Arctech Helsinki Shipyard delivered the most powerful newcomer in the Finnish Icebreaker fleet, icebreaker Polaris, to the Finnish Transport Agency on 28 September 2016.
The Finnish Transport Agency handed the vessel over to Arctia Icebreaking Oy. The prototype vessel built at Helsinki Shipyard is designed to serve for at least 50 years in icebreaking, oil recovery and sea rescue operations. The last Finnish icebreaker of a similar size and range was completed in year 1994.
The icebreaker Polaris is described as ‘a masterpiece of Finnish shipbuilding expertise’. An innovative design is used for the vessel’s hull form and propulsion unit arrangement, and the vessel is able to use either liquefied natural gas or low sulphur diesel oil as fuel.
The vessel complies with the international IMO Tier III emission standards and special requirement for sulphur emissions in the Baltic. The vessel is equipped with three Azipod propulsion units rotating 360° which give it good maneuvering. Polaris can break 1.8m thick ice at a speed of 3.5 knots.
