Keel laying is scheduled for January 2012
Production has begun at STX Europe’s Vyborg shipyard of two multi-purpose icebreaking service vessels, ordered from Arctech Helsinki Shipyard by Sovcomflot in December 2010. Both are scheduled for April 2013 delivery.
The steel blocks of the vessels, which are designed to operate under extremely demanding environmental conditions in the Sakhalin area, are being manufactured at the Vyborg shipyard. A total of 17 blocks will be built in Vyborg and four in Helsinki.
“As the first newbuilding projects at the Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, the vessels delivered to Sovcomflot are extremely important. We believe this vessel type will be the foundation for similar series of vessels designed for arctic operation. Several will be ordered in the coming years” said Esko Mustamäki, managing director of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard.
“The Vyborg shipyard is a very important and reliable partner for us. We have a long history of cooperation with them, already from the late 1980s, and in the late 1990s we were a part of the same Kvaerner group”, commented Juha Sinkkonen, director of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard.
Source: Motorship