Double-acting icebreaking duo

Two new-look icebreakers offering towing

and

firefighting capabilities are soon to be put through their paces in the northern Caspian Sea.

While cruise

and

passenger ships continue to be the mainstay of newbuilding business at Kvaerner Masa-Yards (KMY), its Helsinki New Shipyard has recently delivered

Arcticaborg

and

Antarcticaborg

, an innovative pair of `double-acting` icebreakers. The vessels have been built for Wagenborg Kazakhstan BV, a company within the Dutch shipowning group Wagenborg.

The newbuildings are designed for year-round operation in the heavy ice conditions of the northern Caspian Sea, where they entered service in November. They are on long-term charter to Offshore Kazakstan International Operating Company (OKIOC)

and

are being used to serve the drilling platforms operated by this oil consortium. As the first drilling platform will be installed in water depths of less than 5m, the vessels have a maximum draught of 2.9m. Other main dimensions include a loa of 65.10m, a beam of 16.4m

and

a deadweight of 675t.