Image: Arctech
MV Baltika, a 7.5 MW icebreaker built to Russian Register of Shipping Class by OAO Shipyard Yantar and Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, has just completed sea trials, but to the disappointment for everyone involved, there was no ice in the Gulf of Finland.
The photo below is a model of the “HD” version of the Baltika which the asymmetrical hull form which allows it to be steered via Azipods in an oblique fashion creating a larger icebreaking swath while guiding ships with larger beams.
In a conversation with Markku Kajosaari, Manager, Concept Development at Arctech Finland, he notes, “the vessel operated as planned and the maneuverability and control of the vessel was good in open water situations.”
The vessel encountered some heavy seas during its trial and while in oblique-mode, the sea trial team noted some spray coming over the bow, but nothing out of the ordinary according to Kajosaari.
The ship will be operated by FBI Gosmorspassluzhba of Russia on behalf of the FGI Directorate of State Contracting Authority for Marine Transport Development Programmes.
Read: “Sideways” Icebreaker Launched at Arctech Helsinki Shipyard
“For Russian Maritime Register of Shipping it is a fair assumption to say that the ships built now are capable of solving tasks that were unthinkable and unfeasible as far as two decades back. In this sense, the design of the Baltika, an icebreaker with oblique hull, is virtually unique”, noted Sergey N. Sedov, Chief Executive Officer of Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.
Main particulars:
Length 76.4 m
Breadth overall 20.5 m
Draught 6.3 m
Propulsion power 7.5 ?W
Speed 14 knots
Speed in flat ice 1.0 m thick 3.0 knots
Crew 24
Special personnel 12
Sea endurance 20 days (24 persons)
Class: Russian Maritime Register of Shipping
Class notation: KM?Icebreaker6, [1], AUT1-ICS, OMBO, FF3WS, EPP, DYNPOS-1, ECO-S, Oil recovery ship (>60°C), Salvage ship, Tug, HELIDECK.
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Russia expects to begin regular year-round eastbound shipping along the Northern Sea Route in early 2027, as additional nuclear icebreaker capacity, newer ice-class LNG carriers and pressure to redirect energy exports toward Asia bring the long-delayed ambition closer to reality.
The number of commercial transit voyages through Russia’s Northern Sea Route (NSR) had already surpassed the full-year 2025 total by the end of September, putting Arctic shipping on course for another record season as cargo volumes rise and more vessels test the route between Asia and Europe.
Finland’s multipurpose icebreaker Nordica has departed for Canada, where it will provide icebreaking and ice-management services to the Canadian Coast Guard in the Arctic later this year, marking a new step in Finland’s expanding role in the North American icebreaking sector.
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