On 17 October 2012, the keel-laying ceremony of the prototype diesel-powered sea-going icebreaker project 21900M took place at Vyborg Shipyard JSC. Image: Vyborg Shipyard
Wärtsilä announced today that they have been awarded the contract to supply integrated power and automation systems for two new icebreakers being built for a Russian state-owned enterprise by Vyborg Shipyard JSC.
The contract was signed in October 2012.
The vessels, scheduled to be delivered in 2015, will operate mainly in the Baltic Sea and in Arctic waters. Wärtsilä’s strong track record in supplying reliable and technically sound solutions for icebreakers, and other vessels operating in arctic conditions, was cited as being a key factor in the award of this contract. There is an option pending to supply similar equipment for a third icebreaker within this same project.
Each vessel is equipped with:
4 x 12-cylinder Wärtsilä 32 main engines
2 x 4-cylinder Wärtsilä 20 auxiliary gensets
Wärtsilä Power Management System (PMS)
Wärtsilä Power Distribution System
Wärtsilä Power Drive System
Wärtsilä 32
“Wärtsilä has a leading market position in supplying power and automation systems for icebreakers and other vessels that operate in harsh, arctic conditions. Such ships are usually working a long way from port repair facilities, and for that reason reliability and operating efficiencies are essential. We have worked closely with the leading Russian ship-owners for many years, and they are well aware of our capabilities in this area,” says Aaron Bresnahan, Vice President Sales, Wärtsilä Ship Power.
Wärtsilä has been present in Russia for more than 30 years and employs more than 125 people serving the marine and power plant markets, for both new installations and after-sales service of existing installations.
Canada is committing more than C$11 billion ($7.95 billion) to build six new icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard, the country’s biggest shipbuilding contract in Quebec’s history, as Arctic nations race to replace aging fleets and expand their ability to operate in increasingly strategic northern waters.
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.
Davie’s Helsinki Shipyard has won a contract to build Finland’s newest icebreaker, adding another vessel to a rapidly expanding order book for the Canadian shipbuilder’s Finnish operations as governments on both sides of the Atlantic seek to renew aging icebreaker fleets.
August 19, 2026
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