Norwegian maritime tech company Kongsberg Maritime Inc. has bought 5.2 acres in St. Rose to expand its Louisiana office and training center in the business park where it currently leases offices.
The Associated Press reports that since the service department moved in 2003 from Houston to a business park 24 miles from New Orleans, it has grown to 110 employees from just nine.
“Despite a low oil price and a downturn in the offshore markets, we believe the market will bounce back as it always does,” company President Jon Holvik says in a news release.
He adds the company also believes in the future of the Gulf of Mexico offshore market, “which is why we are now investing in a large Louisiana technical support center and a new training facility.”
Kongsberg Maritime leases 35,000 square feet of office space. The new, three-story building going up about 100 feet away will more than double that, at nearly 83,000 square feet, spokeswoman Jacquie Bonano says.
It will stand on about three acres at James Business Park, with the rest kept for future expansion, the company says.
“It is difficult to say exactly how many more employees will be hired; however, the new facility is designed to hold between 220-250 people over the next 10-15 years,” Holvik wrote in an email forwarded Thursday by Bonano to The AP.
Kongsberg did not say how much it paid in the deal that closed in December.
Kongsberg Maritime, a subsidiary of the conglomerate Kongsberg Gruppen ASA, makes systems for dynamic positioning, marine automation and control, subsea navigation and surveillance for vessels and offshore facilities, with manufacturing plants and offices in 25 countries.
