Aleksandr Sannikov, the first of two icebreakers under construction at Vyborg Shipyard for Gazprom Neft, was launched on Thursday, 24 November 2016, in order to make way for the hull assembly of the second vessel, Aker Arctic says in a press release. Both icebreakers are scheduled for delivery in 2017 and will be deployed at the Arctic oil terminal operated by LLC Gazprom Neft Novy Port in the Gulf of Ob.
Aleksandr Sannikov and her yet unnamed sister ship are based on the Aker ARC 130 A concept developed by Aker Arctic. The design is a further development of the Baltic escort icebreaker concept that was originally developed for the Finnish Transport Agency. The new vessels will utilize similar propulsion concept consisting of three azimuth propulsion units: two in the stern and one in the bow of the vessel. The propulsion power has been increased to 21.5 MW and ice class to RMRS Icebreaker8 according to the operational requirements of the Arctic seas. The new icebreakers are designed to break 2 m thick level ice with 30 cm snow cover in both ahead and astern directions, operate in thick consolidated brash ice, and have excellent maneuverability in all ice conditions. The excellent icebreaking capability has been successfully demonstrated with model tests at Aker Arctic’s ice laboratory in Helsinki, Finland.
Another Aker Arctic project also reached a significant milestone on Monday, 21 November 2016, when Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) held the steel cutting ceremony for the Arc7 ice class Arctic condensate tanker. The vessel is scheduled for delivery in 2018. It will be used in the Yamal LNG project to transport gas condensate, a valuable by-product of the natural gas fields, from the Gulf of Ob to markets in Europe and Asia.
Aker Arctic developed the Aker ARC 212 concept and is currently finalizing the basic design phase. The 214-metre vessel is designed according to the double acting ship (DAS) principle, sailing bow-first in open water and in light ice conditions, and astern in up to 1.8 m thick level ice. The active flushing effect of the two 11 MW azimuth propulsion units allows independent continuous operation without icebreaking assistance even in the most challenging ice conditions such as compressive ridge fields without having to rely on ramming.