Skangas delivers first LNG for LNG-powered icebreaker

Skangas has announced that it has successfully delivered the first LNG for the LNG-powered, dual-fuel, icebreaker vessel, Polaris. The bunkering operation was carried out via two LNG road tankers at Helsinki’s Vuosaari Harbour, Finland, on 18 – 19 June 2016.

The Head of Winter Navigation Unit at the Finnish Transport Agency, Jarkko Toivola, said: “Polaris will provide a major increase in security for Finland’s winter navigation – with an added bonus of being powered with environmentally friendly LNG. We’re determined to ensure the efficient and reliable year-round operability of shipping for Finland’s businesses.”

Esko Mustamäki, the Managing Director of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard – the company that built Polaris – said: “Polaris represents a new generation of Baltic Sea icebreakers. The special hull design and propulsion arrangement coupled with high power ensure the best icebreaking capacity in the Baltic Sea as well as excellent manoeuvrability.”

The Sales and Managing Director of Skangas, Tommy Mattila, added: “This is the world's first LNG-powered icebreaker. LNG is excellently suited for use as a marine fuel as it's a great alternative to oil, and being environmentally friendly is one of its strengths. Once Finland's first LNG terminal is opened in August, the vessel can also be bunkered directly from the terminal, or bunkering can take place from road tankers at ports around the country.”

Edited from press release by David Rowlands

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquid-natural-gas/23062016/skangas-delivers-first-lng-for-lng-powered-icebreaker-2648/