Aker Arctic Technology News

Finnish companies have designed about 80 percent of the world’s icebreakers, and about 60 percent of them have been built by Finnish shipyards.Finland is home to a strong and vibrant maritime cluster, with a mix of large, medium and small shipyards, as well as a deep pool of marine engineering expertise and a broad network of vessel equipment suppliers.As one of the world’s northernmost countries, Finland is also home to a fleet of icebreakers that keep imports and exports flowing through its harbors, even during the coldest winter months.

Qilak LNG plans to invest $5 billion in a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Alaska's North Slope to compete with Russia's Yamal project for Asian customers towards the end of this decade, its chief executive said. Major LNG importers such as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan are rethinking Russian supplies after sanctions on Moscow after it invaded Ukraine and more natural gas could be needed to produce lower emission and alternative fuels as nations try to reduce their carbon emissions.

Finnish shipbuilder Helsinki Shipyard Oy announced it has completed purchasing contracts for the main equipment of Nornickel’s icebreaker contracted last year, along with model tests in ice and open water for the icebreaker design developed by Aker Arctic.Russian mining company Norilsk Nickel ordered the new environmentally friendly icebreaker for its operations in the Yenisei River basin, Yenisei Bay and the Kara Sea securing access to Dudinka seaport both for its own fleet and its partners.

Aker Arctic Technology Inc announced Tuesday it has signed a contract with the Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA) and the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency (FTIA) to develop new icebreakers to meet new challenges in Baltic Sea escort operations.The “next generation” icebreaker design will be capable of assisting the larger merchant ships entering Finnish and Swedish ports, incorporate latest environmental technologies and be ready for future fossil-free fuels, the Finnish engineering firm said. “Our foreign trade and competitiveness are based on year-round security of supply.

The Finnish Defense Forces Logistics Command and Aker Arctic Technology Inc. recently signed a contract for the design, delivery and integration of complete propulsion lines to four Pohjanmaa-class multi-role corvettes for the Finnish Navy. Construction of the vessels is scheduled to begin in 2022 and the four-strong squadron will achieve operational readiness in 2028.Aker Arctic’s scope of delivery includes ice-strengthened controllable pitch propellers and their pitch control mechanisms, propeller shafts, bearings and shaft seals.

Finnish engineering company Aker Arctic Technology Oy said that its Arctic condensate tanker Boris Sokolov has now been transporting gas condensate from Sabetta to various ports in Europe for more than half a year.Last spring, Aker Arctic’s expedition team carried out full-scale ice trials on the vessel based on our Aker ARC 212 design.In order to evaluate the performance of the vessel, the fully-laden Boris Sokolov deviated from her regular route and headed towards the Siberian coast to seek ice conditions that were closer to the tanker’s maximum independent icebreaking capability. The analysis of the results is currently ongoing.The new Chinese icebreaking polar research vessel…

Finland is a traditional marine tech hub, with almost 90 company members in the Finnish Maritime Industries association. While the country has a storied maritime history across many sectors, based on geographic locale, it’s Arctic and ice marine technology is second to none, and it’s hoping the U.S. Coast Guard is taking notice.The Finnish maritime industry is hoping to get involved in developing the new icebreakers for the U.S. Coast Guard polar icebreaker program. Ulla Lainio…

A three-year, €6.5 million ($7.7  million) research project has been launched to address safety and efficiency in Arctic ship operations. Funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 program, SEDNA sets out to develop a risk-based approach to Arctic navigation, ship design and maritime operations. Recent years have seen a rapid increase in shipping operations in Arctic regions, as ice cover has reduced due to global warming. While this offers the potential to save significantly on voyage times…

Arctic thaw aids shipping most along Russian coast; Russia to start LNG exports from Yamal in late 2017. Russian shipping in the Arctic is benefiting from winds that are driving the oldest and thickest sea ice towards North America, further opening a remote region that is thawing amid global warming, scientists say. The thinning Russian ice could help liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers, due to start exports from Russia's Yamal Peninsula in late 2017, to navigate an icy route east to Asia for more than a planned six months of the year, they said. Almost all attention on Arctic shipping has focused on how global warming is shrinking the extent of ice around the North Pole, opening a summertime short-cut route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

An intelligent ice load monitoring system for the ships operating in ice covered waters will provide the operators a tool to handle the ships in safe but efficient ways. The state of the art system will monitor the hull loads with optical sensors installed on the steel structures of the vessel. With the information received from the sensors and combined with the ship’s structural capability, the system is able to show operators the loading and risk level imposed by ice impacts. The system will also be able to make a probability forecast of the expected loads. Thus, the new system will be able to provide vessel operators a substantially improved tool to operate the ships in safe but efficient ways.

Newbuild M/S Eeva VG, the first of two very energy efficient dry cargo carriers managed by VG-Shipping, was coated with Ecospeed at the end of January ahead of her July 2016 delivery. Both new ships are VG EcoCoasters and will operate in the Baltic region. They are owned by Meriaura Group of which VG-shipping is a part. The vessels were designed as a new ship concept by Meriaura together with its partners Foreship Ltd and Aker Arctic Technology Inc. and are engineered to reduce environmental impact.

Two new Aker Arctic designed icebreakers, under construction at the PJSC Vyborg Shipyard in Russia, will have their main power provided by Wärtsilä generating sets. The ships are being built for Gazprom Neft based in St.Petersburg, Russia. The contract was agreed between Wärtsilä and Ruselprom Group and was signed in October. The new icebreakers will operate in arctic conditions with outside air temperatures as low as minus 50°C and ice thicknesses up to 2 metres. Because of these challenging operational considerations, the reliability and overall efficiency of the Wärtsilä machinery were prime considerations in the award of this contract. The ability of the Wärtsilä engines to operate efficiently with such low air suction temperatures provides the basis for an arctic package solution.

Deltamarin Ltd proudly announces that it has signed a contract to design the world’s first LNG handysize bulk carriers, which will point the way towards greener shipping of commodities. The two B.Delta26LNG vessels will be constructed for the Finnish shipowner ESL Shipping Ltd by the Chinese Qingshan Shipyard of Sinotrans & CSC SBICO. Deltamarin’s contract with the Qingshan Shipyard covers basic and detail design, procurement handling and site assistance for the two vessels based on Deltamarin’s B.Delta26LNG design. Prior to this contract, Deltamarin has performed the full concept and contract design of the ship for ESL Shipping. “Deltamarin and ESL Shipping experts have worked together for two years to develop a ship concept…

A modern Aframax-sized tanker concept designed for transporting crude oil and oil product in the Arctic has been developed via collaboration between Deltamarin Ltd. and Aker Arctic Technology Inc. In creating the new tanker concept, Deltamarin said it drew upon its expertise in affordable energy efficient cargo vessels, together with Aker Arctic’s track record in Arctic vessels. Apart from being ice strengthened and equipped with other new features, the 118,000 DWT vessel will provide cost efficient and reliable tanker operations both in open water and in ice, according to Deltamarin. The Arctic Aframax tanker is strengthened to ice…

Japanese shipbuilder Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) informs it has received orders for the construction of two next-generation liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers that will primarily carry shale gas produced in North America. The shipbuilding contracts, received through MI LNG Company, Limited, a joint venture between MHI and Imabari Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., will see the delivery of one LNG carrier each for two separate joint ventures which Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc. has established with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line), respectively. The vessels will be built at MHI's Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery and are both scheduled for completion and delivery in 2018 when they will commence transporting shale gas produced in North America…

Thordon Bearings’ Swedish distributor, Duwel Sweden, has signed a contract with Caterpillar Propulsion for the supply and installation of Thordon COMPAC seawater lubricated propeller shaft bearing systems to the two general cargo ships Dutch shipyard Royal Bodewes is building for Finland’s Meriaura Group. Each state-of-the-art 4700 dwt VG EcoCoaster, designed by Meriaura Group together with partners Foreship and Aker Arctic Technology, will feature COMPAC bearings, a Thordon Water Quality Package and a forward shaft seal in order to exceed current and anticipated environmental regulations.

Aker Arctic Technology Inc has acquired full ownership of Canadian based company Akac Inc, which is known in the oil and gas industry for its involvement in the Arctic offshore projects and operations. According to Aker Arctic Technology, the acquisition strengthens its position in the field of Arctic offshore work. Akac provides tailored solutions and consultancy to enhance the operability, efficiency and safety of offshore operations in ice conditions. The ownership change is effective as of June 1, 2015.

The dynamic positioning control system and autopilot onboard the icebreaking rescue and emergency vessel Baltika have been approved as meeting performance expectations, following a set of Arctic ice trials in the Kara Sea. Developed by Finnish company Aker Arctic Technology, Baltika is the first ship ever built with an asymmetric hull that allows her to break ice not only ahead and astern, but also at an oblique angle. In this way, the icebreaker can open a channel in ice whose width is disproportionate to the vessel’s relatively small size.

Vyborg Shipyard signed a License and Concept Design Agreement with the Finnish engineering company Aker Arctic Technology for two icebreaking support vessels. Two multifunctional diesels-electric- powered icebreakers 22 MW will be built at Vyborg Shipyard by order of LLC Gazprom Neft Novy Port. In the nearest time Aker Arctic engineers will start development of concept design package and perform model tests in open water and in ice conditions. At a later stage on the basis of the concept design there will be developed technical design for the vessels. According to the procurement documents, the contract is valued at RUB 6,008,550,000. The order is to be fulfilled by November 30, 2018.

Hull form optimization and hydrodynamic design contribute to fuel consumption savings to be achieved by a new generation coastal general cargo ship. Finnish owner Meriaura Group signed for two 4,700DWT Ice Class 1A VG EcoCoasterTM general cargo newbuilds at Dutch yard Royal Bodewes in mid-January, with the first due for delivery at the end of July, 2016. According to Foreship , hull form and machinery optimization are expected to almost halve fuel consumption compared to conventional dry cargo vessels of similar type and size, in turn making a significant impact on fuel emissions.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has completed development of the "Sayaringo STaGE," a next-generation LNG (liquefied natural gas) carrier. The Sayaringo STaGE was developed as a successor to the "Sayaendo1," the company's highly acclaimed LNG carrier evolved from carriers with Moss-type2 spherical tanks that offer a high level of reliability. The adoption of apple-shaped tanks (ringo being the Japanese word for "apple") has enabled a near 16% increase in LNG carrying capacity without changing the ship's width, while incorporation of a hybrid propulsion system has boosted fuel efficiency by more than 20% compared to the Sayaendo (and more than 40% vis-à-vis earlier carriers).

Deltamarin Ltd. has provided Aker Arctic Technology Inc. with design services for two polar class heavy deck carrier ships intended for carrying heavy project cargos in large modules to Yamal LNG plant construction site on the Russian Yamal peninsula. Aker Arctic, the main contractor for the design of the vessels, has developed the ship concept with its client ZPCM-Red Box Energy Services and provides the basic design for Guangzhou Shipyard International Co. Ltd. Deltamarin will assist Aker Arctic by carrying out the major part of the basic design…

PPG Industries' protective and marine coatings business is fulfilling growing demand for "ice class" marine coatings for hull protection with SIGMASHIELD® 1200 coating. Developed from research conducted in PPG’s own facilities, SIGMASHIELD 1200 coating delivers exceptional abrasion and impact resistance in ice, combined with very low friction properties. The coating, developed for very high abrasion and impact applications on decks and hulls, combines a top-of-range phenolic epoxy with carefully-selected pigments to provide exceptional performance in icy waters. SIGMASHIELD 1200 coating has already seen more than a decade of service on ships operating in areas of heavy ice formation, including the Baltic Sea and St. Lawrence Seaway/Great Lakes system.