MOSCOW. Feb 17 (Interfax) - Arctech Helsinki Shipyard (the joint venture set up by Russia's United Shipbuilding Corporation, USC, and the Finnish branch of South Korea's STX Corporation) has signed a contract with the Finnish Transport Agency for the construction and delivery of a diesel-powered icebreaker, USC said.
The contract is worth 123 million euro (including the 24 million euro provided by the European Union for this purpose).
The new icebreaking vessel with a 19-megawatt capacity is expected to refresh the state-owned fleet of ageing icebreakers. The icebreaker is due to be handed over to the customer in the winter of 2016.
The vessel is capable of navigating at a permanent speed through the ice up to 1.6 meters thick, and clear a path up to 25 meters wide through ice up to 1.2 meters thick at a speed of about six knots. The vessel's economic speed on open water is 16 knots. The vessel can use both diesel and liquefied natural gas as fuel. The icebreaker is also adapted for oil spill removal and emergency rescue operations.
United Shipbuilding Corporation is Russia's biggest shipbuilding holding company set up in 2007. The company is 100% owned by the state.
Arctech Helsinki Shipyard was set up in December 2010, with USC and STX owning the company on parity conditions.