Arctech builds icebreakers for any Arctic condition

Arctic seafaring has benefitted from Finnish innovations for more than 100 years, as 60 per cent of the world's icebreaker fleet has been built at Helsinki Shipyard. From steam engine-driven icebreakers in the 1940s to several series of diesel-driven icebreakers by the 1970s and modern multifunctional icebreakers since the 1990s, Helsinki Shipyard has produced the most powerful ships navigating in the Arctic and Antarctic seas.

This legacy continues through Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, which combines the marine industry clusters of Finland and Russia. Arctech is jointly owned by STX Finland, part of one of the largest Korean shipbuilding groups, and United Shipbuilding Corporation, Russia's major state-owned shipbuilding enterprise.

With long experience in building icebreakers, Arctech is the forerunner of technological development in this class of specialised vessels. Helsinki Shipyard has been involved in developing shallow-draft icebreakers and double-acting ships - vessels optimised to operate bow-first in open water and stern-first in heavy ice conditions - which were introduced in the 1990s.

Modern multifunctional icebreakers can operate in extreme environmental conditions with thick drifting ice fields and temperatures as cold as minus 35 degrees Celsius. The icebreaking capability of the vessels is extremely high, at 1.7 metres. One of the continuing projects of Arctech is a specialised multipurpose emergency-and-rescue icebreaker, which can move sideways and is able to generate a 50-metre-wide channel in 0.6-metre-thick ice.

Capable of producing four custom-built ships annually at its state-of-the-art facility in Helsinki, Arctech welcomes Asia's growing interest in the Arctic Circle. It aims for stronger relationships with Asian customers and suppliers within the next five years. "We are interested in all customers that are looking at the Arctic or Antarctic," says Esko Mustamäki, managing director of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard.