Finland: Arctech Delivers Icebreaking Offshore Vessel ‘Vitus Bering’

Arctic offshore vessel NB-506 Vitus Bering was delivered at Helsinki Shipyard on Friday 21.12.2012 to the client Sovcomflot, the largest shipping corporation in Russia. The vessel will supply the Arkutun-Dagi oil and gas field in Sakhalin area, in Far East Russia. Vitus Bering is the first vessel of the series, the sister vessel NB-507 will be delivered in April 2013.

”Delivering this vessel today is an important achievement for Arctech. It is an important reference for us as we compete in orders of arctic vessels in the future. Delivering as technically advanced ship as Vitus Bering is, in two years, demands good co-operation skills from the shipyard, client and suppliers. I think we have succeeded well in the project”, comments Esko Mustamäki, the Managing Director of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard.The delivery was attended by the top management of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard and Sovcomflot. The flag changing was done according to the traditions and the vessel will continue its travel to Sakhalin from the shipyard.

”Building of NB-506 has been a challenging project, which has demanded close co-operation from the project team. It is a great pleasure to deliver this technically demanding vessel to the client four months ahead of schedule”, says Jonas Packalén, the Project Manager from Arctech Helsinki Shipyard.

Both vessels for Sovcomflot will be similar measuring 99.9 m in length and 21.7 m in breadth. Their four engines have the total power of 18,000 kW and the propulsion power of 13,000 kW. These 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 for these vessels is to supply the gas production platform and to protect it from the ice. The icebreaking capability of the vessels is extremely high, they are able to operate independently in 1.7 meter 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. The rescue capacity is for 195 persons.