Aker Arctic Technology Inc News

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.

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…

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.

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…

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.

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…

After the acquisition of 66.4% of the shares by Finnish Industry Investment Ltd (fully owned by the State of Finland) Aker Arctic Technology Inc.’s extraordinary shareholders’ meeting today appointed the new Board of Directors for the company. Ole Johansson was nominated Chairman and Juha Marjosola Vice-Chairman of the Board. The board members are Ole Johansson, Juha Koskela (ABB Oy), Antti Kummu (Finnish Industry Investment), Valborg Lundegaard (Aker Engineering & Technology A/S) and Juha Marjosola (Finnish Industry Investment). Ole Johansson, BSc (Econ.) served as the President&CEO of Wärtsilä Corporation from 2000 to 2011. He is the Chairman of eQ Oyj and member of the Board of Svenska Handelsbanken AB.

A Finland government owned investment company, Finnish Industry Investment Ltd, has today purchased a 66.4 per cent majority stake of the shares of Aker Arctic Technology Oy (Aker Arctic) from STX Finland Oy. Aker explain that In recent months the Ministry of Employment and the Economy has been studying actively the possibilities for securing the Company's know-how and further development in Finland. The transfer of the Company´s know-how, such as intellectual property rights, away from Finland, would have meant a serious setback for the entire Finnish Arctic marine industry's future development. Aker Arctic is one of the world's leading companies in Arctic marine logistics and offshore solutions as well Arctic vessels design.

Aker Arctic Technology Inc and Navis Engineering Oy have signed an agreement on joint development of Dynamic Positioning systems for ice operation. The companies plan to jointly develop next-generation DP-system technology tailored for ice operation by utilizing their core know how and technologies. The development includes improved control algorithms, testing of the systems and utilising new more intelligent technology to overcome the ice challenges. The development work will take place in close co-operation with Aker Arctic Technology in Helsinki and Navis Engineering R&D Centre in St. Petersburg. The joint project aims to provide more energy efficient and capable and safe DP-systems especifically developed for ice operation.

Navis Engineering Oy and Aker Arctic Technology Inc. have signed a scientific and technical cooperation agreement covering the joint development of technology for dynamic positioning (DP) systems for icebreakers and ice-class vessels. The agreement was signed in St. Petersburg during NEVA 2013 at the end of September. Dynamic positioning systems manufactured by Navis Engineering have been installed on a number of icebreakers and ice-class vessels in recent years, including the Polar supply and research icebreaker SA Agulhas II, the Canadian Coast Guard Scientific icebreaker Amundsen and the Sovcomflot-owned multifunctional icebreaking supply vessels Vitus Bering and Aleksey Chirikov, operating for Exxon Neftegaz Ltd in Sakhalin waters in Russia.

The world’s move north to the Arctic for the exploration of energy resources has attracted global attention of Arctic and non-Arctic states. The newest player: China, which last month announced its plan to design and build its first ever Polar Research Vessel. The plan has been organized by State Oceanic Administration (SOA),China, Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration (CAA)  and the Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC) to build a new icebreaking research vessel to meet the country’s increased need of polar scientific research.

A plan has been organized by State Oceanic Administration (SOA),China, Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration (CAA)  and the Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC) to build an advanced new icebreaking research vessel to meet the increased need of polar scientific research. The new vessel will be equipped with advanced scientific equipment for polar oceans research. The integrated survey systems include marine geological and geophysical equipment,  marine biological and ecological instruments. Meanwhile, helicopters with associated systems will also be provided. For the integrated environmental science programs the vessel will have marine and atmospheric observing and sampling capabilities closely related with climate change monitoring.

STX Finland Oy and United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) have formed a joint venture company, which will specialize in arctic shipbuilding technology. An agreement for the formation of the new company, Arctech Helsinki Shipyard Oy, was signed today in in a meeting with the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the Finnish Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi. According to the agreement both founding companies will hold equal shares of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard Oy. The new company will purchase the shipyard from STX Finland. The joint venture will focus on arctic maritime technology and shipbuilding and will unify Russian and Finnish Maritime clusters. It will start building highly specialized vessels such as icebreakers and other icebreaking special vessels.

The Estonian Maritime Administration has awarded a contract to Aker Arctic Technology Inc, Helsinki, Finland, for designing a new multipurpose icebreaker. The value of the agreement is close to EUR 6 million, including the development of the conceptual design, the basic design, preparation of the tender documents needed for a public procurement for building the ship, and construction supervision. "Aker Yards has built more than 60 percent of the icebreakers in the world. This…

Aker Yards Marine Inc. (AYM) is a member of the team assembled by BMT Fleet Technology Limited that has been awarded the Definition, Engineering, Logistics and Management Support (DELMS) contract for the Canadian Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) project. The Canadian navy will acquire between six and eight ice-capable patrol ships to assert and enforce sovereignty in Canada's waters, including the Arctic. During the definition phase (2008 - 2009) AYM will utilize its experience and expertise in the design of patrol vessels and icebreakers to support the BMT team in the development of an illustrative definition design for the AOPS.