Russia has encountered several delays in its project 22220 nuclear icebreaker program involving LK-60 series ships. In late February the lead vessel of the series, the 33,540-ton displacement Artika, suffered the loss of an electric motor on its right shaft due to a short circuit during sea trials. If the motor requires replacement it will seriously affect the delivery schedule for the ship, which was expected to be handed over to operator FSUE Rosatomflot this summer. At the same time, the Baltiysky Zavod shipyard has been experiencing problems with the third icebreaker of the series, Ural, because of the late…

Finland’s Helsinki Shipyard expects to deliver two Arctic-capable cruise ships to the Russian river cruise company Vodohod by 2021 and 2022. The twin luxury vessels will measure 113-meterd by 20.2-meters and will be finished to Russia’s PC5 ice class standards. They are intended to operate both in the Arctic and Antarctic but will also be capable of operating in tropical waters during the spring and fall seasons.

SMART LNG, the joint venture established by Russia’s Sovcomflot and Novatek last year to own and operate a fleet of LNG carriers that will serve Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 project, has obtained financing for the first four ships from VEB.RF Group, the Russian state development corporation. The enhanced Arc7 icebreaking tankers will be constructed at the Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex in the Russian Far East to a design that will draw upon Sovcomflot’s experience gained while operating the 2017-built Christophe de Margerie, the world’s first icebreaking LNG carrier. The expertise of South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industry will also be enlisted to…

Canadian shipbuilder Davie, based in Quebec, has pre-qualified to become the third strategic partner, along with Irving Shipbuilding and Seaspan Shipyards, in Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS) and is expected to build six icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard. Davie is Canada’s largest and highest capacity shipbuilder but was disqualified from the original selection process for the NSS in 2011 because it was undergoing a financial restructuring at the time. Last year the Canadian government announced that it would invest C$15.7 billion to renew the Canadian Coast Guard’s fleet with up to 16 multi-purpose vessels to be built by Seaspan…