Helsinki Shipyard and the Russian mining giant Norilsk Nickel (commonly referred ot as Nornickel) will join forces in building a new icebreaker to be used in northern Siberia, the companies have announced.
Construction is scheduled to start later this year and the vessel is expected to be delivered in time for the 2025 winter season.
Helsinki Shipyard said the ship will be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) as well as low-sulfur diesel, emphasising that it will be “the largest and most powerful diesel-electric icebreaker ever built in Finland”. Not only will it be able to break up to two-metre-thick ice, it will also engage in cargo transport and provide helicopter support operations.
The company said the project will create about 2,100 person-years of employment within the shipbuilding and maritime industries of the Finnish capital. The arrangement was said to be negotiated last summer and signed into effect in the autumn. The entire cost of the project remains undisclosed.
“Receiving the new icebreaker by the end of 2024 is very important for Nornickel as it provides additional transportation capacities needed to implement both our strategic investment projects. including the city of Norilsk renovation plans. And we are happy to declare that it’s going to be fuelled by LNG, which goes in line with current environmental trends on decarbonisation and will be a pioneer icebreaker on LNG exploited via the Northern Sea Route,” Nornickel's Senior Vice President Sergey Dubovitsky said in a press release.
The new icebreaker will serve in the Kara Sea in northern Siberia to ensure year-round access to the Dudinka seaport at the mouth of the Yenisei river, which is used for the export of goods.
Headquartered in Moscow and having its major operations in the Norilsk-Talnakh area near the Taimyr peninsula, Nornickel is the world's largest producer of nickel and palladium, as well as a major producer of copper and platinum.
Helsinki Shipyard was founded in 1865 during the times of the Russian Empire under the name of Helsingfors Skeppsdocka, and has in recent decades specialised in icebreaker technologies.