Icebreaker News

Seaspan Shipyards, Canada’s long-term shipbuilding partner for the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) and Royal Canadian Navy, has awarded ABB a contract to deliver an integrated propulsion system for the first of the CCG’s new-generation polar class icebreakers.The vessel is expected to be one of the world’s largest and most powerful diesel-electric icebreaker when it enters service in 2030, with ABB supplying vessel systems complying with IACS Polar Class 2 requirements for year-round…

Australia’s icebreaker RSV Nuyina has been conducting sea trials in Hobart’s River Derwent as part of familiarization exercises with TasPorts pilots after returning from Singapore for repairs.The 160-meter vessel was built by Damen Shipyards in Romania and delivered in October 2021. In Singapore, issues identified with couplings that connect the propulsion shafts with the clutches were rectified under warranty.Nuyina will now depart Hobart for Macquarie Island research station in early May for cargo delivery and science support.

On October 6, 2019, a naming and flag raising ceremony was held in Vladivostok for Sovcomflot’s latest Arctic shuttle tanker. The vessel was named after Mikhail Lazarev, a prominent Russian admiral and explorer known for his discovery of Antarctica. The tanker was ordered by Sovcomflot to transport crude oil for the Novy Port project, under a long-term agreement between Sovcomflot and Gazprom Neft.The ceremony was attended by Oleg Melnikov, Vice-Governor of Primorsky Region and Sergey Frank…

Rosatomflot (FSUE Atomflot), Russian company that maintains the world's only fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers, said that its nuclear icebreakers steered 331 ships of a total gross capacity 12.7 mln tons. As compared to 2017, the capacity of steered ships increased by 5 mln tons.The Rosatom group company said in a press release that with that, the number of steering operations decreased (last year it was 493 ships) due to completion of the active phase of construction in the port of Sabetta and reduction of flow of vessels carrying cargoes for construction.Besides, as liquefied natural gas shipments from Sabetta started by LNG tankers of Yamalmax class…

Bronze has been the preferred material for open water and low ice class ship propellers for decades, said Finnish engineering company Aker Arctic that operates an ice model test basin in Helsinki."Few years ago, Aker Arctic began investigating the possibility of using it also in high ice class vessels. In November 2018, the first bronze propellers based on the new strength dimensioning criteria were installed on the Finnish ice class 1A ASD tug Calypso," said a statement from the designer of icebreakers.While bronze is not as strong as stainless steel, it has a number of benefits in marine applications such as good resistance against corrosion and cavitation damage. The material is also easy to work with both during manufacturing as well as when carrying out maintenance and repairs.

As the U.S. Coast Guard moves to rebuild its icebreaker fleet we spoke with RADM Bruce Baffer (Ret.), head of Fincantieri’s effort to win the contract to build the Polar Security Cutters.The case for the U.S. to build a new class of icebreakers is strong. While news of global climate change and the shrinking ice caps at both poles is daily headline fodder, maritime navigation in and around the Arctic and Antarctic remains one of the most difficult and dangerous operating arenas on the high seas.

A new ice-breaking tanker capable of navigating the Arctic on its own is set to load its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipment from Russia's fast-expanding Yamal facility.The Georgiy Brusilov left South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering shipyard at the weekend and is due at Yamal's Sabetta port on Nov. 28, Refinitiv Eikon data shows.It is the eighth ARC7-class LNG carrier, which are longer than the Titanic, to join the Yamal fleet operated by Teekay, Mitsui OSK Lines and Dynagas, with another seven expected.The vessels have enabled Yamal's operator Novatek to ramp up production since its first LNG cargo at the end of last year…