Tempera

Type Double Acting Tanker (DAT) Owner Fortum Built Sumitomo Heavy Ind.

Kvaerner Masa-Yards is well renowned for its ship and ship's equipment ice breaking technology. Upon visiting Finland on a recent excursion and enjoying winter in November, it's easy to see why. Quite simply, Finland must keep its icy shipping channels open during the winter to ensure its commercial survival. In the beginning of the 1990s, the company, in partnership with the Finnish Maritime Administration and ABB Industry of Finland, developed a new electrical propulsion system for icebreakers, the trade name of which is Azipod. The first vessels equipped with the new system, the 16,000 dwt tankers M/T Uikku and M/T Lunni owned by Fortum operated Nemarc Shipping, have now, combined, nearly 100,000 hours of operation experience, and the vessels have, for example, several times successfully navigated through the North-East Passage in extremely harsh conditions.

Through real world experience and continuous R&D, the shipyard has shown that vessels with a podded drive are capable of breaking ice with a considerably higher efficiency than before, when moving backwards with the propeller first. This concept — DAT — was developed by Kvaerner Masa-Yards, and now its first reference is in service. The 105,000 dwt M/T Tempera, built in Japan for Fortum Shipping, has arrived to its home waters for the first time, as well as M/T Mastera that will be completed later, are the first cargo ships of this double-acting type in the world. In open water, they can reach a speed of 17 knots, and thanks to their efficient icebreaking capacity that can be achieved while running with stern first, they are entitled to the highest IA Super Ice Class with their engine power of 16 MW, while even 25 MW would be required for this, using conventional technology. These vessels are able to navigate independently in the Baltic Sea area. M/T Tempera was built at the Yokosuka shipyard of Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd. in close co-operation with Kvaerner Masa-Yards under license by the latter company.