Polaris (icebreaker)
Polaris off Kemi on 23 March 2017
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Polaris |
| Namesake: | Polaris |
| Owner: | Finnish Transport Agency (initial owner) Arctia Icebreaking (after delivery) |
| Port of registry: |
Helsinki,  Finland
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| Ordered: | 14 February 2014 |
| Builder: | Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, Finland |
| Cost: | 125 million euro |
| Yard number: | 510 |
| Laid down: | 4 March 2015 |
| Launched: | 3 January 2016 |
| Sponsored by: | Paula Risikko |
| Completed: | 28 September 2016 |
| Identification: |
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| Status: | In service |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Icebreaker |
| Displacement: | 10,961 tonnes |
| Length: | 110 m (360 ft) |
| Beam: | 24 m (79 ft) |
| Draft: | 8 m (26 ft) (design) 9 m (30 ft) (max) |
| Ice class: | Polar Class 4 Icebreaker(+) |
| Installed power: | 2 × Wärtsilä 9L34DF (2 × 4,500 kW) 2 × Wärtsilä 12V34DF (2 × 6,000 kW) 1 × Wärtsilä 8L20DF (1,408 kW) |
| Propulsion: | Diesel-electric; three ABB Azipod units 1 × 6 MW (bow) 2 × 6.5 MW (stern) |
| Speed: | 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) (open water) 3.5 knots (6.5 km/h; 4.0 mph) in 1.8 m (6 ft) ice |
| Endurance: | 10 days on LNG 20 days on fuel oil |
| Crew: | 16 |
Polaris is a Finnish icebreaker. Built in 2016 by Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, she is the most powerful icebreaker ever to fly the Finnish flag and the first icebreaker in the world to feature environmentally friendly dual-fuel engines capable of using both low-sulfur marine diesel oil (LSMDO) and liquefied natural gas (LNG). Polaris was initially ordered by the Finnish Transport Agency, but the ownership was transferred to the state-owned icebreaker operator Arctia after delivery.
While the history of winter navigation in Finland dates back to the strengthened sleigh-boats used to carry mail from Finland to Sweden in the 17th century, the annual "ice blockade" that closed the Finnish ports for the winter months and stopped nearly all foreign trade was not broken until 1890 when the Finnish Board of Navigation commissioned one of the first purpose-built icebreakers in the world. Despite her shortcomings, Murtaja proved that year-round shipping was possible in the Baltic Sea and the first Finnish icebreaker was soon followed by bigger and more powerful vessels with only one purpose: to keep the shipping lanes open and escort merchant ships to and from the Finnish ports through the winter. In the late 1930s, steam gave way to diesel when the first Finnish diesel-electric icebreaker, Sisu, entered service in 1939.
While all Finnish state-owned icebreakers survived the war, Finland had to hand over its newest and most powerful steam-powered icebreakers to the Soviet Union as war reparations. The rebuilding of the icebreaker fleet began in the early 1950s with the commissioning of the diesel-electric Voima, the first icebreaker in the world to feature two bow propellers, in 1954. She was followed by two more icebreakers before the end of the decade to replace the steam-powered pre-war icebreakers now deemed obsolete, four in the 1960s to answer to the demands of the growing foreign trade, and finally three in the 1970s to keep all Finnish ports open through the winter.
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Wikipedia