Sweden Buys Norwegian Icebreaker

The Swedish Maritime Administration has purchased the 18-year-old icebreaker Polar Circle, expanding its fleet of icebreaking ships to help keep the nation's ports and shipping lanes clear during the cold winter months.

In December, the Swedish Maritime Administration put out a tender to acquire a secondhand icebreaker, with Polar Circle emerging as the most suitable option. The agency recently ran the Polar Circle through trials in the Gulf of Bothnia before committing to purchase the vessel.

"We are delighted to welcome Polar Circle to our fleet. She will be an important complement, not least she will be able to relieve Ale who both starts and ends the season and who has by far the most working hours," said Joel Smith, Acting Director General at the Swedish Maritime Administration. "There is no doubt about the need to break ice to keep merchant shipping going. We have a great need to update our fleet and it is gratifying that Polar Circle lives up to our high standards."

Polar Circle, previously known as Polar Pevek, was built by Aker Langsten in Norway in 2006 to assist shuttle tankers in the Sakhalin I project. Norway’s GC Rieber Shipping, which owned 50% of the vessle, scrapped the charter early in 2022 to get the icebreaker out from Russia. Early last year, GC Rieber took full ownership when it struck a deal with Maas Capital Offshore to buy its 50% share.

The 74-meter Polar Circle is a diesel-electric icebreaker with two 5-megawatt ABB Azipod propulsion units. At 74 meters long and 17 meters wide, it sits between the agency's smallest icebreaker Ale and the larger ones in the Atle class.

The icebreaker will be re-flagegd in Sweden and updated with new equipment before entering services during the next next icebreaker season.  It will also receive a new name, which the Swedish Maritime Administration said it will announce at a later date.