2 / 2012

September 2012

ArcticPassionNewsAker Arctic Technology Inc Newsletter

Ice trials inCaspian Seapage 6

First Chinesepolar icebreakerpage 3

Keel laying ofoblique ice-breakerpage 15

Multi-modeltesting nowavailablepage 10

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Arctic Passion News No. 5

2

Mikko Niini

Announcements

Aker Arctic Technology Inc’s newsletter

Publisher

Editor in chief Mikko NiiniTexts by CS Communications OyLay-out Kari Selonen

Printed in September 2012 by DMP

ker Arctic Technology IncMerenkulkijankatu 600980 Helsinki, FinlandTel. +358 10 670 2000Fax +358 10 670 2527info@akerarctic.fiwww.akerarctic.fi

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In this issue

Tatiana Aaltonenreplaces JanaVamberova asManagementAssistant duringJana's maternityleave untilspring 2013.

Artur Nermanjoined AARC in Mayas HydrodynamicEngineer.He graduated inJanuary 2012 fromAalto Universityspecializing inMarine Technology.

Elena Tsvetkovahas been appointedMarketing andSales Assistant.She was born inRussia and hasgraduated as anengineer fromFinland's Mikkeli University of AppliedSciences in 2002 and from HelsinkiInstitute of Marketing in 2007.

Front cover: Mangystau 2 is one of thefive Caspian icebreaking tugboats thatAker Arctic has developed and designedfor STX OSV AS, who delivered theseries successfully to Caspian OffshoreConstruction group of companies inKazakhstan. The tug's normalicebreaking capability is 0,6 m level ice,which was verified in recent full scale icetrials (see page 6).

Page 2 From the Managing Director

Page 3 First Chinese polar

icebreaker

Page 6 Ice trials in the Caspian Sea

Page 9 S.A. Agulhas in ice trials

Page 10 Multimodel testing begun

Page 12 7th Passion Seminar

Page 14 New CFD program in use

Page 15 What's up

Page 20 In the heart of the city

Coming events

Page 5 Double acting dry cargo ship

for Baltic Sea

Page 15 Oblique icebreaker under

construction

September 2012

Riikka Matala

has ibeen appointedResearch Engineerin the testingdepartment. She iscompleting herstudies at AaltoUniversity and finalising her thesiswork on ice .

n September

pressure

We are living in an era whereenvironmental thinking and new policiesare revolutionising the world shippingframework and setting new challenges,especially for the winter navigation.Only a few weeks ago

adopted the IMO MARPOLAnnex VI resolution on SOx emissionsreduction to 0,1 % for the ECA areas,including the Baltic and North Seas, from31.12.2014 onwards and to 0,5 % forother European areas from 31.12.2019onwards. Similarly NOx emissions arepushed down by the Tier III regulations,valid from 2016 onwards.

It is not too many years ago that thestrive for higher ship speeds in new shipdesign was very important. Acontainership with a 20 knot servicespeed was overridden by another with a21 knot service speed, an so on, but theescalating price of fuel eventuallybrought this race to an abrupt halt. Nowall operators are slow-steaming theirships.

Today, commercial, regulatory andenvironmental imperatives dictate thatfuel efficiency is the new bible for navalarchitects and marine engineers. Thechallenge is to mitigate the impact ofrising fuel prices, meet impendinginternational regulations and to makesure that shipping improves even furtheron the already excellent record as themost environmental-friendly mode oftransportation.

Nobody in the shipping community canbe unaware of the breakthroughadoption, in July 2011, at IMO's MarineEnvironment Protection Committee(MEPC), of mandatory technical andoperational measures to reduce

greenhouse emissions from internationalshipping. The new regulations will makemandatory the Energy Efficiency DesignIndex, or EEDI. The regulations willapply to new ships and are expected toenter into force on 1.1. 2013.

This is an opportunity for world shippingto bring their effort into sharing theprinciples of the Kioto 1997 Protocol,which entered into force February 16th,2005 after Russia's ratification.

Aker Arctic has already produced its firstLNG fuel driven vessel design. Thisexample clearly proves that we are onthe brink of a new era in energyefficiency and environmentalperformance - and that shipping can helplead the way forward.

The new regulations and environmentalstandards are quite a challenge to winterand Arctic shipping as breaking of icealways used to call for added power.Therefore new innovative solutions areneeded, not only for traditional shipping,but especially for ice going vessels,where totally new energy-efficientsolutions will be in high demand. At AkerArctic we have put our brains together tobring new solutions; the DAS™ conceptis known for the 40% energy saving, asis the high efficiency of the trimaranmode for icebreaking. A new ICE-ECOtanker is also being introduced tothe shipping community soon, as anotherexample of AARC's innovative search fornew concepts in this work.

the EuropeanParliament

Towards new environmentalchallenges

3

Arctic Passion News

A plan has been organized byState Oceanic Administration(SOA), China, Chinese Arcticand Antarctic Administration(CAA) and the Polar ResearchInstitute of China (PRIC) tobuild an advanced newicebreaking research vessel tomeet the increased need ofpolar scientific research.

Advanced equipment

Second governmentalicebreaker project

Long traditions inshipbuilding co-operation

The new vessel will be equipped withadvanced scientific equipment for polaroceans research. The integrated surveysystems include marine geological andgeophysical equipment and marinebiological and ecological instruments.Meanwhile, helicopters with associatedsystems will also be provided.

For the integrated environmental science

programs the vessel will have marineand atmospheric observing and samplingcapabilities closely related with climatechange monitoring. The marinegeological and geophysical capabilitieswill give possibilities for seasonal polarmarine geology, marine gravity, magneticand seismic surveys. For marinebiological and ecological programs thevessel will enable marine organism andecological surveys and act as abiological research platform. The vesselmay also be used for Antarctic stationlogistic tasks undertaking some of M/VXuelong's missions especially in heavysea ice conditions.

Aker Arctic has been selected to performthe conceptual and basic design of thenew vessel. This is already the secondgovernmental icebreaker project in ashort time for Aker Arctic and thus aproof of the increasing interest in the

Arctic areas and the need for reliableand efficient vessels. The design isexpected to take 7 months to complete.The contract value exceeds five millioneuros.

The polar research icebreaker for Chinawill be designed to accommodate a totalof 90 persons and will have a length overall of about 120 meters, a maximumbreadth of 22,3 m and draught of 8,5 m.The vessel will have the ability to breakthrough 1,5 m of level ice at 2 to 3 knotsspeed, including multi-year ice. Thevessel will be fitted with twin azimuthingpropeller drives. Ice class will be PC3and the vessel will have dualclassification from China ClassificationSociety (CCS) and Lloyds Register (LR).

China and Finland have quite deep andlong traditions in shipbuilding co-operation.

September 2012

First Chinese polar researchicebreakerAker Arctic has been selected for the conceptualand basic design of the new Polar ResearchVessel for China

September 2012

“This contract is very important forsolving the increasing needs of polarscientific research. As the first polarscientific research icebreaker for China,its successful design and build will notonly push forward our polar scientificresearch career by achieving moresuccesses, but will also make greatdevelopment on Chinese shipconstruction industry", says Mr.QuTanzhou, Director General, ChineseArctic and Antarctic Administration ofState Oceanic Administration.“The award is a significant milestone forthe Finnish icebreaker design andconstruction expertise”, says Mikko Niini,Managing Director of Aker ArcticTechnology Inc. “Working currentlyalready for the Canadian John G.Diefenbaker polar icebreaker, thiscontract in China is a clear evidence ofour global role in the development ofadvanced Arctic technologies andsolutions".

3

Very few still remember that Finland wasamong the first nations to open foreigntrade relations with China in the early1950s, one of the highlights being anumber of contracts from China for six3.200 ton general cargo steamers withour Turku shipyard, the vessels beingdelivered between 1955 and 1957.

”Several efforts to intensify the co-operation were made over the years. Atthe end of the 1990s our President MarttiAhtisaari made an official state visit toChina. We then initiated and carried outseveral years of discussion ontechnological co-operation on LNGcarriers with various Chineseorganisations, including three shipyards,

all of them with whom our shipyard groupin Finland signed co-operationagreements.”

”A breakthrough, however, was reachedon the more icy front. Under theframework of the Technology Co-operation between our Governments adeal was reached for model tests for aFloating Production Unit, which had thechallenge to operate in the freezingBohai Bay. Model tests were conductedin Finland and the ice problems weresolved. This project already showed thestrength and depth of the Finnishexpertise in ice technology.” says MikkoNiini, Managing Director of AARC. �

M/T ENISEY - one more DAS™ Arctic tankerin service

4

As the first step in their export logisticsystem renewal JSC GMKNorilsk Nickel took delivery of the firstunit of a new double-acting ship that wasdeveloped by Aker Arctic. The first unitMS Norilsk Nickel was built in Helsinki atthe yard now known as Arctech HelsinkiShipyard. The success and the benefitsof the first unit operating independentlywithout icebreakers in the astern modewere so evident that the companydecided to build four more of these14.500 tdw vessels. The Monchegorsk,Zapolyarny, Talnakh and Nadezhda werecompleted under an Aker Arctic licencein 2008 and 2009 from Aker-Yards inGermany (today Nordic Yards).

According to Norilsk Nickel statements,the savings with the new astern workingvessels built to ice class Arc7 were sohigh that the investment costs in factwere paid back in three years whencomparing to the costs of the old logisticsystem based on the use of the SA-15type multipurpose vessels withicebreakers.

six years ago

Today these vessels already have a longcumulative service record on their routefrom Dudinka (Yenisey River) toMurmansk and Archangelsk,demonstrating average transit speeds ofclose to 10 knots in the Kara Sea winterseason while operating without anyicebreaker assistance.

A long term monitoring and datacollection system was installed onboardMS Norilsk Nickel and valuable andunique ice impact data has beencollected over the years. These recordshave been the basis of developing newAker Arctic DAS™ concepts - like theYamal LNG carriers - and new morepowerful ABB Azipods up to Arc 8 andPC1 ice classes.

The satisfaction to the patented AkerArctic DAS™ concept performance hasbeen so high that JSC Norilsk Nickel lastyear took delivery of the first tanker MTENISEY, which is built into the same hulland machinery concept giving adeadweight of 15 344 tdw in Arctic draftand 18 902 tdw in fully loaded draft at10,0 metres. Since delivery the vesselhas visited several times Neste Oil's

MT ENISEY loading gas condensate inDudinka. Photo: Norilsk Nickel

terminal in Naantali, bringing gascondensate from OAO Norilskgazpromgas fields.

OAO Norilskgazprom is a gas productioncompany, which engages in well drilling,processing and transportation of gas andgas condensates. It delivers natural gasto the Taymyr Autonomous District andNorilsk industrial region in North Siberiaand increasing amounts of gascondensates for export. The companyhas a strategic partnership with NorilskNickel JSC. Norilskgazprom OAO isbased in Norilsk, the RussianFederation. �

Arctic Passion News

5

Arctic Passion News

The multifunctional vessel built inTurku, Finland, for Gaiamare Oy is an iceclassed open deck carrier intended fortransporting demanding project cargo,for instance offshore wind farmstructures as well as containers and bulkcargo such as energy wood, in the BalticSea region. The Aker Arctic DAS™vessel is able to operate bow and sternahead in ice conditions that reflect toFinnish-Swedish Ice Class 1 A notation.Gaiamare Oy is part of shippingcompany Meriaura Group.

The AARC developed double actingconcept, where a ship using forward bowmovement in clear waters and a forwardastern movement in ice, had abreakthrough in Arctic waters manyyears ago. Norilsk Nickel has fivecontainer ships and one tanker built inthe DAS™ concept, five Aker ArcticDAS™ shuttle tankers for JSCSovcomflot are being used fortransporting oil in Pechora Sea, the newOSV's in the Sakhalin projects as well asthe Mangystau series of shallow watericebreaker tugs are all built according tothe DAS™ principle.“Since and enteredservice in 2002 and started to transport

MERI

Tempera Mastera

Promoted for years

oil between Porvoo and Primorsk oil

The first ship for transportingdry cargo in the Baltic Seausing the Aker Arctic Double-Acting DAS™ principle hasbeen completed. Double-acting ships have previouslybeen used in the Arctic regionand for oil shipment.

terminals, we at AARC have promotedthe idea that DAS™ ships, able to workmore independently and cost-efficientlyin ice, would be useful also for othercargo in the Baltic Sea” Mikko Niini,President of AARC says.”Meriaura Group's owner Jussi Mälkiä isknown as an innovative entrepreneurwho challenges conventional thinking.When we introduced the idea of aDAS™- ship during planning stage heimmediately grasped how his businesscould benefit. Although the investmentcost was slightly higher than aconventional ship, his vessel will nothave to stand in line for icebreakerassistance during winter time,” Mr. Niiniadds.

is meaningful for the Baltic Seaarea in many ways. In addition to herhighly advanced technical content, shecan be used for oil combat tasks in opensea and in the fragile archipelago. Thedynamic positioning system can keep thevessel in place even in rough sea andshe can also move steadily sideways,making oil recovery efficient.The ships machinery and fuel systemsare designed for minimisedenvironmental impact due to lowemissions and the use of liquid bio fuelas an alternative to fossil fuels. The biofuel is produced from fish industries sidestreams at Sybimar Oy, which is part ofthe owner s group.Mr. Niini believes that the new EUdirective on reducing ship traffic'ssulphur emissions in the Baltic Sea,North Sea and the Channel will in thelong run lead to commercial vessels withlower machinery capacity than today.One

Environmental impactMERI

’

consequence will be that ice goingcapabilities on average will decrease andthe need of icebreaking services duringwinter time will increase.”Against this background, Meriaura'sdecision to invest in an independentlymanaging ship is definitely a step aheadand will boost the competitiveness oftheir cargo services.” �

MERI - first Double-Actingdry cargo ship forthe Baltic Sea

Technical specifications

Vessel type: Multipurpose deck cargocarrier, strengthened for heavy cargoes,oil recovery ability

DP:DP CLASS 1, DYNAPOSClassification: Bureau Veritas,

Ice Class 1 AEngines: diesel electric,

3 x Wärtsilä 6L20Fuel: bio fuel oil/

marine diesel oilLength (Loa): 105,40 mBreadth: 18,80 mDraught ballast/ max: 3,5 m / 4,9 mAir draught: 26 mEngine: diesel electric, 3 x Wärtsilä 6L20Bow thruster: 2 x 450 kWSpeed laden: 13 ktsTotal deck area : 1635 m² (87 x 18.8 m)

Owner/TC-Owner: Oy Gaiamare AB

September 2012

Minister of Transport MerjaKyllönen and CEO ofMeriaura Group Jussi Mälkiäat the naming ceremonyperformed at STX TurkuShipyard in June 2012.

"We are very greatful to AkerArctic and their ability to bringadded value for our businessopportunities with theirinnovative thinking" saysJussi Mälkiä, the Shipowner.

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MERI on sea trials in May2012. She will be used fortransporting special projectcargoes such as offshorewind farm structures, abooming business in theBaltic Sea.The hull form was developedand verified in model tests atAARC.

6

Arctic Passion News

A team of five AARC experts boardedMangystau-5, the last vessel in theseries, on March 7 in Bautino,Kazakhstan. The purpose was to verifyby full-scale ice trials, that the vesselfulfils the agreed specification and tohave one more correlation curve for theice model tests performed earlier.“The five Mangystau Caspian tugs areextraordinary vessels,” Göran Wilkman,Senior Advisor, Research and Testing atAARC, emphasizes. “The minimumoperating draught is only 2.5 metres with50 tonnes bollard pull and excellenticebreaking capabilities. In the planningstage the shallow draught created ahydrodynamic challenge related to airsuction phenomena, in which AARC hassubstantial experience. It was solved bya special hull form.

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Bow form is a moderateicebreaking bow with goodicebreaking performancetogether with minimizeddisplacement loss.Vessels are fitted withthree Schottel azimuthpropulsion units,1600 kW each and twopumpjet units, 550 kWeach in bow. The builtvessels are more ice-capable than requiredand in fact realicebreakers.”

During normal dutiesThe ice trials were run between March 7and 12 while the vessel was performingnormal duties such as towing andpushing tugs and barges betweenBautino and the D island of theKashagan oil field.

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“We were driving along the plannedroute and when we saw a good place fortesting, we made a stop. Some of thetests were even done in the middle of thenight because the location was right. Thecrew was extremely helpful and co-operation was smooth,” Mr. Wilkmantells.

He led the group which included MikaHovilainen, Teemu Heinonen, EsaHakanen and Niko Miettinen from AARC.The main target was to perform tests infirst year level ice. This winter had themost ice in 25 years, which wasfavourable for testing as many suitableice fields could be found. The area wasalmost 100% icebound and in suchsituations there is very little icemovement.The ice tests were performed in threedifferent areas with ice thickness 35-50cm. Snow depth on the ice was 2-5 cm.The tests included running ahead atdifferent speeds, turning circles andrunning ahead and astern over a ridgedarea. Propulsion torque was followedduring the whole trip throughinstrumentation on propulsion input shaft.Ice thickness was measured in thebeginning of each test area and thenvisually followed. Ice properties weredefined by uniaxial compressive test,beam test and salinity/temperatureanalysis. Compressive strength was 2.4MPa, flexural strength from beam testwas 400 kPa.

Most of the tests were performed inwater depths of 7-8 metres as deepwatertesting was the main target. The resultsare presented in the charts on next page.Tested in level ice of 45-50 cm, themaximum speed with full 4800 kW powerwas 6.5 - 7 knots and in ice thickness of35 cm the speed achieved was 7.5 - 8knots. In addition a turning circle with fullpower and thruster angle of about 37degrees was done in both icethicknesses and the measured turning

radius was 0.17 - 0.217 NM.One test was also made inshallow waters of 4 metresto indicate the performance.The speed was 2.5 knots in

0.7 metres thick ice.

Performance in ice

Ice performance verifiedin the Caspian SeaAARC developed shallow water ARC104 Icebreaking TugMangystau-5 was tested in full-scale ice trials in March 2012.The first vessel in the series has already been workingsuccessfully 1.5 years in the shallow waters of the Caspian

The Mangystau full-scale tests verified that theagreed specifications were fulfilled andexceeded. This is yet another example ofAARC's capability to create reliable forecastson vessel performance.

September 2012

7

Arctic Passion News

Göran Wilkman, Senior Adviser forResearch & Testing until August 2012,has been on nearly one hundred fieldtrips during his career in the followingregions: The Baltic Sea, Russian Arctic(Ob Bay, Pechora Sea, Barents Sea,Sea of Okhotsk, and rivers), CaspianSea, The Antarctic and Canada (BeaufortSea and Arctic Islands) are all on hisimpressive list. Additionally he hastravelled the world giving presentationson countless projects. He started in theice business in 1973 and made his firsttest report in 1974. Since then he has

been working with R&D, Arctic projects,sales and marketing and until recentlyleading AARC's testing services. After awork career of almost 40 years with icetechnology, Göran Wilkman decided toretire at the end of August 2012, butcontinues serving AARC and its clientsas an independent consultant, wheneverhe is needed.Göran Wilkman is the heartand soul in AARC's rowing team andparticipated this summer in his 24th racein Sulkava and his 14th race in Kulosaarirowing event.

“This is yet another example of AARC'scapability to create reliable forecasts onvessel performance. It verifies that ourmodel tests work really well as all theagreed specifications were once againfulfilled and exceeded. We have to datesuccessfully tested ninety-seven vesselsin full-scale ice trials, which - as we believe- is the widest correlation data file amongthe world ice model tanks.”“It was a pleasure to see the fiveMangystau vessels driving back and forthbetween Bautino and the Kashagan fieldsperforming their duties with no difficulty,”he adds. According to Wilkman this type ofvessel could successfully be modified forother use, for instance oil spill combat inice conditions. �

Icebreaking capability of Mangystau 5

The Mangystau shallow watericebreaker tugs are evenmore ice capable thanrequired and perform allduties with no difficulty in theCaspian waters.

The North Caspian water depths rangefrom 2.5 metres to 8 metres. The mapshows where the tugs are working andwhere testing was made.

Ice resistance of Mangystau 5

Icebreaking capabilityMangystau 5, Caspian Sea, 8-11.3.2012

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ice thickness (m)

Full scale

Target

Full scale shallow water

Speed

(knots

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Ninety-seven full scaleice trials“The conclusions of the tests are that thevessel is performing extremely well, evenbetter than expected. In the prevailingice conditions she had no difficultieshandling any of the duties required. Hericebreaking capability is excellent andshe has no problems getting out of thechannel in both ahead and astern mode.Ice management with active thrusterhandling is very efficient and towingoperations are performed withoutproblems. Also ice ridges are demolishedwell,” Mr. Wilkman says.

Ice ridges tested“At one location a small ridge weremeasured having the total thickness of 2-3 metres, so we decided it was a goodtarget to try out,” Mr. Wilkman continues.Running ahead the vessel stopped onceand after turning the thrusters from sideto side the vessel started to move again.In running astern mode the vessel wassteered to go along the ridge sail andthus the speed was continuous between1-4 knots. The latter indicated that theridge destruction capability is at least therequired 30.000 m / hour.

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Speed (kn)

Power control 47 cm

RPM control 47 cm

RPM control 35 cm

RPM control 48 cm

Power use in level ice

September 2012

8

Arctic Passion News

Full scale referencesof Aker Arctic

Baltic Sea, Scandinavia 104

Lake Saimaa, Finland 10

Lake Vänern, Sweden 1

Arctic, Canada 3

Alaska, USA 2

Great Lakes, USA 3

Antarctic 5

Arctic, Russia 39

Arctic, Greenland, Spitzbergen 3

Rivers, Russia 3

Sakhalin, Russia 7

Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan 3

Full-scale ice trials:

T

Baltic IcebreakersYear tested

Lake Icebreakers

Harbour Icebreakers

Arctic Icebreakers

15 vessels/ 28 trials

3 vessels/ 4 trials

3 vessels/3 trials

9 vessels/ 13 trials

armo 1964/1979Varma 1969/1979Njord 1970/1971Apu 1974/1983Urho 1976/1977/

1978/1980Sisu 1976/1982Voima 1977/1980Ymer 1978Hanse 1981Thorbjorn 1981Dikson 1983/1988Otso 1986/1987Kontio 1987/2009Karhu 1986Sampo 1988/1989

Ale 1975/1982Mobil Bay 1984Arppe 1991

Teuvo 1976Kapitan Izmaylov 1976Kapitan Kosolapov 1977

Murmansk 1968Vladivostok 1969Yermak 1974KapitanDranitsyn 1981/1998Kapitan Nikolaev 1981/1990/1995Taymyr 1990/1995Krasin 1992Kapitan Sorokin 1992Svalbard 2002

In total 203 ship tests and icereconnaissance expeditions

In total 97 ships have been testedin 144 individual trials.

River Icebreakers

Antarctic Icebreakers/Research Vessels

Salvage Vessels

Buoy Tenders

Tugs

Supply Vessels

Coast Guard Cutters

Fishing Tawlers

Coastal Ferries

7 vessels/ 14 trials

4 vessels/ 4 trials

2 vessels/ 2 trials

4 vessels/ 8 trials

6 vessels/ 8 trials

Svitzer Aniva 2008

2 vessels/ 3 trials

3 vessels/ 5 trials

2 vessels/ 2 trials

4 vessels/ 4 trials

Skiftet 1987

Kapitan Chechkin 1978/1979Kapitan Chadaev 1978/1979/

1982/1986Kapitan Zarubin 1980Kapitan Evdokimov 1983/1984Kapitan Moshkin 1986/1987/

1988Avramyi Zavenyagin 1988Röthelstein 1996

Almirante Irizar 1979Aranda 1991Suunta 1981S.A. Agulhas II 2012

Spravedlivyi 1981Suvorovets 1980

Seili 1980/1991Lonna 1982/1984/

1985/1988Letto 1991Baltica 1986

Jelppari 1971/1973Protector 1977/1985Kraft 1985Porin Karhu 1985Ahti 2003Svitzer Sakhalin 2008

Mangystau 5 2012

Miskaroo 1987/1988Antarcticaborg 1999

Valpas 1972/1974Silmä 1972/1974Uisko 1972

Baltica 1984Järvsaar 1986

Nagu 2 1978Replot 2 1979Aurella 1980Turella 1980Mergus 1985Gudingen 1987

Mine Layers

Aircushion Vehicles

Barges

Pushbarges

Motor Barges

Cargo Vessels

Tankers

Passenger Car Ferries

Experimental

1 vessel/ 1 trial

4 vessels/ 4 trials

2 vessels/ 3 trials

1 vessel/ 2 trials

1 vessel/ 2 trials

8 vessels/ 10 trials

6 vessels/ 13 trials

4 vessels/ 4 trials

1 vessel/ 3 trials

Pohjanmaa 1980

Towed prototype 1980Tiger S 1980Larus 1982VP1 1982

Panda 1977/1987LLD 18 1986

Finnpusku 1986/1987

Vekara 1997/2001

Finncarrier 1970Hans Gutzeit 1977Walki 1979KontulaIgarka 1983/1984Kapitan Danilkin 1987Yuri Arshenevsky 1993Norilskiy Nickel 2006/2007

Manhattan 1969Kiisla 1974/1984Sotka 1977/1979/

1982/1984Lunni 1978/1996Uikku 1994/1999Mastera 2003/2010

Finnjet 1977Aurella 1980Turella 1980Viking Saga 1981

Bow pontoon 1985/1986/1987

In addition several trips on transitingships have been performed by AkerArctic personnel.

September 2012

9

Arctic Passion News

Technical details:

Length: 134m

Breadth: 22m

Draught: 7.65m

Crew: 45 persons

Passengers: 100 (46 cabins)

Laboratories: 8 permanent plus

6 removable

S. A. Agulhas II is a SouthAfrican icebreaking polarsupply and research ship builtby STX Finland this year. A JIPon ice impact measurementswas arranged in the ice trialsgiving new and valuable datato AARC.The multi-purpose vessel S.A. AgulhasII, ordered by the South AfricanDepartment of Environmental Affairs inorder to replace the 35-year old S.A.Agulhas in demanding tasks in theAntarctic, has safely arrived at her homeport, Cape Town and is now preparing forthe first voyage to Antarctica. She wasconstructed in Rauma, Finland.

The ice-strengthened ship has beendesigned from the beginning to carry outboth scientific research and supplies toresearch stations in the Antarctic.She can spend several months out atsea and acts as a mobile laboratory.Scientists can conduct a variety ofmarine research onboard the ship, whichis also classified for carrying passengers.Furthermore, the vessel keeps record ofweather data for meteorologicalinstitutions around the world. The vesselhas a shelter and landing area for twohelicopters and it features eightpermanent and six removablelaboratories, a gym, a library, and a smallhospital.

Research onboard

Ice loads on shipS. A. Agulhas II conducted her openwater sea trials in February 2012 and, inorder to study her ice performance, aJoint Industry Project was organised forthe ice trials in the Bay of Bothnia inMarch 2012. During the ice trials the shipencountered level ice up to 0.4 metresand rafted ice 0.7 metres thick. The hulland machinery of the vessel wereinstrumented to measure full-scale iceloads, and in the future S. A. Agulhas IIwill be used as a research platform in the

Antarctic areas. AARC is a member ofthe JIP, led by Aalto University of Finlandsupported also by the TechnologyFund Tekes of Finland. The main goal ofthe JIP is to gain more knowledge aboutthe interaction between ice and the ship.AARC's focus areas in the research planare the aft shoulder impacts as well asthe underwater noise created byicebreaking.“The ship not only offers excellentworking conditions for oceanographicand climate researchers but valuableinformation will also be gathered bystudying the ice loads on the ship itself,”says Sami Saarinen and Mikko Elo,AARC, jointly responsible for AARC'sduties in ice trials as well as the analysiswork with the collected data.“Various Aalto University partnersparticipated in the ice trials, such as

researchers and specialists from theconstructing shipyard STX Rauma, fromAalto and Oulu Universities in Finland,Stellenbosch University in South Africa,Finnish Meteorological Institute and DetNorske Veritas. Additionally there weretechnical specialists from severalcompanies,” Mr. Saarinen adds.S.A. Agulhas II is more powerful than herpredecessor, with the ability to break onemeter thick ice at five knots. This meansthat scientists can go earlier in theseason to Antarctica and come backlater, which gives them an extendedresearch period.AARC prepared the first draft proposalfor STX which was submitted for theinitial tender. During the design stage ofthe ship, hull form development, modeltesting and key performance predictionswere made at AARC.

and

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Feedback from ice operations -measurements on S.A. Agulhas II

As a member of the Joint Industry Project,AARC is responsible for the aft shoulder iceload analysis in the ice trials of the newly builtresearch and supply vessel S.A. Agulhas IIbringing useful data and knowledge for iceimpact loads to the design of new vessels.

Jukka-Pekka Sallinen measuring flexuralstrength of ice.

September 2012

10

Arctic Passion News

Multi model testingvisualisesice management

September 2012

Until recently, it was onlypossible to test one modelvessel at a time in ice.l

AARC has now solved this byintroducing multi model testingin ice, which helps to visualisethe entire ice managementoperation.

Oil and gas explorations in Arctic areasare constantly increasing. Drifting icecreates enormous problems for tankers,drilling units and other constructions thatneed to stay in position. Managing theice becomes crucial for successfuloperations because the forces of driftingice will easily damage the structures.Investments are huge and thereforeevery measure is taken to design theequipment with necessary protection.Efficient active ice management is a newway of organising such proactiveprotection.

The entire ice management operationcan now be simulated, where one or twoicebreakers protect a fixed constructionby breaking the ice and keeping an icefree area around it, with AARC's newmulti model testing. Multi model testingmeans that there are several modelvessels simultaneously in the testingbasin, for instance an icebreaker and aloading tanker, or a drillship, whichneeds to be protected from drifting ice.

”This is the first time remote controlledmulti model testing in ice is possible.Earlier only multi model open watertesting has been available. One reasonis that until recently there was no need totest several vessels at the same time inice but with the mounting activity in theArctic area, ice management needs areincreasing and also the need forsimultaneous testing,” Topi Leiviskä,Manager Research and TestingServices, AARC, tells.“If there are several vessels in use, it issimply not the same if they are tested

separately or simultaneously. In order tounderstand the ice managementoperation, seeing it in a testing facilityvisualises the entire procedure muchbetter than any figures in a report,” Mr.Leiviskä emphasizes.

In multi model testing, there are nocables involved in the actual testingsituation. This is possible by usingbattery-driven models, remote controlsfor moving the vessels and remotemeasurements.“Technically we have chosen DC servopropeller motors, step motors forsteering the vessels, mini PLC controlunit, Lithium-ion battery for powering the

Simultaneous testing

Technical solution

engines, amplifier for rpm, torque,thruster angles measurements andBluetooth data transfer,” Mr. Leiviskäpresents the tool kit.

The entire ice managementoperation can now besimulated, where one or twoicebreakers protect a fixedconstruction or floater bybreaking the ice and keepingan ice free area around it.This helps in decisionmaking.

11

Arctic Passion NewsArctic Passion News

Topi Leiviskä succeeded GöranWilkman as Manager of Research andTesting Services from the beginning ofthis year. His work field includes allmodel tests and full-scale tests as wellas ice expeditions.“The nature of ice expeditions haschanged from previous years,” he says.“Now we use under water sonars,satellite images and laser profiling from

helicopters in addition to icemeasurements in place. The latter are,however, still needed for calibrationpurposes.”Topi has been four years with AARCworking with ice model testing andmeasurements. Previously he workedwith similar tasks at the ice laboratory ofAalto University.

“We have also invested in a completelynew data acquisition system, which wewill use in our traditional model testing aswell. The system we chose is a highlyflexible, modern system which isextendible and can be connected tovarious kinds of amplifiers both withwires and wirelessly. The wirelessconnection uses Bluetooth data transfer.”Mr. Leiviskä stresses that there weremany technical options available duringthe developing stage. All options werethoroughly evaluated and the best andmost reliable systems were chosen forthe AARC multimodel testing. Anothercrucial element was the extensibility ofthe system so that it can be adapted forfuture needs.

Mr. Leiviskä is pleased with howeverything works. The tests made so far

are promising, the system works welland the tests look realistic. Everyonefamiliar with full-scale ice managementagrees that simulation is authentic andgives an excellent picture of what wouldhappen in the real world.

Prior to developing multi model testing,several customers approached AARCwith such requests and interest isgrowing. So far tests have been madefor one oil major client, but severalprojects are under way.“The tests made so far included a unitwith mooring lines under water keepingthe target vessel in place while anicebreaker was assisting it in crushedice. The customer was very satisfied withthe multi model tests, which will helpthem in the final decision making” Mr.Leiviskä says.

AARC has now a prototype for testingsmall vessels and will continue thedevelopment process so that also largevessels can be tested. Large vesselsneed more power and bigger engines.One of the benefits with the remotesystem is that the models can be packedin a car and transported to AaltoUniversity, which has the largest ice

model testing facility in the world, 40x40metres, in such cases where more spaceis needed than AARC's own basin canoffer. Both laboratories use the AARCdeveloped FGX model ice and such analliance strengthens the lead of theFinnish Arctic technology cluster.Mr. Leiviskä considers multi modeltesting as most useful for icemanagement testing but also testingicebreaker assistance performance.

“Cable-free testing will not replacetraditional methods in the near futurewhen testing only one vessel's ice goingcapabilities. Especially with sizeablevessels it is faster to just attach to thecable-system which is always in place.But in testing smaller vessels it is likelythat cable-free testing will take over intime,” he says.

First experiences

Future development

�

“There were many technicaloptions available and we chosethe most reliable system,which is also extendible,” saysTopi Leiviskä, ManagerResearch and Testing Servicesat AARC.

September 2012

As part of efforts in improving the servicesfor future needs in Ice Management AkerArctic has launched a developmentprogram for an Ice Simulator, primarily as adesign tool but also opening up thepossibility to use it for crew trainingpurposes in a tailored set up for icebreakingvessel operators.The development under the working nameNaviquantum Ice has been done in collabo-ration with Finnish software and systemdevelopment companies Imagesoft andSimulco. AARC has been responsible forthe vessel operation algorithms as wellas the mathematical modelling of thevarious ice conditions. The systemfunctioning trials are now underway withAker Arctic's own ARC 105 IB OSV concept(see picture) making way for opening up thediscussions for tailored solutions for ourClients. AARC is able to offer a software "icepackage" to be used by ship operators' owntraining simulators.

AARCIceSimulatornearscompletion

”Everyone familiar withfull-scale ice managementagrees that simulation isauthentic and gives anexcellent picture of what wouldhappen in the real world”

Arctic Passion News

12

7thArcticPassionSeminarThe seventh annual Arctic Passionseminar was held in March at AkerArctic Technology headquarters inHelsinki and gathered keymaritime business personnel fromdifferent parts of the world.

September 2012

13

Arctic Passion News

Finland's Arctic strategy and thegovernment's plans for itsimplementation was the opening topic byMr. Jyrki Häkämies, Minister forEconomy and Employment in Finland.He emphasized the importance of theexperience and high level of Arctictechnologies in the country alreadytoday.

The first keynote speaker was Mr. JanHelge Skogen, President of StatoilRussia, who talked about Statoil's visionsin unlocking the oil and gas resourcepotential in the Arctic.

Then Dr. Mikhail Grigoryev, Gecon,presented the prospects in the Russianoffshore in the light of recent licenceawards and expected ones.

Development projects in Yamal are oneof AARC's main ongoing works andrecent projects in Sabetta and other R &D works for OAO Yamal LNG werepresented, such as the development ofLNG carriers. Mr Dmitry Pospelovdescribed the logistic needs of OAOYamal LNG in building up the LNGproducing plant in the Yamal peninsula.

Other new products were alsointroduced, for instance the AARCdeveloped Oblique Icebreaker, arevolutionary concept for large vesselescort and oil spill combat, which isbeing built at Arctech Helsinki Shipyardfor the Russian Government.

Multi model testing is now available atAARC for testing ice managementoperations before making costlyinvestments. Mr. Topi Leiviskä showedthe participants what solutions in remotemodel control AARC has made availablefor the clients. Read also the interviewwith Mr. Leiviskä on page 8.

Close to one hundred AARC clients gathered together for the 7th Arctic PassionSeminar which was opened by Mr. Jyri Häkämies, Minister for Economy andEmployment in Finland (right).

Dr. Mikhail Grigorev of Gecon updatedthe audience on the oil and gasdevelopment visions in Russia.

Mr. Jan Helge Skogen describingStatoil's visions in unlocking the oil andgas resource potential in the Arctic.

Mr. Oskar Levander of Rolls RoyceMarine together with DNV's FreddyFriberg analysing the Aker ARC 100Oblique concept, with the prototype nowunder construction.

September 2012

Ice management in shallow waters,growing arctic energy markets and therequirement of new vessel servicecapacity was other topics discussed aswell as marine seismics in Arctic waters.The Finnish Meteorological Institute also

told about available tools for support ofvessel operations in the Arctic anddemonstrarted an online example for theKara Sea.

The next Arctic Passion seminar will beheld in March 2013. �

14

Arctic Passion News

New Computational FluidDynamics program in use

With the new Computational Fluid Dynamics program morealternatives can be evaluated in detail before open watermodel tests.

AARC has invested in a newComputational Fluid Dynamics( ) program for full-scalemodelling of ship hulls and in-depth analysis of flowphenomena.The program chosen isconsidered one of the mostadvanced CFD-packages fornaval architects.

CFD

Although AARC specialises in designingice going vessels, the open watercharacteristics and energy efficiency arealso very important as today'sicebreaking vessels are operating mostof the year in open water and overall fueleconomy is of key interest for thecustomers. With the aid of the newComputational Fluid Dynamics tool openwater characteristics of the ship can nowbe calculated with higher accuracy, andthus we will be able to better optimisethe overall performance of the ships forour customers.

Increased qualityWith the CFD program, a calculation gridfor the designed 3D ship hull model iscreated and then different flowphenomena around the ship hull arecalculated, for instance wave profile, flowdirections, velocities, pressure andturbulence. A vast amount of data isgenerated in a short time and this helpsthe design process with showing wherethe hull form can be improved. Model orfull scale resistance of the ship hull inopen water can be calculated with highaccuracy, even for complex and extremehull forms. The level of detail incalculations can be easily adjusteddepending on the time available, buteven full scale viscous CFD calculationscan be performed as part of the normalhull form design process.“The benefit for our customers is that wecan easily analyse more alternativesthoroughly before open water modeltests, offer varied and morecomprehensive work scopes and betterservice. Our product quality will furtherincrease as we can analyse vessels in

detail,” Project Manager RistoKurimo explains.more

“For our customers the use ofthe new FINE™/Marine toolmeans lower installed powerand reduced fuel consumptionand emissions during the shipoperation helping to fulfil thenew regulations.”

“Also complicated issues, such asnonlinear deck wetness in waves andshallow water effects, for instanceamount of squat, can be calculated andanalysed with the program,” ProjectEngineer and hull form designer RikuKiili adds.

Savings for customersThe team trained to use the program isRiku Kiili, Esko Huttunen and ArturNerman. In the interpretation andpractical utilisation of calculated resultsthey are advised and supervised byRisto Kurimo, who has over 30 yearsexperience in the field of shiphydrodynamics. They are all very excitedwith the possibilities of the new program.Mr. Nerman, a newly recruited hydro-dynamics specialist, points out that thisnew FINE™/Marine CFD-program hasexcellent graphic tools, which can beused to visualise the calculated results.“This is a new service we offer ourclients. We can now more efficientlyoptimise the balance of ice capabilitiesand open water characteristics, whichmean savings for our customers,” Mr.Kurimo says. �

The team trained to use theprogram is (from left) Riku Kiili, EskoHuttunen and Artur Nerman withRisto Kurimo as an advisor.Mr. Kurimo has over 30 years'experience in the field of shiphydrodynamics.

September 2012

Arctic Passion News

15

Yantar JSC in Kaliningrad,Russia has startedconstruction of the uniqueAker Arctic developed ARC-100 oblique icebreakerordered last fall by theRussian Ministry of Transport.The concept is exceptionalbecause of its asymmetric hull,which enables icebreakingsideways and efficient oilcombat in hard weather.Yantar is responsible forbuilding the hull and ArctechHelsinki Shipyard will finalizethe ship for delivery in 2013.Laying down the keel tookplace 6th of July.

Technical details:

Length over all 76.4 mLength at dwl 72.1 mBreadth over all 20.5 mBreadth at dwl 19.2 mDraught, minimum operating 6.0 mDraught at design waterline 6.3 mDraught maximum 7.0 mDepth to main deck 9.0 mPropulsion Power abt. 3 x 2.5 MWMain engine power abt. 9000 kWBollard pull abt. 75 tonAccommodation 36 persons

Classification: RMRS KM* Icebreaker 6,[1], AUT1-ICS, OMBO, FF3WS, EPP,DYNPOS-1, ECO-S, Oil recovery ship(>60°C), Salvage ship, Tug

Flag: Russian Federation

Hull assemblyof the first Obliqueicebreaker started

1. In level iceat maximum speed

2. Start to create widerchannel by turning to obliquemode with full power

3. Proceeding sideways

4. Turning around

Harbour operation assistanceBreaking space for manoeuvring operation in harbour area

The oblique icebreaker is exceptionallyflexible to operate. She can be steeredto move ahead, astern and sidewaysany time and additionally she is able toturn around on the spot in ice, which issomething completely new.

September 2012

For six months Mika Hovilainen fromAARC has been working at the HelsinkiShipyard designing the unique ARC-100oblique icebreaker. His responsibilitieshave included ensuring vesselperformance and integrating the differentdesign disciplines used by the shipyard.He has supervised all model tests madeduring the spring. As this is a completelynew concept, more model tests thanusual have been made in order to checkpropulsion, steering, resistance,performance in ice among others.

Flexible operation in ice

Oil traffic increasingin the Baltic

The oblique icebreaker is a uniqueconcept in every way. It is the mostflexible vessel to operate in iceconditions ever built because of itspropulsion system with two rearpropulsors and one in the front. The frontpropulsor enables to steersideways. The vessel can also be turnedaround on the spot in ice, which issomething completely new. The hull formis asymmetric with an additionalicebreaking bow on one side, which canbe used to create a 50 metre widechannel in ice when moving sideways.The other side of the ship can be used inoil spill combat. This can be performed inup to 2 metres significant wave height,which is much more than existing oil spillcombat vessels can manage. Because ofthe sideways movement, oil can becollected along the entire length of theship, skimmed in a transverse tunnel anddirected into tanks. Water movement onthe brush collectors is calm, thus therecovery of oil is safer than before.

The vessel will be used to assist tankersand vessels in terminals, rescueoperations and oil spill combat in theBaltic Sea. The newly built Ust-Lugaharbour on the southern shore of Gulf ofFinland will become a significant oilexport terminal in the future. This will inthe first phase increase oil tanker trafficin the Gulf of Finland by 30 mill. tons and

the vessel

therefore the efficient oil spill combatfunction in the assisting icebreaker is an

essential feature.The Russian Ministry of Transportordered the oblique icebreaker last fallfrom Arctech Helsinki Shipyard in Finlandjointly with Yantar JSC Shipyard inKaliningrad. Yantar is responsible forbuilding the hull and in spring 2013 thehull will be towed to Helsinki, where theship will be finalized, open water testedand finally delivered to the customer inSt. Peterburg in the end of 2013.

Mika Hovilainen recommends theconcept for icebreaking and oil spillcombat in different areas.“The oblique icebreaker could be veryuseful for ice management functions inarctic oil drilling. Because of herexceptionally flexible steering she wouldbring safety to drilling operations as noneof the vessels in use today can move asshe can. Her strength in oil spill combatis another feature needed in oil drilling.In Arctic operations her propulsion powerwould have to be increased though.”The oblique ship concept was a result ofan internal innovation competition in the1990's. It was invented to resolve thecost of having two assisting icebreakersin escorting large Aframax tankers toPrimorsk oil harbour. Efficient oil spillcombat is of key importance in all futurearctic oil operations. The concept was forthe first time introduced to the Russianministry in 2003. This is the first vesselbeing built according to the newinnovative concept. The next AARCtarget is to introduce a high-capable unitfor the Arctic ice conditions.

Perfect for ice management

�

Pictures: The approach fromthe air strip to the Nagurskoyestation goes by the St.Nicholas the Consecratorchapel. Internationaldelegation in front of the mainentrance to the "Nagurskoye"station built on pillars inpermafrost.

A superior Arctic lunch wasserved in the station'sfabulous winter garden andtoasts were raised by MrPatrushev and Mr Artur N.Chilingarov, SpecialRepresentative of thePresident of the RussianFederation for InternationalCooperation in the Arctic andthe Antarctic (centre).

Mr Niini (in the Arctic overall)was also invited to present apaper to the Arctic Councildelegates in Murmansk in thefollow-up InternationalConference on Security andCooperation in the Arctic; NewProspects, hosted by thenewly appointed Governor ofMurmansk Region Ms. MarinaKovtun.

AARCat FranzJosef Land

Russian Federation is activelyrevitalising the Northern SeaRoute and expects rapidgrowth for the transit traffic,offering one to two weeks cutsin the transit time between theAtlantic and Pacific basins.The Arctic Council is playingan important role in developingthe Arctic by creating aregulatory framework andpromoting international co-operation. In addition to newnuclear and polar icebreakersto be built (in which designsAARC has had the opportunityto co-operate) the plans alsoinclude building up a numberof new search and rescuestations along the route.

Last spring the Russian Security Councilinvited delegations from all Arctic Councilmember states to join for an introductorytour to the newly built NagurskoyeBorder Station on Alexandra Land in theFranz Josef Land archipelago, theclosest place to the North Pole on theearth (at 82nd parallel). The archipelagoconsists of 187 islands with a total areaof 16 500 square kilometres. Oneseventh of the area is not covered byglacier, which has an average thicknessof 180 metres. The islands were found in1873 by Julius von Payer and KarlWeyprecht, whose sailing steamerTegethof was on a year-long drift in iceand stranded on a previously unknownland. The unknown archipelago wasbestowed in honour of Austro-HungarianEmperor Franz Josef I of Austria and thenorthernmost island was named afterEmperor's son Rudolf.

AARC President Mikko Niini attended thetour together with Finland's ArcticAmbassador Hannu Halinen and AdmiralMatti Möttönen from the Finnish BorderGuard. After three hours of flying on twoRussian Federal Security Service An-72jets from Murmansk the guests werewelcomed by the Secretary of theFederal Security Council Mr. Nikolay P.Patrushev and Ambassador at large atthe Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr AntonV. Vasilyev and led on a tour around thebrand new station and the supportingfacilities accommodating more than 40persons on 24/7 duty.

16

Arctic Passion News

Royal Dutch Shell is engagedin a multi-year drillingprogramme to explore for newoil & gas resources in high-potential blocks in offshoreAlaska. Important progresshas been made with thisprogramme, with two drillships, more than twentysupport vessels, an approvedcapping stack, and otherredundant oil spill responseequipment mobilised toAlaska.

Aker Arctic was invited five years ago toassist Shell in their Arctic plans. Theunique drilling platform Kulluk, inheritedfrom the early eighties drilling campaign,was upgraded, and the Noble Discoverercompletely rebuilt for

the Arctic tasks undertaken withAARC's contribution. The Finnish builticebreakers Fennica and Nordicaoperating now in Alaska are based on aninnovative multipurpose Aker Arctic hullconcept and AARC also conducted anassessment for the oil company on thesaid ships into their current tasks in theicy waters around Alaska. AARC also hadinvolvement in the development of theU.S. built and operated icebreaker Aiviq.

Shell already successfully started thedrilling operation in two locations in theChukchi and Beaufort Seas. However,due to steps taken to protect local whalingoperations and to ensure the safety ofoperations from ice floe movement, Shellwas led to revise the plans for the 2012-2013 exploration program. In order to laya strong foundation for operations in2013, Shell decided to forgo drilling intohydrocarbon zones this year. Instead,Shell will begin as many wells, known as'top holes,' as time remaining in thisseason allows. The top portion of thewells drilled in the

: both weeks this year will be safely cappedand temporarily abandoned, inaccordance with regulatoryrequirements. Shell looks forward to thefinal receipt of the drilling permits for themulti-year exploration program upon thesuccessful testing and deployment of theArctic Containment System.

These large capabilities mobilised have,most recently, been evident in Shell's icemanagement operations as itsuccessfully moved one of its drill shipsand support vessels safely out of thepath of approaching sea ice. The NobleDiscoverer resumed its position anddrilling operations over the 'Burger A'prospect.

“We have tested and assembled drillships and support vessels, trainedpersonnel, and acquired numerous finalapproved plans and permits. Thisexploration program remains criticallyimportant to America's energy needs, tothe economy and jobs in Alaska” saidShell in a statement.

Drilling inArctic resumedafter25years' time-out-AkerArctic in thepicture

The Finnish-built icebreakers Fennica and Nordica, operatedby Arctia Shipping have succesfully taken care of Icemanagement in Shell's drilling campaign in offshore Alaska.

IM vessel Aiviq towing the Arctic drilling unit Kulluk out fromDutch Harbor towards the final drill site in the Beaufort Sea.

September 2012Arctic Passion News

17

In 2010 we saw the first experimental transits over the NorthernSea Route (Northeast Passage), among others the Aframaxtanker SCF Baltica. Last year there were 41 ships transiting,carrying more than 800,000 tons of commercial cargo. Thissummer season has again brought life to this new sea lane,linking the Atlantic and Pacific basins with the shortestconnection, typically taking only a little over one week for thepassage.This summer season has again seen Neste Shipping'sPanamax carriers MT Palva and MT Stena Poseidon trading onthe route. These images have been taken at the end of July inthe Laptev Sea and in September in the Chukchi Sea. The firstforeign flag cargo transits on the route were made by NemarcShipping Corporation's (a J/V between Neste Shipping andKvaerner Masa-Yards) MT Uikku in 1997. Known today as MTVarzuga, she still successfully trades in these Northern waterswith the prototype 11,6 MW Azipod under the flag of theMurmansk Shipping Company.

Finnish flag transits through theNorthernSeaRoutecontinue

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18

Arctic Passion News September 2012

The contra-rotating propellers (CRP)have commonly used in open watersolutions due to their typically higherefficiency, which is very important for anyship designer and operator in theforthcoming days of energy saving goalsand emission controls. Aker Arctic andSteerprop decided some time ago to joinforces for developing ice capable CRPthruster solutions. Various applicationshave been brought to initial testing,including solutions for the oblique

icebreaker, for large size LNG carriers,and most recently in offshore supportvessels for verifying the expected higherice management efficiency.In all ice operating cases the energysaving efficiency has been proven. Inthese cases the icebreaking capabilityappears to be improved, but differenttypes of thruster installation will berequired compared to traditionalthrusters.

The development program continues, butthe parties already decided to startincorporating these applications into newprojects for the market.

been

CRP solutions

show their potential in ice

Experts from the offshoreenergy industry around theworld came together 30April-3 May for the 2012Offshore TechnologyConference at Reliant Parkin Houston. Attendance atthe conference reached a30-year high of 89,400 andthe sold-out exhibition wasthe largest in event history.The exhibition had 2,500companies representing 46countries, including 200 newexhibitors that includedexhibitors from Bahrain,Hungary, Israel, Lithuania,New Zealand, and Taiwan.

AARCatOTC2012

Steerprop is a Finnishmanufacturer of high ice classazimuthing thrusters, withdelivery references e.g. inRussian Rosmorport andVarandei icebreakers.Steerprop has also beenselected to provide theazimuthing thrusters to theoblique ARC 100 oil spillcombat icebreaker now underconstruction at ArctechHelsinki Shipyard for theMinistry of Transport of theRussian Federation.

CRP azimuthing thruster applicationin an Arctic LNG carrier, showingvery clearly the water stream outfrom the unit with higher ice washingand clearing potential compared totraditional pulling or pushing units.

Aker Arctic Technology Inc. wasrepresented in the Finnish stand as inprevious years. Interest to the Arctic hasincreased so much that the OTCorganisers decided to establish a sisterconference on Arctic matters. The first

“Arctic Technology Conference” (ATC)was arranged in 2011 and the secondwill be in December 2012, where AARCwill have a stand and a couple ofconference papers,” says Arto Uuskallio,Sales and Marketing Manager at AARC.

19

Arctic Passion News

The 22nd InternationalOcean and Polar EngineeringConference was held inRhodes in June. More than1100 delegates joined theconference this year.

AARCat ISOPE2012

September 2012

One of the regular June events on AkerArctic's agenda is the Neftegaz exhibitionin Moscow. The display theme this yearwas shallow water icebreaking which waswell illustrated to visitors.

In the picture (from right) representativesof DOAO ZKBN OAO “Gazprom" togetherwith our new sales and marketingengineer Elena Tsvetkova, Area Manager(Russia) Alexander V. Nemchinov and MsDaria Malchevskaya, secretary in theMoscow Representative Office, on herfirst working day with the group.

AARCatNEFTEGAZ

MOSCOW

AARC's Göran Wilkman and TeemuHeinonen participated in theconference, mainly concentrating onthe Arctic sessions. Mr. Wilkman heldthe keynote speech at the Arcticsession on navigating in pack ice. Hetold about the technical andoperational development oficebreaking ships. Mr. Heinonen heldanother presentation in the Arcticsession on operations in ice,discussing full-scale on board shipmeasurements in various Arcticconditions. Both Mr. Heinonen and Mr.Wilkman participated in the full-scaleice trials of the AARC developedshallow water ARC104 IcebreakingTug Mangystau-5 in the Caspian Sealast March (see also page 4).

ISOPE is one of the biggest ocean andpolar engineering conferences arrangedevery year. The conference locationalternates between Europe, Asia and

North America. Next year it will takeplace in Anchorage, Alaska, end of June2013.

As has been described in the previousissues of Arctic Passion News, AARC iscurrently developing a trimaran typeicebreaker, which could be utilised inescort icebreaking, ice management aswell as a deck cargo carrier or an icegoingseismic vessel where the large deck areacould be used for higher capacities than intraditional monohull ships.

One special solution, where the potentialis expected to be quite high, is the use ofthe trimaran concept for oil spill responsein ice conditions. Then a speciallydesigned sloping grid is installed betweenthe main and the side hulls. The grid willpush the ice floes down, allowing the oil tosurface through the grid into skimmers

and further into the collecting tanks.

In June 2012 Finland was hosting theArctic Council's working group preparingfor an International Arctic Oil SpillResponse Agreement. The nationaldelegations visiting AARC were shownthis new novel concept in model scalewhereby small plastic bubbles of specificgravity comparable to oil were used tosimulate the spilled oil. The grids collectedthe bubbles from the ice as planned andthe demonstration thus gave clearencouragement for further R & D work inthe area.

Trimaranoil spill response

icebreakerdemonstrated

We will participate inthe following events:

29.- 30. October

Montreal,Canada

Nov.20-21

London, UK

8.- 11. November

London, UK

29.- 30. NovemberOslo,

Norway

3.- 5. December

Houston, USA

April 23-26, 2013

Helsinki, Finland

June 9-13, 2013., the 22nd

International Conference on Portand Ocean Engineering underArctic Conditions.Espoo, Finland

June 25-28, 2013

Moscow, Russia

Arctic Shipping North AmericaConference 2012

Design and Operation of OSV'sfor Ice and Cold Climates

Gastech 2012

Arctic Oil & Gas 2012

Arctic Technology Conference

9th Arctic Shipping Forum

POAC 2013

MIOGE 2013

20

Arctic Passion News

Meet us here!

In the beginning of September, AARCrowing team celebrated the traditionalend of the summer event, the Kulosaarirowing competition.Kulosaari is an island in the heart ofHelsinki, capital of Finland, which lies bythe Baltic Sea. The rowing competitionaround the Kulosaari Island has beenarranged during the first weekend inSeptember since the 1940' s and endsthe season for both professional andleisure teams. There are around 500participants every year on the elevenkilometres long tour.“We had great sunny weather during theactual competition this year, but on ourway back we got thoroughly soaked withboth rain and hail,” Kari Selonen, Boatmaster, tells. “But the spirit was high as italways is!”“Our team consisted of 15 persons andthis year two of our new employeesj

Unfortunately we practiced a bit lesst

oined in, which we really appreciatedsince they didn't have any previousexperience in rowing church boats.

than usual as everybody was rather busy

“Regardless of tight schedules we alsoparticipated in the Sulkava rowing eventin the Lake Saimaa district for the 24th

time. Sulkava is a much bigger islandand the 60 km tour around it took 5hours and 35 minutes. The Kulosaaritour was our 14th time and we made it innearly 54 minutes.

with work projects this summer,” Mr.Selonen continues.

In theheartof thecity

September 2012

Two years ago, AARC initiatedan employee developmentprogram named ArcticHorizons, with focus onmentorship as a tool fortransferring know-how, efficientteam and project work. Thisprogram is now almostcompleted and a newcompetence program continuesemployee development.

Focus in the new program is competenceteams and how to develop efficientmethods for combining customer projectswith on-going research and development.

“In the Arctic Horizons program we formedthree project teams around realdevelopment projects. The Multi modeltesting project was one of them (readmore on page 10). In the newCompetence-Horizon program every teamselects its own topics and shares thetasks among members, in

order to find a systematic approach towork in that team. R & D is constantly on-going atAARC and we find it important to support it in every-day work,” Kirsi Rosenström, Manager Finance &Administration and HR, emphasizes.

Competence-Horizonprogramcontinuesemployeedevelopment

AARC employeesjoining forces to pull thesame rope at CultureCentre Sofia.

Matti Arpiainen and Kari Selonen at pace oars.