Maybe this would be the chosen one?:
Fennica. Image: Arctia
“Built in 1993, Fennica was specifically designed to support polar operations during the northern hemisphere summer (when Finland’s icebreakers sit idle)”
So doesn’t meet the “5-6 year old” existing vessel Trump was talking about, but such small matters usually doesn’t border him.
President Trump said nearly the same thing nearly five years ago. This time around, I’m more optimistic that a deal can be done. I’ll believe it, though, when money starts changing hands. This is a reproduction of an article that first appeared on...
Est. reading time: 9 minutes
Fennica and Nordica were designed and built for use in ice and open ocean conditions. Changes in hull shape, the introduction of two 360-degree steerable Aquamaster Azimuth thrusters in place of rudders (as discussed above), and an active stability system overcame some of the challenges of taking earlier Baltic icebreakers to the open ocean. Their smaller sister ship, the Botnica , was sold to Estonia in 2012.
The reason Finland built these Multi-purpose vessels was to take advantage of the off season. Icebreakers are needed in Finnish waters from November through May, but the rest of the time they sit unused, requirng maintenance and upkeep but earning no revenue. Multi-purpose icebreakers could be earning money from charters during this downtime. Nordica and Fennica have supported oil operations in the North Sea and the Chukchi Sea (off of Alaska). Nordica also supported oil and gas production in the Sea of Okhotsk and owns the record for the earliest transit of the Northwest Passage, completed during her 2017 return from Sakhalin. They’ve also worked in unlikely places for icebreakers, such as off the coast of Brazil and AngolaFennica and/or Nordica were under consideration for purchase or lease by the U.S. Coast Guard in 2020 when I worked this issue for the U.S. Government.2 As the embassy’s maritime expert, I gathered information and served as a go-between during negotiations.
PS> This is a reproduction of an article that first appeared on Sixty Degrees North Forty Icebreakers. Big Ones. - by Peter Rybski
