Arctech Helsinki Shipyard

Industry Shipbuilding
Predecessor STX Finland Cruise Oy
Founded April 1, 2011
Headquarters Helsinki, Finland
Key people
 Esko Mustamäki (Managing Director)
Products Icebreakers, Arctic offshore vessels
Owner United Shipbuilding Corporation
Number of employees
 approx. 400[1][2]
Website arctech.fi

Arctech Helsinki Shipyard is a shipbuilding company in Helsinki, Finland. The company has a focus on icebreakers and other icegoing vessels for arctic conditions.[3]

The joint venture agreement between STX Finland Cruise Oy and United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) was signed in December 2010 and the latter purchased half of the Hietalahti shipyard. The company started its operations on 1 April 2011.[4][5][6][7] On 28 October 2013, it was reported that USC is going to buy the second half from STX Europe and become the sole owner of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard.[8][9] The sale was finalized on 30 December 2014 and as of 2015 United Shipbuilding Corporation is the sole owner of the shipyard.[10]

As of 2015, Arctech Helsinki Shipyard has two vessels (yard numbers 509 and 510) under construction in Helsinki and four more in the orderbook.

In late July 2014, EU and USA imposed economic sanctions as a response to the Russian involvement in the unrest in Ukraine.[11] It is not known if and how the sanctions will affect Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, which is only partially owned by the Russian state-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation. Furthermore, icebreakers used to support the offshore industry are not targeted by the sanctions.[12] On 13 August 2014, the Nordic-based bank Nordea announced that it would terminate Arctech's accounts due to the financial sanctions imposed by the United States, forcing the shipyard to switch to another bank.[13]

Orders

On 16 December 2010, Arctech Helsinki Shipyard received its first order when a contract for two icebreaking platform supply vessels similar to the SCF Sakhalin, worth US$100 million per ship, was signed with Sovcomflot.[14] The vessels, Vitus Bering and Aleksey Chirikov, were delivered in December 2012 and April 2013, respectively.

On 8 December 2011, it was announced that Arctech Helsinki Shipyard had signed a contract together with Shipyard Yantar JSC from Yantar, Kaliningrad, for the construction of an icebreaking multipurpose emergency and rescue vessel for the Russian Ministry of Transport. The "oblique icebreaker" has three azimuth thrusters and an asymmetric hull, and is capable of breaking a 50-metre (160 ft) channel in 60-centimetre (2.0 ft) level ice when operating sideways. Initially, the hull was to be built at Yantar and then towed to Helsinki for outfitting, but in the end the hull was assembled in Helsinki from blocks manufactured in Kaliningrad.[15] The 76 million euro vessel, Baltika, left Helsinki in May 2014 to be handed over to the owner in Kaliningrad.[16]

On 19 December 2012, Arctech Helsinki Shipyard received an order from the Russian Ministry of Transport for an 18-megawatt icebreaker capable of breaking ice up to 1.5 metres (5 ft) thick. The newbuilding, worth about 100 million euro, will be built in co-operation with the Vyborg shipyard which is building two similar ships in Russia. The new icebreaker, Murmansk, was launched in March 2015 and will be delivered to the owner in August of the same year.[17]

On 27 November 2013, the Finnish Transport Agency announced that Arctech Helsinki Shipyard had won the tender for the next Finnish state-owned icebreaker and that the final order for the 123 million euro vessel would be signed before the end of the year.[18][19] However, on 29 November the Finnish Transport Agency cancelled the contract, citing issues with guaranties offered by the shipyard.[20] On 22 January 2014, Arctech Helsinki Shipyard won the second round of the tendering process and the final contract was signed on 14 February. The 19-megawatt vessel, the most powerful icebreaker ever to fly the Finnish flag, will be powered by dual-fuel engines running on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and is designed to break 1.6-metre (5.2 ft) ice in a continuous motion. The vessel, based on Aker Arctic's Aker ARC 130 concept, will be delivered during the winter of 2016.[21]

On 21 April 2014, Sovcomflot ordered an icebreaking platform supply vessel from Arctech Helsinki Shipyard. The 100 million euro vessel, which will be delivered in June 2016, is a further development of the two similar vessels delivered in 2012 and 2013. While the propulsion power and icebreaking capability remain the same, the number of main engines has been increased from four to six and the vessel has been fitted with a moon pool. The vessel will be chartered to Sakhalin Energy Investment Company (SEIC).[22]

On 7 July 2014, the Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat reported that Arctech Helsinki Shipyard has been awarded the construction of three icebreaking standby vessels for Sovcomflot.[23] The shipyard confirmed the US$380 million order for three ships, scheduled for delivery between September 2016 and March 2017, in its own press release on 11 August 2014. Like the platform supply vessel ordered in April, the standby vessels will be chartered to Sakhalin Energy Investment Company (SEIC) and used in the Sakhalin-2 field for stand-by, rescue and oil spill response duties. The 95-metre (312 ft) vessels, based on Aker Arctic's Aker ARC 121 concept, have accommodation for 98 persons onboard and will be capable of operating independently in 1.5-metre (5 ft) ice.[24]

Ships built or on order

Ship name Year Type Yard number IMO number Status Notes Image Ref
Vitus Bering 2012 Platform supply vessel 506 9613549 In service [25]
Aleksey Chirikov 2013 Platform supply vessel 507 9613551 In service [26]
Baltika 2014 Icebreaker 508 9649237 In service First oblique icebreaker ever built.
Murmansk 2015 (planned) Icebreaker 509 9658666 Under construction [27]
NB 510 2016 (planned) Icebreaker 510 Under construction
2016 (planned) Platform supply vessel 511 Ordered [22]
2016 (planned) Standby vessel 512 Ordered [24]
2016–2017 (planned) Standby vessel 513 Ordered [24]
2017 (planned) Standby vessel 514 Ordered [24]

References

  1. ↑ Финская судостроительная компания получила из России срочный заказ, Komsomolskaya Pravda, 19 December 2012. Retrieved on 2012-12-19. (Russian)
  2. ↑ Arctech Helsinki Shipyardille 16 MW jäänmurtajatilaus Venäjän liikenneministeriöltä. Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, 19 December 2012. Retrieved on 2012-12-19.
  3. ↑ "Good News from Finland - Arctech Helsinki Shipyard combines Finland’s and Russia’s marine clusters". Archived from the original on 25 December 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  4. ↑ "The Motorship - STX Finland and USC in arctic shipbuilding jv". Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  5. ↑ "Putin takaa Helsingin telakan tulevaisuuden - Talouselämä". Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  6. ↑ "Joint venture to help Helsinki yard specialize in arctic shipbuilding technology". Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  7. ↑ "United Shipbuilding Corporation buys 50% shares of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard". Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  8. ↑ STX myy helsinkiläistelakan venäläisomistajalle. YLE, 28 October 2013. Retrieved on 2013-10-28.
  9. ↑ Buying the world’s best icebreaker builders. Barents Observer, 28 October 2013. Retrieved on 2013-10-28.
  10. ↑ Arctech Helsinki Shipyard to Russian Ownership. Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, 30 December 2014. Retrieved on 2015-01-06.
  11. ↑ Difficult times ahead for Russia’s USC. The Motorship, 29 July 2014. Retrieved on 2014-07-30.
  12. ↑ Keskuskauppakamari Venäjä-pakotteista: Torjuntavoittoja Suomelle. YLE, 29 July 2014. Retrieved on 2014-07-30.
  13. ↑ Nordea irtisanoo Arctechin tilit Venäjä-pakotteiden vuoksi. YLE, 13 August 2014. Retrieved on 2014-08-14.
  14. ↑ "Shipbuilding. Energy. Transport:: Arctech Helsinki Shipyard receives an order for two new icebreaking Supply Vessels from Sovcomflot :: Press Release". Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  15. ↑ 2013-04-09 Arctech NB-508. Retrieved on 2013-04-21.
  16. ↑ Arctech Helsinki Shipyard to build an Innovative Multipurpose Emergency and Rescue Vessel for Russian Ministry of Transport. Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, 8 December 2011.
  17. ↑ Arctech Helsinki Shipyardille 16 MW jäänmurtajatilaus Venäjän liikenneministeriöltä. Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, 19 December 2012. Retrieved on 2012-12-19.
  18. ↑ Helsingissä rakennetaan uusi jäänmurtaja. YLE, 27 November 2013. Retrieved on 2013-11-27.
  19. ↑ Arctech Helsinki Shipyard won the tender of the new icebreaker for the Finnish Government. Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, 27 November 2013. Retrieved on 2013-11-27.
  20. ↑ Jäänmurtajan hankintapäätös kumotaan. YLE, 29 November 2013.
  21. ↑ Arctech to build the new icebreaker for the Finnish Transport Agency. Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, 22 January 2014. Retrieved on 2014-01-22.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Arctech to Build an Icebreaking Supply Vessel for Sovcomflot. Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, 21 April 2014. Retrieved on 2014-04-21.
  23. ↑ Helsingin telakka on saanut kolmen jäänmurtajan tilauksen. Turun Sanomat, 11 July 2014. Retrieved on 2014-07-11.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 Arctech receives an order of Three Icebreaking Stand-by vessels from Sovcomflot. Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, 11 August 2014. Retrieved on 2014-08-11.
  25. ↑ "Vitus Bering (111097)". Register of ships. Russian Maritime Register of Shipping. Retrieved 2013-01-01.
  26. ↑ "Aleksey Chirikov (111107)". Register of ships. Russian Maritime Register of Shipping. Retrieved 2013-06-12.
  27. ↑ Vyborg Shipyard starts building hull of 21900M icebreaker "Novorossiysk" for Rosmorport (photo). PortNews, 8 May 2014. Retrieved on 2014-05-11.