Website arctech.fi Number of employees 400 | Founded 1 April 2011 Predecessor Meyer Turku | |
Key people Esko Mustamäki (Managing Director) | ||
Arctech Helsinki Shipyard is a shipbuilding company in Helsinki, Finland. The company has a focus on icebreakers and other icegoing vessels for arctic conditions.
The joint venture agreement between STX Finland Cruise Oy and United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) was signed in December 2010 and the latter purchased half of the Hietalahti shipyard. The company started its operations on 1 April 2011. On 28 October 2013, it was reported that USC is going to buy the second half from STX Europe and become the sole owner of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard. The sale was finalized on 30 December 2014 and as of 2015 United Shipbuilding Corporation is the sole owner of the shipyard.
As of December 2015, Arctech Helsinki Shipyard has delivered four vessels (yard numbers 506 to 509). The company has four vessels (510 to 513) under construction in Helsinki and two more (514 and 515) in the orderbook which spans until 2018.
In late July 2014, EU and USA imposed economic sanctions as a response to the Russian involvement in the unrest in Ukraine. It is not known if and how the sanctions will affect Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, which is only partially owned by the Russian state-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation. Furthermore, icebreakers used to support the offshore industry are not targeted by the sanctions. On 13 August 2014, the Nordic-based bank Nordea announced that it would terminate Arctech's accounts due to the financial sanctions imposed by the United States, forcing the shipyard to switch to another bank.
Orders
On 16 December 2010, Arctech Helsinki Shipyard received its first order when a contract for two icebreaking platform supply vessels similar to the SCF Sakhalin, worth US$100 million per ship, was signed with Sovcomflot. The vessels, Vitus Bering and Aleksey Chirikov, were delivered in December 2012 and April 2013, respectively.
On 8 December 2011, it was announced that Arctech Helsinki Shipyard had signed a contract together with Shipyard Yantar JSC from Yantar, Kaliningrad, for the construction of a 76 million euro icebreaking multipurpose emergency and rescue vessel for the Russian Ministry of Transport. The "oblique icebreaker" would have three azimuth thrusters and an asymmetric hull designed to break a 50-metre (160 ft) channel in 60-centimetre (2.0 ft) level ice when operating sideways. Initially, the hull was to be built at Yantar and then towed to Helsinki for outfitting, but in the end the hull was assembled in Helsinki from blocks manufactured in Kaliningrad. The vessel was launched on 12 December 2013 and given the name Baltika. After sea trials, the icebreaker was towed to Kaliningrad where she was to be handed over to the owner. However, Baltika was later towed to Saint Petersburg where she was delivered to Rosmorrechflot on 30 December 2014.
On 19 December 2012, Arctech Helsinki Shipyard received an order from the Russian Ministry of Transport for an 18-megawatt icebreaker capable of breaking ice up to 1.5 metres (5 ft) thick. The newbuilding, Project 21900M icebreaker, worth about 100 million euro, would be built in co-operation with the Vyborg Shipyard which was building two similar ships in Russia. The new icebreaker, Murmansk, was launched in March 2015. While the vessel was to be delivered to the owner in August of the same year, the delivery was delayed until December 2015. On 18 December, Murmansk was handed over to Vyborg Shipyard, who would deliver the vessel to the owner before the year's end, and towed to Vyborg. The icebreaker was handed over to Rosmorport after a flag-raising ceremony on 25 December.
On 27 November 2013, the Finnish Transport Agency announced that Arctech Helsinki Shipyard had won the tender for the next Finnish state-owned icebreaker and that the final order for the 123 million euro vessel would be signed before the end of the year. However, on 29 November the Finnish Transport Agency cancelled the contract, citing issues with guaranties offered by the shipyard. On 22 January 2014, Arctech Helsinki Shipyard won the second round of the tendering process and the final contract was signed on 14 February. The 19-megawatt vessel, the most powerful icebreaker ever to fly the Finnish flag, would be powered by dual-fuel engines running on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and designed to break 1.6-metre (5.2 ft) ice in a continuous motion. The vessel, based on Aker Arctic's Aker ARC 130 concept, was initially scheduled for delivery during the winter of 2016. On 11 December 2015, the new icebreaker was named Polaris. She was floated out from the covered dry dock and into the outfitting quay on 3 January 2016 and delivered on 28 September.
On 21 April 2014, Sovcomflot ordered an icebreaking platform supply vessel from Arctech Helsinki Shipyard. The 100 million euro vessel, which was initially scheduled to be delivered in June 2016, is a further development of the two similar vessels delivered in 2012 and 2013. While the propulsion power and icebreaking capability remain the same, the number of main engines has been increased from four to six and the vessel has been fitted with a moon pool. The vessel will be chartered to Sakhalin Energy Investment Company (SEIC). Steel production began at Vyborg Shipyard, which will be supplying the hull blocks for the vessel, on 26 November 2014. The keel of the vessel, which will be named Gennadiy Nevelskoy, was laid on 17 December 2015. On 30 June, the vessel was floated out in order to make space for laying the keel of the next vessel. The vessel, whose construction is slightly behind schedule, is now scheduled for delivery on 14 February 2017.
On 7 July 2014, the Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat reported that Arctech Helsinki Shipyard has been awarded the construction of three icebreaking standby vessels for Sovcomflot. The shipyard confirmed the US$380 million order for three ships, initially scheduled for delivery between September 2016 and March 2017, in its own press release on 11 August 2014. Like the platform supply vessel ordered in April, the standby vessels will be chartered to Sakhalin Energy Investment Company (SEIC) and used in the Sakhalin-2 field for stand-by, rescue and oil spill response duties. The 100-metre (330 ft) vessels Stepan Makarov, Fedor Ushakov, and Mikhail Lazarev will have accommodation for 98 persons on board and be capable of operating independently in 1.7-metre (6 ft) ice. The keel of the first standby vessel was laid on 4 February 2016. This is the first time Arctech Helsinki Shipyard is building two vessels simultaneously in the covered dry dock. Stepan Makarov was launched and floated out in November 2016. Some of the blocks have been assembled in Klaipėda, Lithuania. All three vessels are now scheduled to be delivered in 2017 with an interval of two to three months between vessels.
In early 2016, it was reported that the Greek shipowner Dynacom has ordered a 58,000 DWT condensate carrier from Arctech Helsinki Shipyard at an undisclosed price. The Arc7 ice class tanker will be used to carry gas condensate from the natural gas fields in the Yamal Peninsula. While the shipyard was initially reluctant to confirm the contract, the tanker was included in a presentation by Arctech CEO Esko Mustamäki at the Conference on the Economic Development of the Arctic in June 2016. According to the presentation material, the double acting tanker would be 229 metres (751 ft) long and capable of breaking 1.8-metre (5.9 ft) ice. The forward part of the vessel will be built at Brodotrogir shipyard in Croatia.