SEPTEMBER 24, 2013 — Germany's Nordic Yards has started construction of two icebreaking rescue and salvage vessels for the Russian Ministry of Transport. The cutting of the first steel section, which traditionally marks the start of flame-cutting, was celebrated yesterday at the Wismar, Rostock-Warnemünde, shipyard in the presence of representatives of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RMRS) classification society.

The Ministry of Transport ordered the highly specialized rescue and salvage vesselsin December 2012. After their delivery in 2015, the 88 m x 18.5 m ships will be used by the Russian State Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (SMRCC) for patrols and rescues on the northern Polar Sea route.

They are intended for fighting fires and combating oil pollution. Their highly specialized equipment and helicopter landing pad on the bow qualify them for search and rescue missions to help ships in distress and for their evacuation and the provision of medical assistance.

The vessels are being built to RMRS ice class IB6 and are suitable for use in ice up to one meter thick and are therefore designed to perform excellently in Arctic conditions.

Each ship has a total power output of about 7 megawatts. As we reported earlier the ships will have ABB 3.5 megawatt (MW) Azipod VI marine propulsion systems and complete electric power plants

"This order strengthens Nordic Yards' reputation as a reliable and competent partner on the Russian market – in the Arctic as well as in the offshore oil and gas sectors," says Vitaly Yusufov, owner and president of Nordic Yards. "We look forward to further successful projects with Russia."