Polaris in Helsinki, 9 January 2016

I know I've been promising to do an entry about the Princess Anastasia for some time, but this is not it either. I looked at the summery photos of her and then the showy landscape outside, and decided we should have some wintery pictures instead. So here is the under-construction new Finnish icebreaker Polaris.

Polaris

IMO 9734161
Built 2016, Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, Finland
Tonnage c. 10 000 GT
Length 110,00 m
Width 24,00 m
Draugth 8,00 m
24 crew
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 21 000 kW
3 azipods (two stern, one bow)
Speed 16 knots

The Polaris is – or more accurately, will be – the first icebreaker built for Finland during the 21st century. Her genesis was somewhat complex: in 2012, the Finnish parliament allocated funds for the construction of a new icebreaker designed specifically for icebreaking on the Baltic Sea (instead of a multipurpose unit designed as a combination icebreaker-oil drilling supply vessel like the three Finnish icebreakers built during the 1990s), that would also be equipped as an oil spill combat vessel. Furthermore, it was decided that the new icebreaker would be owned by the Finnish Transport Agency (Liikennevirasto), with the idea that her operations could be tendered and thus the costs of icebreaking diminished from the current situation, where the state-owned Arctia Shipping holds a virtual monopoly in providing icebreakers. There were also claims the arrangement came about due to ideological reasons, as a means to stop the new icebreaker from being used as a support vessel for oil drilling in the arctic areas – at the time, the ministers in charge of state companies and transport were Heidi Hautala of the Green Party and Merja Kyllönen of the Left Alliance, respective, and both their parties were opposed to the use of Finnish ships in this use.

Regardless, in November 2013 Arctech Helsinki Shipyard was awarded the contract for building the new icebreaker. Then, just three days later, the contract was withdrawn, as it turned out the shipyard did not have nescessary during-construction funding. A second round of tenders was arranged, in which Arctech again emerged victorious in January 2014. Subsequently, political turmoil in the Finnish parliament resulted in both the Green Party and Left Alliance leaving the cabinet coalition during 2014. The duties of the ministers in charge of state companies and transport were now assured by Sirpa Paatero of the Social Democratic Party and Paula Risikko of the National Coalition, respectively. The new ministers decided that ownership of icebreakers was not a part of the Finnish Transport Agency's portfolio, and the Agency was adviced to seek a buyer for the under-construction icebreaker in early 2015. In March, an agreement was signed to sell the new icebreaker to Arctia Shipping immediately following delivery.

These complex machinations aside, the ship's keel was laid on 4 March 2015, which also happened to be 150th anniversary of the shipyard. She was named Polaris on 11 December 2015 by Paula Risikko (now the Second Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Finland). The name, a departure from both the tradition of giving icebreakers Finnish-language names and the -ica suffixed names of the multipurpose icebreakers, was chosen by public competition (personally, I suggested the traditional Finnish-language names Tarmo ["vigour"] and Murtaja ["breaker"], but apparently such names will not return). The ship was floated out on 3 January 2016 and will be delivered during the coming months.

The photographs below show the Polaris at the outfitting quay of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard on the afternoon of 9 January 2016 (yes, afternoon. You wouldn't believe how early it gets dark in Finland during the winter). Click on the images to see them in larger size.

A close-up view. The asymmetric bridge means the ship needs less crew to operate her than would otherwise be the case.

An overview of the shipyard area with the Polaris. I must say the personally I think the name is a bit unfortunate - especially as the ship is specifically designed for the Baltic Sea, not the Polar areas. The genral opinion seems to be that she would have been better off with a traditional Finnish-language name.

Hey, I did include the promised Princess Anastasia in this entry, as that's her in the background.

Next time: Judging from the recent track record, I shouldn't make any promises. Possible either photos of the float-out of the Mein Schiff 5, or something (such as the Princess Anastasia) from last summer.

Voima in Helsinki, 24 January 2014

I know that when I wrote the previous entry in this blog, I promised that next time we would feature the Vision of the Seas - this time for real.

Well, I lied. The 60-year-old Finnish icebreaker Voima left Helsinki today to start her icebreaking season for this winter. And since I've made it my mission this winter to get as many icebreaker photos as possible, I was out there to photograph her depature. And while the photos are still fresh, I want to share them with you.

Voima

IMO 5383158
Built 1954, Wärtsilä Helsinki, Finland
Tonnage 4 159 GT
Length 83,50 m
Width 19,40 m
Draugth 7,00 m
21 crew
6 Wärtsilä 16V22 diesels, combined 15 000 kW
2 propellers (aft)
2 propellers (forward)
Speed 18 knots

The Voima ("force" or "power") was completed in 1954 by Wärtsilä's Helsinki shipyard as the first ship in Finland's ambitious plan to rebuilt the country's icebreaker fleet, which had been badly depleted due to World War II, with the most powerful icebreakers (the Jääkarhu and the first Voima) ceded to the Soviet Union as war reparations and the newest icebreaker, the first Sisu, badly damaged by a mine. When completed, the Voima was the most advanced icebreaker of her time; she was not the most poweful, but she was the only one with two propellers both forward and aft, making her the most efficient icebreaker. Such was the success of the Voima that no less than four additional units of the same design were built, three for the Soviet Union and one for Sweden, while the Voima's basic design served as a template for essentially all subsequent icebreakers built by Wärtsilä during the 1950s and 60s.

While successful in terms of design, the Voima's first years in service were marred by difficulties of more human nature. Hitherto almost all Finnish icebreakers had carried civilian crews, but due to the Finnish Seamen's Union's active strike policy for the Voima the decision was made to follow the model in use in Sweden (and most other countries) where icebreakers are crewed by the country's navy. And military personnel, naturally, cannot go on strike. This policy change became a bone of contention between the Finnish National Board of Navigation and the Seamen's Union, with Finnish-flagged ships refusing to accept assistance from the Voima. Eventually the state backed down, and in December 1995 the Voima was crewed by civilians. The following winter was hard and the Voima's icebreaking capacity came to good use, when she assisted a record number of ships during the winter season - including the older icebreakers Sampo and Tarmo.

By the late 70s the Finnish icebreaking fleet was getting old, and the decision was made to extensively modernise the Voima at Wärtsilä's Helsinki yard in 1978-79. What possibly also had an effect in the decision to modernise the ship was the economic downturn experienced at the time, as back then the Finnish State was keen to provide employment during difficult times. In the refit, the Voima's hull plates and engines was changed, and an entirely new superstructure was built, resulting in essentially a new vessel with 60% cost of building a new ship from scratch. After the refit, the Voima's hull was repainted red to improve visibility. In the mid-80s she reverted to a black hull colour.

In 2004 the Voima, like all Finnish icebreakers, was moved from direct state ownership under the ownership of the state-owned Finstaship. In 2010, her ownership transferred to the (also state-owned) Arctia Shipping. As the Voima is the oldest icebreaker in the Finnish fleet (and indeed the oldest active-service icebreaker in the world), plans are in motion to replace her with a newer and larger unit. Previously it has been reported that she would be replaced in 2015, when the new as-of-yet nameless icebreaker ordered from Arctech Helsinki Shipyard earlier this week will be completed, but most recent reports state that the new icebreaker will be utilised to replace the icebreaker chartered by the Finnish state from Sweden. This would mean that the Voima will remain in service, at least as a backup ship, even after 2015.

The photographs below show the Voima departing from the icebreaker base at Helsinki's Katajanokka in the morning of 24 January 2014. Photographed, also, from Katajanokka. Click on the images to see them in larger size.

Backing away from quay. Notice (how could you not?) the ice.

Turning to the shipping lane, with the ESL Shipping bulk carrier Kallio in the background on the right.

The Voima (1954/1979) with the Hanasaari B power plant (1954) in the background.

A more close-up view, passing in front of the Korkeasaari island zoo.

The building in the background here used to house the Finnish Maritime Museum, until a new building was erected for it in Kotka.

The Voima's superstructure is, obviously, rather different from the original. You can see the Voima as built for instance here.

Disappearing the the snow and the awaiting icy waters of the Gulf of Finland.

Next time: Well, this time hopefully the Vision of the Seas for real.

Kontio in Helsinki, 13 December 2013

First off, apologies for the lack of updates for the past two months. I have been busy (this including a ten-day Mediterranean cruise on HAL's Rotterdam - a trip report of this can be read at MaritimeMatters: part 1, part 2 & part 3. Part four will be up next week I hope), and admittedly also not that interested in putting up photos. Hopefully, this entry will mark the beginning of more activity here. Today's entry is also very contemporary, as I offer you photos of the beginning of the Finnish icebreaker season for winter 2013-14 from earlier today.

Kontio

IMO 8518120
Built 1987, Wärtsilä Helsinki, Finland
Tonnage 7 066 GT
Length 99,00 m
Width 24,20 m
Draugth 8,00 m
20 crew
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 15 000 kW
2 propellers
1 bow thruster
Speed 18,50 knots

The Kontio and her sister Otso (both names are epithets for "bear" in Finnish) are to-date the last "traditional" icebreakers (designed exclusively for icebreaking duties, not for secondary use in the offshore industry) built for the Finnish icebreaker fleet - although a new traditional icebreaker is in the process of being ordered.

The Otso and Kontio were designed in the early 1980s to replace the older icebreaker trio Karhu, Murtaja and Sampo dating from the late 1950s that were had too narrow hulls to escort modern vessels and were expensive to operate. The Otso was ordered first, in 1984, with the Kontio following in 1985. The ships were delivered in 1986 and 1987, respectively. The pair marked a radical departure from traditional design design principles. Since the first Sampo in 1898, icebreakers built for the Finnish state had been equipped with forward-facing propellers (in addition to backwards-facing ones) to reduce friction between the ice and the hull of the ship by creating additional waterflow; they also had the added benifit of improving manoeuvrability. However, this arrangement was also expensive to operate. On the Otso and Kontio, the forward propellers were replaced by an air bubbling system developed by Wärtsilä. This was not a new invention, having first been used on the Finnlines ropax ferries Finncarrier (1969), Hans Gutzeit (1972) and Finnfellow (1973). Although many voiced concerns about this design choice, resulting in the somewhat pejorative nickname "Pohjanlahden pulputtaja" ("Bubbler of the Gulf of Bothnia") for the ship, in practice the Otso and Kontio have performed well and due to the low operating costs, they are generally the first icebreakers to leave for the field in the autumn and the last to return in spring.

As an additional departure from tradition, the Otso and Kontio were given a different livery from what hed previously been carried by Finnish icebreakers. While traditionally Finnish icebreakers were painted with black hulls and yellow superstructures, the Otso and Kontio were given a blue-write livery inspired by the colours of the Finnish flag.

Originally, the Otso and Kontio were - like all Finnish icebreakers - directly owned by the Finnish state. This changed in 2004, when a new state-owned company, Finstaship, took over the ownership and operations of the Finnish icebreaker fleet. In 2010, Finstaship was replaced by the state-owned limited company Arctia Shipping. Also in 2010, the Kontio was refitted with oil spill response equipment. From then on, she spends the non-icebreaking season under charter to the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), in constant readiness for oil recovery duties. At some point during her career, the ship has been refitted with a bow thruster to improve manoeuvrability.

The photographs below show the Kontio departing the icebreaker base at Katajanokka, Helsinki for the Gulf of Bothnia on 13 December 2013. She was the first Finnish icebreaker of the season to begin operations. Photographed from Katajanokka. Click on the images to see them in larger size.

Peeking from behind the bushes. It doesn't show because the ship is blocking the wind, but it was extremely windy on this day.

Kontio with the 1970s brutalist neighbourhood of Merihaka in the background on the left.

Obviously there's no ice here yet, but things at quite different on the northern end of the Gulf of Bothnia, where the Kontio is headed.

Notice the silhouette of a bear on the side of the superstructure.

Also, these photos were taken at noon. Notice from how low the sun is coming from. That's Finnish winter for you.

Yeah, there was so some sky and water...

Heading out on Kruunuvuorenselkä.