Kings Bay (company)

Kings Bay AS is a Norwegian state-owned company, which is led by the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry. The company is responsible for the infrastructure in the settlement of Ny -Ålesund on Svalbard. The company supplies the inhabitants and the local research facilities of 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, post office, retail business and the Hamnerabben airport.

The company is also responsible for the administration of Bjørnøen AS, another state-owned company in Norway. This part of the island Bjørnøya ( Bear Island ) in the North Atlantic.

History

The company was founded in 1916 as Kings Bay Kull Company, with the intention of coal mining in Ny- Ålesund. Mining began in 1917 and lasted for the time being until 1929. The company was nationalized in 1933 after it ran into financial difficulties. Only after the Second World War, coal mining was carried out in Ny- Ålesund again. This was set in 1963 but finally after several serious mine disasters, with dozens of deaths. The resulting Kings Bay Affair, in which the government was assumed failure to supervisory duties, leading to the resignation of the government of Einar Gerhardsen.

Today, Ny -Ålesund is a research settlement and the Kings Bay AS takes over the infrastructure tasks.