France Orders Polar Logistics Vessel
Aker Arctic announced it has inked a basic design agreement with PIRIOU shipyard for a Frances’s new polar logistics vessel under construction in Concarneau, France.
The contract will also see Aker Arctic provide technical support in hull and ice-related matters to the shipyard during the build process.
Ordered to replace the existing patrol vessel L’Albatros and the polar logistics vessel L’Astrolabe, the new 72-meter polar logistics vessel is a logistics ship and patrol icebreaker based on a concept developed by Marine Assistance. It can accommodate up to 60 persons on board, carry 1,200 metric tons of cargo and fit one helicopter.
The vessel’s icebreaking capability will be verified by model tests at Aker Arctic's ice model basin in Helsinki, Finland. In addition to performing the basic design of the vessel, Aker Arctic will support the shipyard during the design and construction of the vessel in the special requirements of building an ice-going vessel.
The new vessel is scheduled for an early summer 2017 delivery, after which it will be deployed to the Indian Ocean in autumn 2017 and carry out the first supply mission to the Dumont d'Urville Station in Adélie Land, Antarctica, in winter 2018.
The vessel will be jointly owned and operated by the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Terres australes et antarctiques françaises, TAAF) administration, the French Polar Institute (Institut Polaire Francais Paul-Émile Victor, IPEV) and the French Navy.
