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First Oblique Icebreaker Passes Sea Trials

Published Apr 13, 2014 7:24 PM by The Maritime Executive

The icebreaking multipurpose emergency and rescue vessel for the Russian Federal Agency of Sea and River Transport is close to the delivery at Arctech Helsinki Shipyard. Baltika will be used in icebreaking, rescue and oil combatting operations in the Gulf of Finland.

The vessel being built at Helsinki shipyard is a result of many years of development work. It features an asymmetric hull, built-in oil recovery system and three 360 degrees rotating propulsors, which allow the vessel to operate efficiently sideways, astern and ahead. In the oblique mode the vessel will be able to generate a 50 m wide channel in 0.6 m thick ice. 

Baltika is the first icebreaker ever that can break a two times wider channel in ice compared to its own breadth, says the yard, which increases the cost-effectiveness of the operation. The design of the vessel is based on the ARC 100 concept developed by Aker Arctic Technology.

“The icebreaking emergency and rescue vessel has been on the sea trials and the functionality of the vessel has been assured regarding manoeuvrability, sideways icebreaking mode and the new type of oil recovery system among other things. We are extremely satisfied with the features of the vessel and convinced that the multifunctional Baltika will secure the seaborne transports in the Gulf of Finland,” says Esko Mustamäki, the managing director of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard.

The advanced oil recovery system on board is suitable for operation in heavy waves when oil recovery is very challenging. The vessel measures 76.4 m in length and 20.5 m in breadth. The three main diesel generator sets have a total power of 9 MW and the total propulsion power is 7.5 MW.

The vessel is being built in co-operation with Kaliningrad based Shipyard Yantar JSC which has produced the blocks of the vessel. The hull assembly started at Helsinki Shipyard in June 2013. In addition to the hull assembly, the design, outfitting and commissioning are done by Arctech. The vessel will be delivered to the customer in spring 2014.