Page 95: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 1998)

senior engineers and naval archi- tects at the FMA. The classic ice- breaker action of riding up on the ice before slamming down in a dynamic side to side motion, is well proven but is a hull induced action that tends to make the vessel extremely uncomfortable and rela- tively unstable in open water, which is why most icebreakers are laid up for eight months of the year.

The excellent sea keeping and stability required from a satellite controlled, dynamic positioned exploration drilling vessel would therefore seem to be at the diamet- rically opposite end of the scale as far as hull design is concerned.

Yet the revolutionary new pack- age developed and patented by the

FMA has achieved vessel perfor- mance that improves on the best icebreakers currently in service and delivers the outstanding sta- bility and triple redundancy (DP3) required of an exploration drilling vessel.

The highly flexible power pack- age produced by the Caterpillar engines and ABB generator system means that the vessel can use the maximum 10MW power needed for a front line icebreaker without the economic and environmental downside of running a massive slow speed engine at virtually idle power for offshore standby or posi- tioning duties.

Arjo Harjula, Chief Naval

Architect at the FMA explains the principals behind the new concept vessel: "The classic icebreaker gen- erates its performance from the fore section of the hull while the offshore vessel is exceptionally sta- ble because of the aft characteris- tics of its hull. We have combined these elements and added some new features in the new hull design as well as installing stabili- ty tanks. The result is outstanding. "The propulsion package is also a key element. This multi-function vessel would not be efficient with any other type of power system and I am delighted that

Caterpillar, its Finnish dealer

Wihuri Oy Power Products and

ABB have worked together to pro- duce a package that ideally meets our needs in what is the first marine application of this type in the world. The azipod drive sys- tem also brings additional benefits to the icebreaking operation because the thrusters can be used to create a propeller wave that pushes the broken ice away from the vessel, creating a wider chan- vessel that will be an excellent ice- breaker but will not have to be laid up for eight or nine months a year industry as being way ahead of its time and in my opinion, the future for this sector is in the use of good nel for the following convoy to nav- igate. "We now have the design of a because of poor open sea character- istics. This vessel is widely consid- ered by experts in the shipping hull design combined with the flex- ibility of multiple high speed diesel (Continued on page 100)

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