[QUOTE=Emrobu;186617]But we have 6 others. I think only Russia has more than that.[/QUOTE]
Finland has seven (including the world’s oldest icebreaker in active service) and is just about to get the eighth (widely regarded as the world’s most advanced icebreaker):
[QUOTE=Tups;186576]Well, there’s VARD Marine (former STX Canada Marine) that was involved in the design of the new Canadian icebreaker and recently won the contract to design an icebreaker for Chile.[/QUOTE]
VARD Marine in Canada is part of a much larger VARD Group, majority owned by Fincantieri Group, Italy: http://www.vard.com/products/Pages/Shipbuilding.aspx
They have designed and built Ice Breakers before: http://vardmarine.com/vessel-design-portfolio/specialized-vessels/ice-breakers/
VARD Marine has deigned a number of vessel for American companies: http://www.offshore-technology.com/contractors/design-engineering-construction/vard-marine/
[QUOTE=ombugge;186625]They have designed and built Ice Breakers before: http://vardmarine.com/vessel-design-portfolio/specialized-vessels/ice-breakers/[/QUOTE]
Yet, the only icebreakers I see in their reference list are those that have not been built yet…
[QUOTE=Tups;186621]Finland has seven (including the world’s oldest icebreaker in active service) and is just about to get the eighth (widely regarded as the world’s most advanced icebreaker):
[/QUOTE]
And 2 of ours are meant to be decommissioned before Diefenbaker is delivered. So much for that sovereignty thing. We should just build Polar Sea her very own dedicated berth in Nanisivik. 
Davie keeps pushing Aiviq for the CCG:
There’s a new 3D rendering of the converted vessel.
Curiously, they claim that Aiviq was in fact designed in Canada. I always thought it was designed in house by Edison Chouest.
The USCG was too stupid to figure out how to buy AIVIQ at a bargain and do a common sense conversation. Even though, the Congressmen that Chouest bought, especially Don Young, were pushing for it.
Bravo for the Canadians.
Too bad c.captain cannot comment on this.
Looks like the cog will be raised by the modifications. What do you think?
The Diefenbaker is being built right here in Vancouver by Seaspan. I wonder if Aiviq will get her mods here, too. I’ve never seen her before, though I know one of her former hands.
[QUOTE=Emrobu;186484]http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/shell-canada-oil-drilling-nova-scotia-gas-offshore-regulator-1.3647596
As long as ships like Stena are making money, then there’s hope for the arctic fields, right?[/QUOTE]
Can they generate enough money to compensate the Nova Scotia taxpayers who have been dumping millions they can ill afford every year for the Portland to Yarmouth ferry?
[QUOTE=Lee Shore;187932]Can they generate enough money to compensate the Nova Scotia taxpayers who have been dumping millions they can ill afford every year for the Portland to Yarmouth ferry?[/QUOTE]
Potentially. I’m no economist, but from what I read, if that ferry thing goes completely sideways it will cost NS about $100 million over 10 years. Whereas the royalties from oil and gas may be in the billions per annum. Again, though, I’m totally out of my depth with financial schtuff. I’m a good-enough mathmatrice, but I’m fairly certain that money is some kind of woo woo.
http://energy.novascotia.ca/oil-and-gas/offshore/economic-benefits
Probably not an issue, considering that it’s an icebreaker (typically high GM) and they’re increasing the freeboard as well.
Davie’s main facilities are in Quebec.
[QUOTE=Emrobu;187923]Looks like the cog will be raised by the modifications. What do you think?[/QUOTE]
Ice breakers doesn’t carry much cargo, so fixed ballast can solve any stability problems and needs.
I’d like to know if they every tried AIVIQ out in the ice to see what she can actually do. If so, let’s see the videos.
[QUOTE=tugsailor;187966]I’d like to know if they every tried AIVIQ out in the ice to see what she can actually do. If so, let’s see the videos.[/QUOTE]
Not only you are wondering. No report of any ice breaking test to be found anywhere I have looked, incl. in Shell’s Ice Management plan submitted to BOEM: www.boem.gov/Appendix-G-Drilling-Ice-Management-Plan/
For the Shell job it may not matter much, but before anybody spend a on plans to convert this for xxx Mill. I would assume they would insist on seen a real life test in real ice, not just a model test and computer simulations.
If somebody wonder how it is done, here is an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwe0MHRaqhA
[QUOTE=Emrobu;187942]Potentially. I’m no economist, but from what I read, if that ferry thing goes completely sideways it will cost NS about $100 million over 10 years. Whereas the royalties from oil and gas may be in the billions per annum. Again, though, I’m totally out of my depth with financial schtuff. I’m a good-enough mathmatrice, but I’m fairly certain that money is some kind of woo woo.
http://energy.novascotia.ca/oil-and-gas/offshore/economic-benefits[/QUOTE]
Last year the NS government set aside something like 6 million to subsidize the ferry service for 5 years. The ferry operator (Novastar) burned through it in one year so they cut him loose. It looks like they are bringing back the Cat this year. One slight problem with the concept is that there is no transportation or much of anything else in Yarmouth where the ferry lands. They are selling it as a cruise but unless you bring your car which is expensive, it’s a cruise to nowhere.
[QUOTE=tugsailor;187966]I’d like to know if they every tried AIVIQ out in the ice to see what she can actually do. If so, let’s see the videos.[/QUOTE]
don’t forget that Shell always chartered the two Finnish icebreakers for the proper ice-related work off Alaska and the AIVIQ was only a ‘secondary icebreaker’.
And - no surprise - not much ice around in this (older) PR video from Chouest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f678c_k4SUc
[QUOTE=tugsailor;187966]I’d like to know if they every tried AIVIQ out in the ice to see what she can actually do. If so, let’s see the videos.[/QUOTE]
It’s no problem. If Aiviq doesn’t perform in the ice, we can just transfer her to the Navy. We can tell them she’s the newest Victoria Class submarine.
Al Gore says there won’t be any more ice soon.
[QUOTE=Drill Bill;187979]don’t forget that Shell always chartered the two Finnish icebreakers for the proper ice-related work off Alaska and the AIVIQ was only a ‘secondary icebreaker’.
And - no surprise - not much ice around in this (older) PR video from Chouest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f678c_k4SUc[/QUOTE]
Four ice breaking vessels on location may have been more a show for the gallery than a real need.
The two rigs used weren’t designed to operate in any kind of heavy ice in the first place. No icebergs drifting in this area and no heavy ice pack in the drilling season. A few growlers may be seen in the early and late parts of the season. (No, not THAT kind of Growlers)
If ice drifts should close in they would disconnect the LMRP and move the rig(s)away from the drill site, leaving the BOP stack in place.
In this respect the Ice breaking capabilities of the secondary IM vessels would not be tested as their role was to recover anchors. As the drilling units had far less ice capability they could not remain on location in heavy ice.
So the fact is:
A) In worst case anchor chains/wires would have been slipped and the units escaped before any heavy drift ice was experienced.
B) There were NO possibility that the rig(s) would be on location long enough for heavy new ice to form on and around the drill site.
Q: How can a “Singaporean” know anything about drilling operations in the Arctic? Because I was part of the planning team for Norsk Hydro for a drilling campaign close to Bear Island in 1990, using the Polar Pioneer. The same scenarios were faced there then.
PS> We also planned the logistics for an on-shore drilling campaign on Spitzbergen, which had to be done in the dead of winter, not to damage the permafrost. This involve moving the rig and supplies to Svea before the ice got too thick. Contingency plan involved using a Russian nuclear ice breaker at USD 150,000/day, which was a large sum than.
PPS> Living in Singapore doesn’t mean I only worked in S.E.Asia.
When I lived in Svalbard, they talked about the past drilling campaigns on the archipelago. As far as I know, they never found economically viable deposits. Bringing a nuclear-powered icebreaker to Svea would have been… interesting.
By the way, no-one questioned your knowledge about Arctic oil drilling. Singapore has produced more icebreaking offshore vessels than all the American shipyards combined.*
(* that would be two against one, but as they say, you can’t be just a little bit pregnant…)