Icebreakers

Rauma Marine Constructions represents world-leading expertise in Arctic shipbuilding, an area heavily relied upon by the know-how and competitiveness of the Finnish marine industry. The company designs, constructs and maintains ice-going vessels, based on its long experience and professionalism.

Three multi-purpose icebreakers were constructed in Rauma between 1993 and 1998: Fennica, Nordica and Botnica. Fennica and Nordica currently still have valid maintenance agreements with Arctia.

Aurora Botnia, which was completed at the Rauma shipyard in 2021, is also capable of operating in icy conditions. Similarly, the four multi-role corvettes for the Finnish Navy that are currently in the designing phase will be able to operate in icy conditions.

20XX: Next-generation icebreakers

The majority of both Finland’s and Sweden’s icebreakers are coming to the end of their lifespans. Currently, there are too few icebreakers, they are too small, and their emissions are too large. This is why there is an ongoing project between the two countries to build next-generation icebreakers.

Even though an official decision has not yet been made, the Swedish Maritime Administration in December 2021, made tentative enquiries about RMC’s interest in participating in the project.

To manage the building of the breakers, the shipyard must have knowledge of arctic shipbuilding and the ability to implement new technical innovations. This knowledge and technological innovation can then be utilised in a way to both increase the ship’s ability to break the ice, while also cutting emissions to a fraction of what was emitted by the previous generation of icebreakers. Also, experience in public procurement plays a large role since knowledge of the process and the preparation it requires aids the cooperation between the ordering party and the builder.

2015: Maintenance of multi-purpose icebreakers Fennica and Nordica

Rauma Marine Constructions has an agreement with Arctia Oy on the maintenance of the multi-purpose vessels Nordica and Fennica. The first round of maintenance work by RMC took place in early 2015.

Some 50 metalwork, surface treatment and electrical installation professionals from Rauma Marine Constructions’ network of partners worked on the icebreakers.

Both multi-purpose vessels have strong ties to Rauma. Fennica was launched from the Aker Finnyards shipyard in Rauma in 1993, along with its sister ship Nordica one year later.

2015: Converting Otso

The extensive conversion work for Arctia icebreaker Otso was carried out at the RMC shipyard early in the summer of 2015. During the project, Otso was converted to a specialised vessel capable of more versatile tasks.

The ship was fitted with a roll stabilisation tank to enable open water navigation. The conversion also reinforced the ship’s structures in order to upgrade its ice class to match Arctic requirements. In addition to this, the hull was reinforced, and the vessel was fitted with new lifeboats and a helicopter deck, both of which meet international standards.

Originally designed for the Baltic Sea, the converted Otso can now operate anywhere in the world. The three-month-long conversion project employed dozens of people in Rauma.