New Arctech offshore vessel

Both vessels are being built for the Russian shipping corporation Sovcomflot and will be used to supply the Arkutun-Dagi oil and gas field in Russia.

Project Manager at Arctech, Jonas Packalén, said: “The building of NB-506 proceeds with outfitting and finalising works. It is ready for delivery in December 2012. The hull assembly of sister vessel NB-507 has started with the keel laying.”

Both vessels for Sovcomflot will be a similar size measuring 99.9m in length and 21.7m in breadth. Each vessel’s four engines have the total power of 18,000 kW and the propulsion power of 13,000 kW.

The vessels have been designed for extreme environmental conditions – they will be operating in thick drifting ice in temperatures as cold as minus 35°C.

The main purpose of the vessels will be to supply the gas production platform and to protect it from the ice. The icebreaking capability of the vessels is extremely high and both will be able to operate independently in 1.7m thick ice. As multipurpose vessels, these vessels are capable of carrying various type of cargo and they are equipped for oil combating, fire fighting, and rescue operations.

And Arctech has a third project in the pipeline, a newbuild icebreaking rescue vessel, has started at Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad. The hull will be shipped to Helsinki for outfitting and finalising works in spring 2013.