Aker Arctic completes full scale ice trials of icebreaking bow Saimaa and tug Calypso

In late March, Aker Arctic conduced full-scale ice trials for the self-propelled detachable icebreaking bow Saimaa and pusher tug Calypso. According to the company’s press release, the test program was successfully completed in co-operation with Turku Repair Yard, the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency, Alfons Håkans and Danfoss in sunny spring weather shortly after the Saimaa Canal had been opened for traffic after the annual winter closure. Aker Arctic’s scope of work included vessel instrumentation, ice property measurements, performance trials, analysis and reporting.

During the ice trials, the Ice Load Monitoring System (ILMS) delivered by Aker Arctic provided valuable information in form of real-time thrust and torque data from all four propellers of the combination. In addition, the connector pins used to couple Saimaa and Calypso are also instrumented and connected to the ILMS.

The world’s first self-propelled detachable icebreaking bow Saimaa was built by Turku Repair Yard and delivered to the Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency in December 2020. In addition to the ILMS system, Aker Arctic also designed and delivered two complete 600 kW shaft lines to the detachable icebreaking bow and ice-strengthened bronze propellers to the tugboat. The concept’s ice model tests were also conducted at Aker Arctic’s ice laboratory.