Russian Icebreaker Movement

Russian Icebreaker Movement

Russia’s Rosmorport has positioned the 14,334-ton displacement icebreaker Novorossiysk, commissioned in 2017, to the Port of Vanino in the western Pacific to provide icebreaking support services for vessels operating in the Sea of Japan. The three-year-old vessel replaces the 12,288-ton displacement icebreaker Captain Khlebnikov, built in 1982, which has been moved to the Port of Prigorodnoye in Sakhalin Oblast to support expanding oil tanker and gas carrier traffic.
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Viking’s Polar Expeditions Ships

Viking’s Polar Expeditions Ships

Viking Ocean Cruises, which sent its Viking Sun on an epic 245-night voyage around the world this past summer, will name its two new expedition ships being built by Fincantieri’s VARD subsidiary Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris when they are delivered in 2022. The 30,150-gt Polar Class vessels, which have been specifically designed for work in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, will carry 378 passengers and a crew of 260. One of the ships is expected to operate to Arctic destinations from Tromsø, Norway while the other will be based at Ushuaia, Argentina for trips to Antarctica
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New Russian Icebreakers  Facing Delays

New Russian Icebreakers Facing Delays

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…
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Russian Arctic Expedition Cruise Ships

Russian Arctic Expedition Cruise Ships

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.
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Latest Arctic LNG Carriers to be Built in Russia

Latest Arctic LNG Carriers to be Built in Russia

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…
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Quebec’s Davie Yard to Build new Canadian Icebreakers

Quebec’s Davie Yard to Build new Canadian Icebreakers

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…
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Cargo Up at Europe’s  Largest Port

Cargo Up at Europe’s Largest Port

Europe’s largest port, the Port of Rotterdam, handled 469.4 million tons of cargo last year, only fractionally higher than the 469 million tons it handled in 2018. However, container throughput, measured in tons, grew by 2.5 percent while box throughput measured in TEUs increased by 2.1 percent, with more than 14.8 million TEUs handled.
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First Contract Awarded  for New Soo Lock

First Contract Awarded for New Soo Lock

The US Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $53 million contract to Trade West Construction of Mesquite, Nevada to deepen the upstream approach to the Soo Locks as part of a plan to build a new navigation lock at the Soo. The dredging work is expected to take approximately two years to accomplish and will be followed by phases two and three of the project, which are still in the design phase and involve rehabilitation of the upstream approach walls and construction of the new lock chamber and rehabilitation of downstream approach walls. Contingent on funding, the new 110-foot…
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Development of Kamchatka LNG Transshipment Terminal

Development of Kamchatka LNG Transshipment Terminal

Russia’s Glavgosexpertiza has approved design documentation and engineering survey findings covering construction of a new LNG transshipment facility in the country’s Kamchatka Territory. The terminal is intended to handle the transshipment of LNG from the Yamal peninsula gas fields in the Gulf of Ob from ice-class gas carriers onto non-ice-class tankers for onward delivery to destinations in the Asia-Pacific Region. The design documentation foresees five phases of construction and development of the facility, which will be built in Bechevinskaya Bay approximately 100 kilometers from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Upon first-phase completion the terminal will have an annual handling capacity of 11 million tons…
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DP World Completes Acquisition of Fraser Surrey Docks (FSD)

DP World Completes Acquisition of Fraser Surrey Docks (FSD)

DP World has completed its acquisition of Fraser Surrey Docks (FSD) in British Columbia through its Canadian subsidiary, DP World Canada Investment, from Macquarie Infrastructure Partners. Dubai-based DP World, which also operates terminals within Vancouver harbor and at Prince Rupert, announced it would acquire FSD last year (see Pacific Maritime Magazine, July 2019). The facility has more than 1,200 meters of berthing and 189 acres of yard area on the Fraser River and has been handling grain, steel, containers and project cargoes.
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