Polaris is the world’s first LNG-powered icebreaker. Photo: Finnish Transport Agency
The world’s first LNG-powered icebreaker entered service Tuesday commencing a contract with the Finnish Transport Agency providing icebreaking, vessel assistance, and oil spill response services in the Baltic Sea.
The Polaris was delivered in September by Finnish shipyard Arctech Helsinki to Arctia Ltd, another Finnish company specializing in marine icebreaking, offshore, and oil recovery. Polaris is the first icebreaker ever built that is capable of running on both liquefied natural gas (LNG) and ultra-low-sulphur diesel, making it the most environmentally friendly diesel-electric icebreaker anywhere in the world. With a total output of about 22 MW, it is also Finland’s most powerful icebreaker to date.
The vessel was designed under the supervision of the Finnish Transport Agency to be used for icebreaking and vessel assistance in ice conditions, oil spill response operations, and emergency towing and rescue operations in the Baltic Sea for a period of 50 years.
“Polaris represents a new generation of icebreakers,” says Tero Vauraste, President and CEO of Arctia Ltd., the owner and operator of IB Polaris. “Arctia supports the proposed ban on the use of heavy fuel oil in the Arctic. The use of LNG and the vessel’s built-in oil recovery system are the future of cost effective multipurpose icebreakers. We are proud to be the owner of the world’s most environmentally friendly icebreaker, which will safeguard our customers’ winter transport needs in the Baltic Sea.”
Polaris is the eighth icebreaker in Arctia’s current fleet and the first Finnish icebreaker to be commissioned since 1998.
The icebreaker was co-financed by the TEN-T Programme of the European Commission.
COPENHAGEN, April 15 (Reuters) – Shipping company Maersk has not made any deployment changes after a Portuguese-flagged container ship was seized by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, the Danish company said on Monday. “We find recent...
WASHINGTON, April 15 (Reuters) – The FBI has opened a federal criminal investigation into the deadly collapse of a Baltimore bridge last month when a ship crashed into one of its supports,...
By Daryna Krasnolutska (Bloomberg) Russia and Ukraine may have struggled to shift things significantly on the battlefield for more than 16 months, but a new phase of the war is moving...
April 14, 2024
Total Views: 2113
Why Join the gCaptain Club?
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.