Page 45: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2023)

FINLAND inland is home to a strong and vibrant maritime clus- ter, with a mix of large, medium and small shipyards, as well as a deep pool of marine engineering expertise

F and a broad network of vessel equipment suppliers.

Finnish

As one of the world’s northernmost countries, Finland is also home to a ? eet of icebreakers that keep imports and ex- companies ports ? owing through its harbors, even during the coldest winter months. All Finnish ports are prone to freezing over, and the country’s icebreaking season typically starts in early have designed

December and can last through May.

It’s only natural, then, that Finland is a leading hub for icebreaking expertise. About 80% of the world’s icebreakers about 80 percent have been designed by Finnish companies, and some 60% of all icebreakers were built at Finnish shipyards, according to ? gures from Business Finland.

of the world’s “Developing, designing and building icebreaking vessels is very strong in Finland,” said Reko-Antti Suojanen, managing director at Aker Arctic Technology, an engineering company icebreakers, and specializing in icebreakers. “We hold the position as the world leader in this segment.”

Suojanen describes Aker Arctic as “a birthplace for ice- about 60 percent breakers” because the company has provided design and engi- neering for the majority of the world’s icebreaking ? eet.

Aker Arctic, established as an independent company in of them have 2005, has roots that go back nearly 100 years, but today is ma- jority owned by the Finnish government (Finnish Industry In- vestment, 66.4%) as well as industrial partners ABB (16.8%) been built by and Aker Solutions (16.8%).

Aker Arctic specializes in the development, design, engi-

Finnish shipyards.

neering and testing services for icebreakers and other ice- going vessels. Its experts know the ins and outs of icebreaker design and engineering, all the way down to the very last de- tail. “That’s part of the specialty of designing ships for ice conditions,” Suojanen said.

The company’s Helsinki headquarters houses the world’s

By Eric Haun sole privately owned ice model testing facility, complete with a 75- by 8-m basin that allows engineers to study the perfor- mance and behavior of their designs in real ice conditions, including ? rst and multi-year level ice, brash ice channels, ice rubble and ridges, ? oe ice, and ? rst and multi-year ridges. “One of the bene? ts of this laboratory is that we can test new concepts and ideas,” Suojanen said.

Through the years Aker Arctic has developed a number of breakthrough innovations, such as double acting icebreak- ers, designed to travel forward in open water and thin ice, but turn around and proceed astern in heavy ice conditions, as well as oblique icebreakers, which operate not only ahead and astern, but also sideways to clear a larger lane through

Arctia’s Polaris, designed by Aker

Arctic, is the world’s ? rst icebreaker ice. Aker Arctic’s intellectual property includes 12 patented equipped with LNG dual fuel engines. inventions in 20 countries.

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