On October 24, Estonia's Port of Tallinn signed a 50 million Euro (USD64.7 million) agreement with Finnish shipping company Arctia for the purchase of the ice breaking vessel MSV 'Botnica'.
"We are planning to finance the purchase with a short-term loan from a commercial bank," says Marko Raid, the CFO of Port of Tallinn.
In the longer term, the Port of Tallinn is seeking to refinance the purchase through a loan from the Nordic Investment Bank over an anticipated maturity period of up to 10 years.
"This is an excellent outcome for us both and it will benefit the maritime traffic for the whole Gulf of Finland. The 'Botnica' was originally built for icebreaking in the Gulf of Finland and we are glad to see that the vessel will continue this work," says Tero Vauraste, CEO of Arctia.
The Port of Tallinn will use the 'Botnica' for providing ice breaking services according to a ten-year contract signed with the Estonian Maritime Administration (EMA). In Estonia, the EMA is responsible for organising ice breaking services. The Port of Tallinn will, according to the contract, provide the EMA with the vessel and crew for that purpose.
It is currently anticipated that the 'Botnica' will arrive into Estonia in the second half of December.The next winter's icebreaking service is scheduled to begin on January 2, 2013. The season lasts until April 20.
The Port of Tallinn acquired the 'Botnica' in accordance with the strategic interest of the Estonian State to maintain the navigability of Estonian ports in the Gulf of Finland throughout the ice breaking season. Estonia's only current icebreaker, 'Tarmo', is nearly 50 years old and at the end of its life cycle.
Providing ice breaking services is not the core business of the Port of Tallinn with the 'Botnica' also set to assist ships and convoys in arriving and departing the ports of Muuga, Kunda and Sillamäe, as well as the ports in Tallinn Bay, Kopli Bay and Paldiski Bay.
The MSV 'Botnica' is a multipurpose icebreaker built in 1998 by Aker Finnyards in Rauma, Finland. Her ice class is ICE-10, with a length of 97.3 metres and a beam of 24.3 metres. The maximum speed of the vessel is 16.5 knots in open water, and she can maintain a speed of 8 knots in ice up to 80 centimetres thick. The maximum ice thickness in which the 'Botnica' is capable of maintaining constant speeds is 1.2 metres.
Source: Asiasis