German yard bags €100 million icebreaker contract

Pella Sietas, in Neuenfelde on the Elbe, said the newbuilding, 120m long, 27.5m wide, drawing 8.5m, was also “the biggest single order” ever for the yard. Yard head Natallia Dean added “we have been working for six years to clinch this now successful order which is a significant milestone in the history of the concern”.

The former J.J.Sietas Shipyard, founded in 1635 and the oldest shipyard in Germany, was sold to Russia-based Pella Shipyard in 2014 after becoming insolvent. The icebreaker contract has been placed by JSC Pella Shipyard.

The newbuilding will be designed to serve in northern Polar seas in temperatures down to -40C. Its bow will crush ice with a thickness of up to 2.5m, the yard said.

Initial technical information on the newbuild is sparse but the yard said it will have two 9000kW rudder propellers of as yet unknown type and manufacture as well as two, equally unidentified, bow thrusters each of 1,000kW. A service speed of 12 knots is expected in open water and the newbuild will accommodate 35 crew and 22 specialists, who can be flown in and out using the vessel’s own helipad.

Pella Sietas said the newbuilding – an Icebreaker7 Class vessel –is part of a Russian fleet modernisation programme and will function as a multi-purpose ship. It will clear sea lanes of ice and also serve as a pilot ship for big ships, as a tug with 120 ton bollard pull capability for ships and floating structures and as a fire-fighting, sea rescue and deck cargo transport ship.

The newbuilding is for delivery to end user ROSMORPORT in 2023. That Government agency provides icebreaking and other services to vessels in 15 Russian ports and their approaches as well as further afield. Pella Sietas said the agency, with 36 icebreakers, has one of the biggest icebreaking fleets in the world.

Natallia Dean said Pella Sietas was currently “well booked”and planned to increase its personel to 400 to cope by the end of next year.The yard is currently building a 132m dredger for German authorities for delivery next year and also transporting sections for what is billed as Europe’s first single fuel LNG ferry to owners on the Lake of Constance in south Germany.