Nordic floats out new Arctic tanker type

The project hung in the balance for much of 2010 after the order for the €100 million ship for Russia’s Norilsk Nickel was placed in February. It was the first for Nordic as it struggled to restructure in the wake of the 2009 insolvency of its predecessor Wadan Yards.

Work began last July, but it was September before financing was confirmed, bringing relief to job-threatened employees still at the group’s Wismar and Warnemuende yards.

The new 19,000dwt Yenisei, named after a river system that flow into the Arctic Ocean, is 170m long and 23m wide. For year-round service on northern Russian Arctic routes, she was undocked in Wismar and being docked again in July for final work after completion of the engine room and superstructures. Trials are due in August and delivery in September.

The Yenisei will break ice up to 1.5m thick at a speed of 2 knots. Open water speed is 15.3 knots. Classed ARC7 she is designed to operate in temperatures down to -50°C. Tank capacity is more than 20,600m³ and a Diesel electric propulsion plant powers a 360° rotating gondola propeller.

The Wismar yard was also modernising a Norilsky Nickel container ship for re-delivery late July and building the offshore wind platform HelWin “A” for Siemens.

The Warnemuende yard has just ended another Nordic shipbuilding saga by handing over Hammonia Baltica, the last container ship ordered in a German yard. The original type Baltic 2800 vessel was cancelled half-finished by Laiesz when Wadan went bankrupt. Nordic has since sold her on to other German interests at a cost-covering price.