Arctech Helsinki Shipyard has delivered the 99 metre Arctic offshore vessel NB-506 'Vitus Bering' to client Sovcomflot, the largest shipping corporation in Russia. The vessel will supply the Arkutun-Dagi oil and gas field in the Sakhalin area of Far East Russia.
The 'Vitus Bering' is the first vessel of the series, with the sister vessel NB-507 to be delivered in April 2013.
"Delivering this vessel is an important achievement for Arctech. It is an important reference for us as we compete in orders of arctic vessels in the future,"comments Esko Mustamäki, managing director of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard.
The delivery was attended by the top management of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard and Sovcomflot.
"The building of NB-506 has been a challenging project, which has demanded close co-operation from the project team. It is a great pleasure to deliver this technically demanding vessel to the client four months ahead of schedule", said Jonas Packalén project manager of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard.
Both vessels for Sovcomflot will be similar, measuring 99.9 metres in length and 21.7 metres in breadth. Their four engines have a total power of 18,000kW and a propulsion power of 13,000kW.
Designed for extreme environmental conditions, the vessels will be operating in thick drifting ice in temperatures as cold as -35C°. The main purpose of these vessels is to supply the gas production platform and protect it from ice damage.
The ice breaking capability of the vessels is "extremely high", with each vessel able to operate independently in 1.7 metre-thick ice. As multipurpose vessels, these ships are capable of carrying various type of cargo and are equipped for oil combating, fire fighting, and rescue operations. Rescue capacity is for 195 persons.