ABB Wins $35 Million Next Gen Icebreaker Deal

ABB said fuel consumption would be reduced up to 20 percent

Zurich based power and automation technology group ASEA Brown Boveri (ABB) said Monday it won an order worth $35 million from the Baltic Shipyard Ltd. to supply propulsion and energy efficient electrical systems for a new icebreaker vessel under construction for Russia's state shipping company Rosmorport FSUE.

The firm said its Azipod propulsion system would make "considerable gains in energy efficiency" and would reduce fuel consumption up to 20 percent.

The 25 megawatt line diesel-electric icebreaker is a next-generation multifunctional diesel-electric icebreaker intended to operate on the Northern Sea Route (NSR), the Arctic seas, and estuaries of rivers discharging into the Arctic Ocean, the statement said.

The icebreaker will be able to proceed continuously both ahead and astern at the speed of 2 knots in a compact ice field up to 2m thick with 20 cm of snow cover and temperatures as low as minus 35 degrees Celsius.

"The extreme conditions north of the Arctic Circle demand constant availability and high-energy efficiency from all systems on board," said Veli-Matti Reinikkala, head of ABB's Process Automation division.

In total the Swiss firm said it will provide integrated power generation and distribution systems, thruster motors, fire-fighting pump motors as well as 25 MW propulsion systems.

Delivery to Rosmorport in expected in 2015.

The U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) said last month that Arctic ice levels have fallen to their lowest summer cover since satellite data collection began.