Norilsk Nickel breaks the ice

On April 15, the unique reinforced diesel-electric ice-class container ship, the Norilsk Nickel, which had been officially handed over by the Aker Finnyards shipbuilding company, set sail from the port of Murmansk under the Russian state flag. The dry cargo vessel has been registered at the port of Murmansk.

It was launched in Finland in December 2005, and successfully underwent trials in the open sea of the Gulf of Finland before going on for ice trials in the Kara Sea and on the Yenisei river. “The commissioning of the Norilsk Nickel is an important step forward in achieving independence with regard to transportation”, says Deputy General Director, Dmitrii Cheskis.  “In refining our transportation and logistics, the intention of our company is to create its own fleet of five modern vessels to carry cargo along the North Sea Route, and this is in line with our planned strategy.”

The Norilsk Nickel, with a deadweight of 14,500 t, is a Double Acting Ship that is capable of sailing in conditions of 1.5 m of arctic ice. The ship is equipped with a unique information system, which supplies the vessel’s captain with on–line information concerning the condition of the ice cover along the ship’s course, and enables him to choose the optimum route through heavy ice fields.  This has no equivalent elsewhere in the world and serves to guarantee the reliability, efficiency and safety of the vessel’s navigation in ice conditions. The ship is the only arctic transport vessel of its type so far in the world