The second of a pair of ultra-high specification icebreaking supply vessels built by Arctech Helsinki Shipyard has been delivered.
Named after the Russian navigator Aleksey Chirikov, this 99m vessel has joined its sister ship Vitus Bering which entered service last year.
Both are owned by Russian company Sovcomflot and have been put to work in the Sea of Ohotsk – Sakhalin area – in the Russian Far East, servicing the Arkutun-Dagi oil and gas field.
Sovcomflot specialises in hydrocarbon transportation from Arctic and sub-arctic regions with challenging icy conditions.
The 18,000kW, diesel-electric sisters have been designed for extreme environmental conditions and to be capable of working in thick, drifting ice in temperatures as cold as minus 35DegC. They are capable of crunching their way through ice as thick as 1.7m.
Arctech says this class of state-of-the-art multifunctional ice-breaking supply vessels can be utilised in many arctic areas and that a global demand will likely emerge.
It is some time since ice-breaking supply vessels have been built. There was a brief flurry in the 1990s when three new hybrid supply vessel/icebreakers – Fennica, Nordica and Botnica – were built for the Finns and frequently deployed in the UK North Sea; then a pair of shallow-drafted sisters were built for service in the North Caspian, servicing the Kashagan field.
Arctech Helsinki Shipyard specialises in arctic shipbuilding technology, such as icebreakers and other arctic offshore and special vessels. Arctech is a joint-venture, which is 50/50 owned by STX Finland Oy and Russian United Shipbuilding Corporation.
