Oblique icebreaker design unveiled

The first 76m-long ARC 100 is due for delivery to the Russian Ministry of Transport in early 2014, after a collaborative construction process that involved Kaliningrad’s OJSC Yantar and Helsinki’s Arctech yards.
Aker Arctic has followed up with a heavy-duty 98m-long and 26m-wide version of the ARC 100 HD design.
The vessel will draw on 24,000 kW of engine power and 19,500 kW of propulsion power to offer 190 tonnes of bollard pull in open water. This is 2.5 x the pull achieved by the ARC 100.
Planned to be classed by the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping as an Icebreaker 7, the design is based on extensive model tests at Aker Arctic, Helsinki. Tests demonstrated that the ARC 100 HD will be able to break through 1.5m-thick ice when moving ahead and astern at 5 knots (2 knots through 2m-thick ice). In the oblique mode, it will be able to cut a 50m-wide channel through 1.5m-thick ice. In broken ice, its vertical side will push ice pieces and its inclined side break ice floats.
As well as increased size, power and manoeuvrability, the ARC 100 HD adds new ice management and oil spill response functionality, Aker said.