Aker Arctic Technology has unveiled a new version of the oblique icebreaker[ds_preview] ARC 100, the ARC 100 HD. The »Heavy Duty« ARC 100 HD version is 98 m long and 26 m wide. The vessel will draw on 24,000 kW of engine power and 19,500 kW of propulsion power to offer 190 t of bollard pull in open water. This is two-and-a-half times the pull offered by the ARC 100, which is 76 m long. Planned to be classed by the Russian Register as an Icebreaker 7, the design is based on model tests at Aker Arctic, Helsinki. Tests demonstrated that the ARC 100 HD will be able to break through 1.5 m thick ice when moving ahead and astern at 5 kn (2 kn through 2 m thick ice). In the oblique mode, it will be able to cut a 50 m wide channel through 1.5 m thick ice. In broken ice, its vertical side will push ice pieces and its inclined side break ice floats. Aker Arctic has incorporated specific oil recovery measures. As with the ARC 100 design, instead of the vulnerable rubber arm sometimes seen in oil spill response operations, the ARC 100 HD’s vertical hull side itself will act as a sweep arm up to 60 m across in heavy waves. The vessel will also feature a skimmer system, including a side door, effective in-built brush skimmers/collector tanks for oil separation, recovered oil transfer pumps, and a discharge pump.
The first ARC 100 is scheduled to be delivered to the Russian Ministry of Transport in early 2014, after a collaborative build involving Kaliningrad’s OJSC Yantar and Helsinki’s Arctech yards. The resulting newbuilding is a breakthrough in asymmetric three-thruster conceptual design, which will bring new capability in terminal operations, ice management, and oil spill response in freezing seas.
