Dutch shipbuilder Royal Niestern Sander has said it is building the world's first shallow-draught ice-breaking walk to work vessel.
The accommodation ship will help carry crew to offshore oil and gas installations off the east coast of Russia's Sakhalin island.
Walk to work units come with heave-compensated gangways to allow personnel transfers even in the worst of weather.
The shipowner is a joint venture between oil company Mercury Sakhalin and Russian shipping company Pola.
No price has been revealed, but delivery is set for December 2021.
Wagenborg brought in to help
Dutch shipowner Wagenborg is acting as an intermediary in the deal, having contributed to the project with its "operational experience of sailing in shallow waters with ice breaking vessels in the Caspian, as well as the walk to work track record in the southern North Sea", RNS said.
The vessel was designed by the yard's in-house team. RNS said the deal is one of its biggest ever orders.
The ship is optimised for year-round operations in the challenging conditions on the east coast of Sakhalin in temperatures ranging from minus 30 degrees up to 35 degrees, RNS added.
The vessel has a draught of 3.15 metres, the shipbuilder said.
The ship will use Azimuth thrusters to break through ice of up to 1 metre and will carry up to 40 people from the shallow port of Nabil. It can also be used for oil spill response services.
Wagenborg Offshore has been working with Mercury Sakhalin in the area since November with one of its ice-breaking support vessels.
