Norway’s Stad ship tunnel still billions over budget

The troubled Stad ship tunnel project in Norway is no closer to resolution. A new cost estimate of NOK 8.6 billion far exceeds the budget approved by parliament.

Norway’s planned Stad ship tunnel remains far beyond its approved budget. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries has received an updated cost estimate of NOK 8.6 billion. Well above the NOK 5.4 billion target set by the Storting, though lower than last year’s estimate of NOK 9.4 billion.

The project has had a turbulent history. The government initially moved to scrap it due to rising costs, but the Storting reversed course and instructed the government to continue negotiations with the aim of bringing costs down.

– The cost estimate is still far above what the Storting has decided, even though it has come down somewhat from last year’s estimate of NOK 9.4 billion. This shows that the project cannot be delivered within the cost framework set by the Storting, says fisheries and ocean minister Marianne Sivertsen Næss.

The project is now on hold while the government reviews the Norwegian Coastal Administration’s report before returning to the Storting.

The three remaining bidders are AF Gruppen, Eiffage and Skanska, in cooperation with Vassbak and Stol.