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30 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News By David Tinsley, Technical Editor First applied by Nordic operators, the concept of the multipurpose icebreaker has now taken root, and permeates the clutch of newbuild projects prompted by developments in Russian waters. Providing a new reference for the 'dou- ble-acting' principle developed and patented in Finland by Aker Arctic Technology, the recently commissioned FESCO Sakhalin is a versatile ship intended for work in the harsh Okhotsk Sea environment, on Russia's far eastern fringes. Her operating regime can be expected, as a matter of course, to include temper- atures down to minus 40degC, and diffi- cult ice conditions, with ridges up to 20- metres deep and solid ice exceeding 1.5- metres in thickness. The 4,000-dwt FESCO Sakhalin has been designed to support the Sakhalin-1 offshore oil development project, mar- rying offshore supply and standby capa- bilities with the requisite icebreaking and ice-going performance. Total potential recoverable reserves encapsulated by the three oilfields involved are estimated at 307-million tons of oil and 485-billion cubic meters of gas, and Exxon Neftegas is acting as the operator for the multinational Sakhalin-1 consortium. The new ves- sel's tasks will include clearing ice rub- ble around the gravity-based Orlan pro- duction platform, and serving as an escort to crude oil carriers working to and from Orlan. The vessel has considerable signifi- cance as an indicator of the growing activity and investment in the develop- ment of Russia's offshore resources. Ordered by Far Eastern Shipping Company (FESCO) of Vladivostock, she also denotes the re-forging of a link between Russia and Finland; the latter having until the 1980s been a key sup- plier of Arctic vessels and other special- ized tonnage to the former USSR. FESCO Sakhalin is the first Finnish- built icebreaker delivered to Russia since that time, and reinforces Aker Finnyards position in a niche business sector, as the constructor of more than 60-percent of the world's icebreakers. The design employed in FESCO Sakhalin exemplifies the long-term vision that has given Finland an edge in higher-value areas of maritime technol- ogy, since the project draws on R&D work initiated towards the end of the 1980s with studies into operational con- ditions in the Sakhalin region. The diesel-electric vessel is equipped with two 6.5-MW Azipod azimuthing, main propulsors and a pair of 1,100-kW bow thrusters, and her large, open work- ing deck presents an image somewhat removed from that of the traditional ice- Investment in Design Versatile Icebreaker Generation Aker Arctic Technology Inc of Finland and the St. Petersburg based FSUE Admiralty shipyards signed a contract for a license and design including classification package of two 70,000 dwt double-acting Arctic shuttle tankers, which the yard is building for ZAO Sevmorneftegaz for the Prirazlomnoye oil field in the Arctic Ocean. The ships are the largest tankers so far built by the yard and will be delivered towards the end of 2007 and 2008 respectively. MR SEPTEMBER 2005 #4 (25-32).qxd 9/1/2005 11:53 AM Page 30
