Sovcomflot places order for icebreaking OSVs

The value of the order is $200 million and the project was scheduled to begin in December 2010. The new vessels will be delivered from the Helsinki shipyard during spring 2013. The ships are destined for the Sakhalin-1 Arkutun-Dagi gas field where they will be used as supply vessels for the Exxon Neftegas platform.

Both vessels will be similar, measuring 99.2m in length and 21.7m in breadth. Their four engines have a total power of 18,000kW with 13,000kW used for propulsion power of. These vessels are designed for extreme environmental conditions in the Sakhalin area where they will be operating in thick drifting ice in temperatures as low as -35 C˚. The main purpose of these ships is to supply the gas production platform and to protect it from the ice. The icebreaking capability of the vessels is therefore designed to be extremely high and they should be able to operate independently in 1.7m thick ice.

As multipurpose vessels, they will be capable of carrying various type of cargo and will be equipped for anti-pollution, fire fighting, and rescue operations, with a rescue capacity of 195 persons.

“This is a significant breakthrough into the currently very active Russian arctic ice-going ship market. I am especially happy to see that the customer is Sovcomflot. As Sovcomflot already has in its fleet a very similar supply vessel, delivered 2005 by STX Finland, we can only consider this order as a sign of confidence from their side” says Juha Heikinheimo, President of STX Finland.