk.no. Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani AS, January 11, 2010, archived from the original on January 29, 2016 ; accessed on February 20, 2013 .
- ↑ Annual Report and Accounts 2011. (PDF; 2.25 MB) Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani AS / Store Norske Spitsbergen Grubekompani AS, April 13, 2012, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on February 20, 2013 .
- ↑ Charter flying. In: lufttransport.no. Lufttransport AS, 2011, accessed February 20, 2013 (Norwegian).