After completing of all necessary balancing and commissioning works FESCO supplier left for sea trials. In the waters of Gulf of Finland the testing and final checkout of all machinery and equipment of the new vessel in normal and extreme operative conditions will take place.
The sea trials of FESCO icebreaker «FESCO SAKHALIN» will be continued till the 30th of April. The works, being conducted during the test includes testing in docks, sea trials in the sea and helicopter shooting. The sea trial is the main stage of testing readiness of the ship to work, during which the work of engines, maneuverability, speed, accuracy of equipment and navigation will be conducted.
Launching of new unique supplier-vessel of icebreaker type, which is being built on the shipyard of Aker Finn Yards (before the 1st of January 2005 — shipyard «Kvaerner Masa Yards») for Far Eastern shipping company, took place in Finland on the 18th of February 2005.
In accordance with the plan, in February the first starting of main diesel-generators, there are 3 of them on the vessel, was conducted. On the 7th of March the first starting and testing of work of 2 main movers — azipods was held.
The vessel FESCO-SAKHALIN is being constructed by specially developed project of " double action» of Sea Northern Research center (Finland) and it is intended for work on service of oil-and-gas derrick in icy conditions and all-the-year-round watching in area of a shelf oil recovery.
The uniqueness of the project and technique of the icebreaker is estimated by international experts. First of all the vessel differs from other ones by the equipped system of movement. The vessel equipped by 3 electric diesel engines — generators (capacity of 13 thousand watt each), and two movers of azipod type with rotation of 360 degrees, in addition carrying out a role of a rudder. All these allow a vessel to move in ice as a nose as a poop forward, thus not losing the riding qualities.
This vessel has excellent maneuverable characteristics and system of dynamic positioning that enables the icebreaker to be kept on one place concerning a ground near a platform with the maximal amplitude of fluctuation of all half-meter. Besides there is an opportunity to create the water channel in broken ice with frost penetration to the bottom, that is practically impossible of the casual type icebreaker.
The high-class automated control systems allow to carry out watchless machinery maintenance in the common work situations at sea and in port.
One more feature of this icebreaker is the opportunity of using it as the rescuer-boat, capable to extinguish a fire and oil spills and in case of accident on a platform — to accept aboard up to 150 person. Besides the specially designed deck is strengthened for load per area unit for carriage of heavy load. The ship has 6 sections of 50 cubic meters each for shipping of cement and other bulk cargo. The vessel supplier is equipped with fuel tankers, which allow to place on the ship 1400 tons of diesel fuel and 1000 tons of heavy oil fuel. Besides specially projected ship deck of 70 meters length and width of 21 meters has strengthening for increasing of unit load, that allows to ship heavy and bulky cargo.
The icebreaker named «FESCO-Sakhalin» will work under the program of the project " Sakhalin-1», according to the tender which is carried out earlier by the company «Exxon Neftegas Ltd».
The construction of separate block-sections of the icebreaker was started in March of 2004 on yards factories. Delivery of vessel to the customer is planned on May 31 of 2005.