Category Archives: Ice Strengthened

“AKER ARCTIC SELECTED TO PROVIDE ADVANCED ICE LOAD MONITORING SYSTEM FOR FINNISH NAVY MULTI-ROLE CORVETTES” –Aker Arctic

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Below is an Aker Arctic news release. Frankly I didn’t know there was such a thing as an ice load monitoring system, but it sounds like something we would want on ships going into the Arctic or Antarctic. I presume it is monitoring the role rate (Tups do you have more info?)

Specs for the class have been updated since the graphic above:

  • Displacement: 4300 tons
  • Length: 117 m (384′)
  • Width: 16 m (52.5′)
  • Draught: 5 m (16.4′)
  • Speed: 26 knots (48 km/h)
  • Crew: 73

More on this new class of warships here and here.

Aker Arctic has been chosen to supply its state-of-the-art ice load monitoring system to the Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command. The contract includes the delivery of Aker Arctic’s ARC ILMS ice load monitoring, measurement and analysis system for the series of four Pohjanmaa-class multi-role corvettes currently under construction at Rauma Marine Constructions for the Finnish Navy.

The ARC ILMS is Aker Arctic’s platform for measuring loads that the ship’s structure experiences when operating in ice-cover waters, providing feedback to the operator on the safety level of the ship in ice.

“Following our recent successes being chosen to supply the ARC ILMS for the Canadian Coast Guard’s Multi-Purpose Vessels (MPV) (here–Chuck) and our collaboration with French cruise company Ponant measuring ice loads on the Le Commandant Charcot as she made her historic trans-Arctic voyage last summer, we are excited with the vote of confidence the Finnish Navy has put in us to supply our ARC ILMS to their important program” said Kari Laukia, Head of Equipment Business and Special Projects at Aker Arctic.

The contract builds on Aker Arctic’s long-term involvement with the Pohjanmaa-class. In addition to the ARC ILMS, Aker Arctic is supplying the ice-strengthened controllable pitch propellers and their pitch control mechanisms, propeller shafts, bearings and shaft seals. In addition to complete design, calculations and material supplies, Aker Arctic is also responsible for installation supervision and commissioning of the propulsion lines.

“MAN ES to provide propulsion systems for Canadian Coast Guard’s AOPSs” –Naval Today

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Three AOPSs at pier before the commissioning ceremony for HMCS Margaret Brooke (AOPV-431). Canadian Navy photo

Naval Today reports,

“German manufacturer MAN Energy Solutions (MAN ES) has received a contract to provide propulsion systems for two Arctic offshore patrol ships (AOPSs) for the Canadian Coast Guard.”

The Coast Guard versions of the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships apparently have the same propulsion system as the preceding six Navy versions, but there are details about the propellers in this announcement that I had not heard before.

“Finally, MAN Energy Solutions will deliver 2 × MAN Alpha-branded five-bladed, bolted propellers that meet PC5 rules and which can even be exchanged underwater. These cater for higher cavitation inception speeds, possible shock impacts, and mission-critical conditions requiring additional redundancy, silent operation with minimal hydro-acoustic signatures, and suppressed underwater-radiated noise, the company highlighted.”

I don’t know what a “bolted propeller” is, but the idea that they can be changed without dry docking sounds like it might be useful, particularly on a vessel that operates in ice where we have had some experience with damaged propellers.

“Arctic Security: Patrolling NATO’s High North” –YouTube

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Thought I would share this video. Found it on a SeaWaves post, Patrolling Greenland on Denmark’s HDMS Triton. HMDS Triton a Thetis class patrol frigate. These ships do Coast Guard type work in or near the Arctic. It is a type of ship that you will not find in the Coast Guard fleet, but one that we may want to add in the future. It is ice strengthened. As a ship that operates in an area where icing is common. its ground tackle (anchor handling equipment) is below the foc’sle deck, and its boats and boat handling gear can be enclosed. The crew is relatively small (I think they are double crewed to get more underway time), but additional berthing is available, and weapons can be added using the Stanflex system.

Arctic (orthographic projection) with national borders and land highlighted. Credit Heraldry, Isochrone, via Wikipedia, 23 July 2023.

The Thetis class ships are now over 30 years old. They are to be replaced by a new class, currently referred to as MPV-80 (multi-purpose vessel, 80 meter).

OMT MPV-80 technical specifications

Below is the narrative that accompanied the YouTube video.

The Arctic region is the gateway to the North Atlantic. For NATO and its Allies, maintaining a strong presence here is vital to protect trade, transport and communication links between North America and Europe.

As climate change causes the polar ice caps to melt and the sea levels to rise, new sea routes are beginning to emerge, which could present a threat to Euro-Atlantic security. Greenland is considered by scientists to be ground zero for climate change. Along with the Faroe Islands, it forms part of the Kingdom of Denmark and is therefore under Danish military protection. That protection falls to the Joint Arctic Command, or JACO, a Danish-led operational command with a central headquarters in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital.

Join the Danish Armed Forces in Greenland, at sea, in the air and on land, to discover more about how security might be affected in this region and learn about the capabilities and experience NATO Ally Denmark has in the North Atlantic area.

“As Arctic ice melts, NATO plots northern defense tactics” –Video

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Wanted to pass along the video above, if for no other reason, for the scenes of the Danish Patrol Frigate HDMS Triton operating in the ice. Notice her ground tackle (equipment used to anchor the ship) is not exposed on the foc’sle, where it would be quickly encrusted with ice. It is well below the main deck.

Triton’s routine peacetime missions and those of her Thetis class sister ships are much the same as US Coast Guard cutters. They do SAR, fisheries, marine environmental protection, and support scientific research. They are ice strengthened and can reportedly operate in 31 inches (80 cm) of ice. They use the STANFLEX modular weapon system, with one slot forward and two slots aft, allowing rapid addition or change out of weapon systems. They have a hull mounted sonar, torpedo tubes, and can support a MH-60R ASW helicopter. They are 3,500 tons full load and 112.3 m (368 ft 5 in) in length with a speed of 22 knots and a range of 8,700 nautical miles at 15 knots and a 60 day endurance. My Combat Fleets of the world reported that they had seven crews to operate the four ships. Perhaps surprisingly, they have only a single shaft, but it is probably well out of the way of ice. The ships of the class are all over 30 years old and the Danes have probably started thinking about replacement.

The Royal Danish Navy (RDN) Thetis-class patrol ship HDMS Triton is pictured operating a Seahawk helicopter during Canada’s Operation ‘Nanook’ exercise in the Arctic in 2022. One element of RDN Arctic capability development is to improve tactical datalinks between the Seahawks and their host frigates and patrol ships. (Canadian Armed Forces)

Antarctic Support Ship “Almirante Saldanha” for Brazil

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SeaWaves reports,

After research and studies conducted by the Brazilian Navy (MB), the future Antarctic Support Ship (NApAnt) had its name chosen: “Almirante Saldanha”. TheNApAntwill reduce the refueling time of the Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station (EACF), due to cranes with greater load and maneuverability, and will be better equipped for the launch of camps and will have greater autonomy to expand support for research.

The new ship will replace the Oceanographic Support Ship “Ary Rongel” and will have more modern technical resources such as the navigation and control system, which will allow closer approach of the ship to the beach for landing personnel and material, safely.

There is no indication that the ship is an icebreaker, but it will certainly be ice strengthened. According to Janes, the ship will be delivered in 2025 and,

“The ship will displace approximately 5,880 tonnes for a length of 93.9 m, a width of 18.5 m, a draught of 6 m, cruising speed of 12 kt, endurance of 70 days, and a crew of 95, including 26 researchers.”

This is the ship being replaced:

Oceanographic support vessel ‘Ary Rongel’. Marinha do Brasil picture

 

“New Royal Canadian Navy Offshore Patrol Vessel Visits Norfolk After Circumnavigating North America” –USNI

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HMCS Harry DeWolf in ice (6-8 second exposure)

We have talked about the Canadian Navy’s Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) before (more here). It is, in many ways an Offshore Patrol Vessel, that would seem right at home in the US Coast Guard. In fact, in addition to the six being built for the Royal Canadian Navy, two are being built for the Canadian Coast Guard.

I would not be surprised if the US Coast Guard opts to build something similar. This US Naval Institute News Service story provides a bit more insight into its operations and how it is being used.

The AOPS, like the Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC), is a VARD design. It is based on the Norwegian Coast Guard Cutter Svalbard, that was capable enough to reach the North Pole on 21 August 2019. Svalbard also completed a scientific mission for the US in the Beuford Sea in 2020, when CGC Healy had a fire in one of its main propulsion motors and was unable to recover data contained in buoys she had deployed earlier.

Most surprising for me were the comments the ship’s use of containers,

At the briefing to press in Norfolk, which was broadcast online, he noted that sea-shipping containers aboard Harry DeWolf, not usually carried on warships, can be used as laboratories for science and researchers studying changes in the Arctic.

Gleason added that at all times the ship will have two containers loaded for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to respond to emergencies when called upon.

Gleason said early on there was a key training scenario of responding in a mass casualty scenario. In it Harry De Wolf  worked with the U.S. and Canadian coast guards and naval vessels in treating and evacuating the injured aboard and taking them ashore.

On this mission to the North, Gleason said the containers had a real-time military mission. They “were used as underwater listening devices” for submarines. “Fortunately, we didn’t find any.”

I suspect the “underwater listening devices” for submarines was the Towed Reelable Active Passive Sonar, TRAPS system, (more here).

Finnish Navy Ice Strengthened Corvette

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We began talking about this class of rather unique warships about six years ago. Since then, a lot of comments have been added. I wanted to pass along this info graphic.

What makes these really unique, and perhaps of interest to the USCG, is the Ice Class requirement which translates to non-consolidated (refrozen) ice channels with a thickness of 1.0 meter (3.3 ft) in the middle.

Compared to the Offshore Patrol Cutters, these ships will be a little longer (374 feet vice 360), but also a little lighter displacement (3900 tons vs 4500). They will have a much shorter range (3500 nautical miles vs over 10,000) and a much smaller crew (70 vs over 100), although the total accommodations are similar.

Predictably the Finnish ship is much more heavily armed.

Canada’s HMCS Harry DeWolf Class AOPS

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HMCS Harry DeWolf in ice (6-8 second exposure)

The Harry DeWolf class is an almost unique type of ship. Canada is building eight, six for their Navy and two for their Coast Guard. It is derived from the similar and perhaps slightly more capable Norwegian Coast Guard vessel Svalbard, which has made it to the North Pole and recently undertook a mission the Healy was unable to complete due to a machinery casualty.

They are classified as “Artic and Offshore Patrol Ships” or AOPS, rather than icebreakers, but they are clearly designed to operate in ice and are rated Polar Class 5 (Year-round operation in medium first-year ice, which may include old ice inclusions). In many ways they approximate the similarly sized and powered old Wind Class icebreakers. (2012 post on the class with updates in the comments here.)

Below are another photo and a couple of videos, but first the specs.

  • Displacement: 6,615 t (6,511 long tons)
  • Length: 103.6 m (339 ft 11 in)
  • Beam: 19 m (62 ft 4 in)
  • Draft: 6.5 m (21 ft 4 in) (estimate based on that of Svalbard)
  • Propulsion Generators: Four 3.6 MW (4,800 hp)
  • Propulsion Motors: 2 × 4.5 MW (6,000 hp)
  • Speed: 17 knots
  • Endurance: 6,800 nautical miles
  • Crew: 65 (accomodations for 85)
  • Armament: one 25mm Mk38 remote weapon system modified for Arctic Conditions and two .50 cal. machine guns (I do feel this is inadequate.)

HMCS Harry DeWolf looking forward, bow and 25mm Mk38 remote weapon system.

 

“U.S. Navy Reports On Arctic And North Atlantic” –Naval News

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Official portrait of Admiral Burke as Commander NAVEUR-NAVAF

Naval News reports on a Webinar conducted by Admiral Robert Burke who is Commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe, Commander of U.S. Naval Forces Africa, and Commander of Allied Joint Forces Command in Naples. Previously he served as Vice Chief of Naval Operations. He is a submariner. Sounds like he spent some time under the ice.

There is a lot here about the Arctic. Keep in mind he is talking primarily about the Atlantic side rather than the waters around Alaska. This is primarily about the Russian threat, but there are concerns about China as well.