Classification society Bureau Veritas has been chosen to class two different series of sophisticated ice-breaking tugs for service in the Caspian Sea.

The first series is for three plus two 66m loa ice-breaking and ice management tugs with 50 tonne bollard pull and Ice Class IA Super Special Service – North Caspian Sea Icebreaker, with ice-breaking capability up to 0.6 m level ice thickness.

Designed by Aker Arctic, they will be built in the STX RO Offshore Braila yard in Romania for the Caspian Offshore Construction group project in the North Caspian Kashgan oil field.

“These vessels have been designed by Aker Arctic and will be classed by Bureau Veritas, linking two centres of expertise,” explains Gijsbert de Jong, manager, Bureau Veritas. “The vessels have to be very tough to work in the Caspian and Russian waters. The design has been tailor made for optimum performance in the shallow waters of the North Caspian Sea, where the vessels will break level ice up to 60cm thick and can operate year round in ice conditions up to 1m thick.

 

In addition to towage and pushing barges in open water and in ice conditions, they will be capable of ice management operations in astern working mode, clearing ice rubble. The vessels will be equipped for undertaking firefighting, rescue and evacuation tasks and have deck cargo capability for supply functions. Bureau Veritas experts have evaluated the ship’s hull structure under ice-breaking loads, taking into account the specific conditions of the North Caspian Sea, by performing a direct assessment of the ice pressures under different operating scenarios.”

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source: Offshore Shipping Online