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The new Finnish icebreaker is currently under construction at Arctech Helsinki Shipyard under the yard number NB 510〔 for the Finnish Transport Agency. Scheduled for delivery in 2016, she will be the most powerful icebreaker ever to fly the Finnish flag and the first icebreaker in the world to feature an environmentally friendly dual-fuel engines capable of using both low-sulfur marine diesel oil (LSMDO) and liquefied natural gas (LNG). Once the vessel has been delivered, the ownership will be transferred to the state-owned shipping company Arctia Shipping. == Background == While the history of winter navigation in Finland dates back to the strengthened sleigh-boats used to carry mail from Finland to Sweden in the 17th century, the annual "ice blockade" that closed the Finnish ports for the winter months and stopped nearly all foreign trade was not broken until 1890 when the Finnish Board of Navigation commissioned one of the first purpose-built icebreakers in the world. Despite her shortcomings, ''Murtaja'' proved that year-round shipping was possible in the Baltic Sea and the first Finnish icebreaker was soon followed by bigger and more powerful vessels with only one purpose: to keep the shipping lanes open and escort merchant ships to and from the Finnish ports through the winter. In the late 1930s, steam gave way to diesel when the first Finnish diesel-electric icebreaker, ''Sisu'', entered service in 1939. While all Finnish state-owned icebreakers survived the war, Finland had to hand over its newest and most powerful steam-powered icebreakers to the Soviet Union as war reparations. The rebuilding of the icebreaker fleet began in the early 1950s with the commissioning of the diesel-electric ''Voima'', the first icebreaker in the world to feature two bow propellers, in 1954.〔 She was followed by two more icebreakers before the end of the decade to replace the steam-powered pre-war icebreakers now deemed obsolete, four in the 1960s to answer to the demands of the growing foreign trade and finally three in the 1970s to keep all Finnish ports open through the winter. In the early 1980s, the Finnish National Board of Navigation began looking for a replacement for the three 1950s icebreakers which were small and, despite their size, expensive to operate as they required a relatively large crew of 53. They were replaced by two large icebreakers, ''Otso'' and ''Kontio'', featuring extensive automation, alternating current propulsion motors with cycloconverter drive and a sleek hull form perfected in a model basin, but for the first time since the late 1800s no bow propellers. Around the same time, the National Board of Navigation also began looking for secondary uses for the icebreakers which were traditionally employed only for three to five months per year and spent the summer months moored at Katajanokka in Helsinki. When the next class of post-war icebreakers was approaching the end of its economic life, it was decided to replace them with multipurpose vessels that could be chartered to support commercial offshore operations in oil fields when they were not needed in the Finnish waters.〔 Three such multipurpose icebreakers were built in the 1990s: ''Fennica'' (1993), ''Nordica'' (1994) and ''Botnica'' (1998). The vessels, which were the first large icebreakers to utilize azimuth thrusters for propulsion, were sometimes criticized for their lower icebreaking performance and higher operational costs when compared to traditional icebreakers.〔Voelker, R. (Trip Report to Northern Europe for National Science Foundation project ). US Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, April 22, 2003. 〕 ''Botnica'', which had not been used for icebreaking in Finland for some years, was sold to Estonia in 2012.〔(Botnica-jäänmurtaja myytiin Viroon 50 miljoonalla ). Helsingin Sanomat, 24 October 2012. 〕 Although the topic of ordering a new icebreaker surfaced from time to time, funding for the vessel projected to cost 100 to 120 million euro was not included in the budget until 2012 when 125 million euro was allocated for a new vessel with a design lifetime of 50 years.〔(Liikenne- ja viestintäministeriön budjettiehdotus 2,9 miljardia euroa ). Liikenne- ja viestintäministeriö, 8 August 2012. 〕 Of this, 25 million euro would come from the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T) program of the European Union.〔(70. Jäänmurtajan hankinta (siirtomääräraha 3 v) ). Talousarvioesitys 2013. Valtiovarainministeriö. 〕 Initially, the new icebreaker was supposed to replace the 1954-built ''Voima'', the oldest and smallest icebreaker in the Finnish state-owned fleet as well as technically the oldest icebreaker in the world still in active service. However, when the new icebreaker was ordered, it was stated that the new vessel would primarily replace the ''Atle''-class icebreaker ''Frej'' that the Finnish government has chartered from Sweden while ''Voima'' would remain in limited service.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「NB 510 (icebreaker)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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