An important new stage in the advance of the Finnish double-acting concept has been reached with the handover by Aker Finnyards to the Russian Far Eastern Shipping Co of the combined icebreaker/offshore supply/support ship FESCO SAKHALIN. She has been assigned to support the Exxon/Mobil drilling and production platform Orlan in the Russian Far East. Positioned in only 15m of water, this special gravity platform is subject, in winter, to huge build-ups of ice ridges and ice rubble against the base.
Its principal tasks will be to provide an all-year-round safety cover for the drilling platforms on the Sakhalin shelf, as well as transportat of dry, liquid and chemical cargoes. The vessel is also able to deal with oil spills and is equipped with a full outfit of skimming and collecting equipment. Operations will be aided by aluminium workboat which is lowered into the water by Dreggen crane.
Apart from carrying out these duties she will work as an icebreaker. FESCO SAKHALIN should be able to deal with ice ridges up to 20m deep, also with level ice up to 1.5m, all in temperatures that can fall down to -40°. To meet such difficult conditions, the hull and appropriate machinery are strengthened to the Ice-10 standards of Det Norske Veritas.
Icebreaking capabilities come from a carefully honed aft hull form together with the doubleacting principle and a pair of Azipod podded propulsion units, each with an output of 6500kW. For each Azipod, there is a hydraulic power unit with two electric motors. One of the electric motors is connected to the main electric network and the other one is connected to the emergency network to guarantee operation and steering even in case of emergency. The primary power is generated by three Wärtsilä 8L38B medium-speed engines, each developing 5800kW and each coupled to a 6847kVA ABB alternator. An additional 6-cylinder 1080kW Wärtsilä 20 engine is provided to power a harbour/emergency generating set.
The vessel is equipped with the latest navigation and communication systems. Transas provided the GMDSS, radio-location system, autopilot, gyro and magnetic compass, echosounder, EDCIS, AIS, GPS as well as vessel intrusion system.
Length, oa: 99.90m, Length, bp: 93.50m, Breadth, mld: 20.95m, Depth, mld: 11m, Draught design: 7.50m, Deadweight maximum: 3,950dwt, Gross tonnage: 6,882, Total power installed: 17,400kW, ice performance: level ice 1.5m, ridges 20m, LSA capacity: 40 persons, rescue capacity 150 evacuees.
