Finland Times

Jäätämurtavan offshore supply vessel (pictured) nimeämistilaisuus Arctech Helsinki Shipyard 11 Shipyard April 2013. The ship was named Aleksei Tshirikov. Photo Lehtikuva

Arctech, a Finnish shipbuilding company, will supply an icebreaking vessel to Russia next week and the Helsinki Shipyard is expecting more supply orders from Russian in near future.

 

The icebreaker named after Russian navigator Aleksey Chirikov at a traditional ceremony at the Arctech Helsinki Shipyard on Thursday will be delivered to the largest Russian shipping company, Sovcomflot.

 

Arctech has built two arctic offshore supply vessels for Sovcomflot which specialises in hydrocarbon transportation from the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions amid challenging icy conditions, said an Arctech news release.

 

President Sauli Niinistö be a scale model Sovkomflotin director Sergei Frank jäätämurtavan offshore supply vessel nimeämistilaisuudessa shipyard in Helsinki, 11 April 2013.The ship was named Aleksei Tshirikov. Scale model of the release of the next Arctech Helsinki Shipyard CEO Esko Mustamäki Finnish and Russian Ambassador Alexander Rumyantsev. Photo Lehtikuva

“Vitus Bering and Aleksey Chirikov are the result of excellent co-operation between Arctech and Sovcomlot. These state-of-the-art multifunctional icebreaking supply vessels can be utilised in many Arctic areas in future and I see a global need for such Arctic vessels,” said Arctech Helsinki Shipyard Managing Director Esko Mustamäki.

 

“Aleksey Chirikov and Vitus Bering bring together the very latest innovations in shipbuilding science and technology and are in high demand from Russian and international oil and gas companies,” said OAO Sovcomflot President Sergey Frank.

 

Finland President, Sauli Niinistö, the Ambassador of Russian Federation Alexander Rumyantsev, Photo Lehtikuva

The newly-built vessel will go straight to the Sakhalin area in Far East Russia, where it will supply the Arkutun-Dagi oil and gas field.

 

The order was received in December 2010. The first vessel of the series, NB 506 Vitus Bering, delivered to the client in December 2012 has reached its destination in March 2013.

 

The main purposes of these vessels are to supply the Arkutun-Dagi oil and gas production platform and protect it from ice. The NB 506 Vitus Bering model designed for extreme environmental conditions can operate in thick drifting ice in temperature as cold as minus 35°C. The vessel has an unusually high icebreaking capability and is able to operate independently in 1.7-metre-thick ice.

 

Finland President Sauli Niinistö, Ambassador of Russian Federation Alexander Rumyantsev, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea Dongsun Park, and the top management of Sovcomflot and Arctech and its owners STX Finland and United Shipbuilding Corporation, among others, attended the naming ceremony of Aleksey Chirikov at Helsinki Shipyard.

 

The naming was done by the vessel’s godmother Sovcomflot Arctic Chief Accountant Elena Korniychuk.