New icebreaker design succeeds in offshore trials

April 15, 2015
Aker Arctic’s Baltika is the first icebreaker with an asymmetric hull that can break ice not only forward and backward, but also to the side.

Offshore staff

HELSINKI, Finland – Aker Arctic’s Baltikais the first icebreaker with an asymmetric hull that can break ice not only forward and backward, but also to the side.

TheBaltikahas successfully completed full-scale ice trials, departing Murmansk and sailing around the northern tip of Novaya Zemlya and across the Kara Sea to the Gulf of Ob.

Aker Arctic says Baltika exceeded expectations. The vessel could break 1.2-m (4-ft) level ice in continuous motion when proceeding bow first and could achieve a speed exceeding 3 knots in astern direction. The oblique mode, which had never been tested before in real life, also worked well. During operational tests, Baltika also demonstrated excellent maneuverability and rubble clearing capability in the port of Sabetta as well as ability to penetrate heavy compressive ice ridges in the Kara Sea without ramming.

Baltika was built by Arctech Helsinki Shipyard in cooperation with Shipyard Yantar JSC (Kaliningrad, Russia) based on Aker Arctic’s oblique icebreaker design , Aker ARC 100. The vessel is 76.4 m (250 ft) long and has a beam of 20.5 m (76 ft), and has a diesel-electric power plant consisting of three Wärtsilä 9L26 generating sets with a combined output of 9 MW. Baltika is propelled by three 2.5 MW Steerprop azimuth thrusters, two in the stern and one in the bow of the vessel. The dynamic positioning system, which also includes the oblique icebreaking mode, is by Navis Engineering.

04/15/2015