Proposed design for Nornickel’s now-canceled icebreaker (Nornickel)
STOCKHOLM – The Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to issue an export license to the Finnish shipyard Arctech Helsinki Shipyard for building an icebreaker for Russian company Norilsk Nickel. This is according to a statement published on the official website of the shipyard on Tuesday.
“According to the information received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the Ministry made a negative decision in the export license matter on September 30th, 2022,” the statement says.
The export license was required by the company “to obtain permission to export the vessel under sanctions.” The construction of the vessel ordered by Norilsk Nickel was to start at the shipyard in Hietalahti in 2023, the delivery to the customer was planned for the winter season of 2025.
The project provided for the operation of the icebreaker on liquefied natural gas, which would reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The potential tasks of the icebreaker included escorting the company’s Arc7 and Arc5 ice-class vessels with a deadweight of up to 20,000 tons along the Yenisei river in winter navigation conditions.
Arctech Helsinki Shipyard is a joint venture between the Finnish company STX Finland and the Russian United Shipbuilding Corporation. Since 2010, the shipyard has built about ten modern ice-class vessels for Russian companies and operators Sovcomflot and Rosmorport, as well as the Baltika multifunctional rescue vessel. Source: TASS
