Arctech Lays Keel for Icebreaking Offshore Vessel

Construction on the hull of an icebreaking multipurpose supply vessel for Sovcomflot began today at the Arctech Helsinki shipyard with a keel laying ceremony. The vessel is the first in a series of four icebreaking sister ships ordered by Sovcomflot, Russia’s largest shipping company.

 

The vessel’s first block, which weighs 221 tons, was placed in the building dock, signaling the starting point of the hull assembly.

 

The vessel, which will measure 100 meters in length and 21 meters in breadth, will be capable of breaking through ice even as thick as 1.5 meters and will be outfitted for emergency evacuation, rescue and fire fighting operations, oil spill response and platform support activities. Once delivered in the summer of 2016, the vessel will serve in the Sakhalin-2 region energy production sites by transporting supplies and people between land bases and production platforms and protecting the production platforms from the impact of ice in the Sea of Okhotsk. Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd. (SEIC) operates the oil and gas field.

 

Esko Mustamäki, Managing Director of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, said, “Arctech has successfully built many similar kind of vessels for use in the rough weather conditions of the Sakhalin area. The series of vessels currently being built and designed at Arctech will further secure the energy production in the area.”

 

According to the shipbuilder, the new vessel will be equipped with advanced Nordic environmental technology, such as a catalytic converter exhaust system and solutions for limiting underwater noise levels. The vessel will increase capacity for oil spill response, as well as emergency evacuation in the demanding conditions of the Sakhalin area. The vessel will be able to safely transport deck cargo, loose cargo and liquid cargo in the integrated tanks below deck, and take production platform crew members as passengers regardless of weather and ice conditions. The vessel fulfills the demanding criteria set by SEIC and has accommodation quarters for 70 people – 28 crew members and 42 specialized staff members.