Our Arctic Neighbors: Asian icebreakers for Russian terminal

Keppel Singmarine shipyard in Singapore teams up with Finnish engineers, scientists to master art of Arctic technology

Sarah Hurst

For Petroleum News

Singapore doesn’t sound like a potential location for building Arctic icebreakers, and in fact it hasn’t been — until now. For the first time two such vessels have been built in Asia, by Keppel Singmarine, for use by Russia’s Lukoil at the Varandey terminal in the Barents Sea. The first icebreaker, the Toboy, was delivered to Lukoil in August, and the second, the Varandey, has recently been completed. They will help forge passages through the ice for oil tankers.

“This was a milestone for Keppel, especially since we had secured the contract amidst strong competition from European yards, which have a long tradition in and strong infrastructure of related Arctic technology,” said Keppel’s chairman, Charles Foo.

Both icebreakers are designed to work in the harshest environments, cutting through solid ice more than 5.6 feet thick, and operating in temperatures as low as minus 49 degrees Fahrenheit, Keppel Singmarine said in a release Nov. 3. Keppel collaborated with Finnish marine engineering firm ILS to bring the Singaporean company up to speed on Arctic technology. Keppel’s design team also worked with Helsinki University and Finland’s Center for Technical Research to test the design of the icebreakers in a simulated environment.

The biggest challenges for Keppel in the construction stage, which began in October 2006, were ensuring that the hulls of the ships were sturdy enough and that the propulsion system had the horsepower to break and clear the ice. The hulls were built using high-tensile, high-grade steel, according to a film about the project on Keppel’s Web site.

In the film, Tan Cheng Hui, the company’s general manager for engineering, described the icebreakers’ propellers: “Ordinary ships use a propeller that is fixed, it cannot rotate, and then to steer the ship they use rudders, whereas with these icebreakers we use our Singmarine thrusters in which the propeller can rotate actually 360 degrees, and the feature of this ability to rotate 360 degrees means that you have an icebreaker that is very, very maneuverable.”

“The enthusiasm and competence displayed by Keppel Singmarine in building the two icebreakers are remarkable,” said Victor Velikov, Lukoil’s deputy CEO. “It met our expectations with regards to technical solutions and workmanship. We look forward to strengthening our ties with Keppel Singmarine in the near future.”