Written by
Nick Blenkey
Photograph: Seaspan
Each the U.S. and Canada are each constructing their first polar icebreakers in many years. Polar icebreakers use metal that’s significantly thicker than in typical ships and with tight body spacings to help icebreaking hundreds. Final August, Bollinger Mississippi Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., started to assemble the primary of eight prototype modules for the primary U.S. Coast Guard polar safety cutter (PSC), to check the brand new programs, processes, folks, and instruments which can be required to work with the specialised metal (see earlier story). Meantime, in Canada, Seaspan Shipyards, Vancouver, B.C., studies that it has now efficiently accomplished development of the prototype block for the Canada’s new polar icebreaker program.
Seaspan says that development of this prototype block ensures that it has the correct processes, procedures, gear, and abilities essential to construct the primary heavy polar icebreaker in Canada in additional than 60 years.
Seaspan has developed and constructed the prototype block to make sure that its manufacturing groups are totally ready to chop metal on the polar icebreaker in late 2024. It says that the method of constructing the prototype block resulted in learnings in three key areas: enhancements in design for manufacturing; testing of latest gear, processes and procedures; and validation of first-time high quality in manufacturing to type and weld this new, specialised and thicker metal.
“Having the chance for our engineering and manufacturing groups to work collaboratively to assemble this prototype block very early within the design course of was helpful not solely to Seaspan, but additionally to our buyer and our cross-county provide chain,” mentioned Martin Edwards, chief program officer at Seaspan Shipyards. “We’re all working towards the identical objective of delivering the polar icebreaker to the Canadian Coast Guard. Our expert trades workforce has now seen, felt, examined, and labored on this specialised metal, so we at the moment are higher ready to make sure that Seaspan begins full fee development with a extra mature design.”
The metal wanted to assemble the Canadian polar icebreaker is twice as thick in some areas because the metal Seaspan has used for the opposite ships constructed below Canada’s Nationwide Shipbuilding Technique and is tougher to work with mixed with the tight body areas to help icebreaking capabilities.
It additionally takes further time to weld, and the thicker metal just isn’t as malleable, subsequently developing this further prototype block previous to beginning full fee development was essential for the shipyard’s preparedness.
“The completion of the prototype block for our polar icebreaker is a crucial milestone for the Canadian Coast Guard,” mentioned Mario Pelletier, Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard. “We eagerly await its supply as this vessel will lengthen Coast Guard on-water operations and make sure the steady supply of essential providers within the excessive Arctic. This contains search and rescue, environmental and humanitarian response, supporting vital ocean science and arctic sovereignty.”
Seaspan has already gained vital expertise designing and constructing polar class vessels together with three offshore fisheries science vessels which at the moment are in service with the Canadian Coast Guard; an Offshore Oceanographic Science Vessel that’s presently below development at its Vancouver Shipyards location; and a category of as much as sixteen multi-purpose vessels (additionally polar class) that’s presently in design.
Canada’s new polar icebreaker might be an extremely advanced ship, designed to function within the Arctic’s ice- lined waters, and can play a essential function in enabling the Canadian Coast Guard to transit and function on greater than 162,000 kilometers of Arctic shoreline.
With Canada’s present largest icebreaker, the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent, set to retire on the finish of the last decade after 60 years of service, the brand new polar icebreaker might be one of many world’s largest and strongest conventionally-powered icebreakers. The ship would be the flagship vessel of the Canadian Coast Guard’s icebreaking fleet.
QUICK FACTS ABOUT CANADA’S NEW POLAR ICEBREAKER
With a displacement of 27,876 tonnes, the polar icebreaker might be 158 meters lengthy and 28 meters large, and capable of accommodate as much as 100 personnel. It is going to be capable of function farther north, in tougher ice situations and for longer durations than any icebreaker in Canada to this point.
The first missions of the Polar icebreaker embrace defending Canada’s sovereignty, Arctic science, environmental response, northern resupply, and search and rescue.
KEY DESIGN FEATURES
- IACS Polar Class 2 (PC2) heavy icebreaker
- Greater than 40 MW of put in energy
- Ice-classed azimuthing propulsion system
- Advanced, multi-role mission functionality
- Scientific laboratories
- Moon pool (to permit for protected deployment of kit from inside the ship)
- Helicopter flight deck and hangar
- Car storage and future remotely piloted plane system (RPAS) functionality
