Finland's Helsinki Shipyard has revealed an order for an LNG-powered icebreaker due in 2025.
The client is Russian miner Norilsk Nickel, which will use the ship in the Yenisei River basin, Yenisei Bay and Kara Sea.
The vessel has been designed by Aker Arctic Technology to run on gas and low-sulphur diesel.
The Russian-owned shipyard said the ship will secure access to Dudinka port for Norilsk Nickel's own fleet and vessels operated by its partners.
"The icebreaker's mission is to make the channel in Yenisei river for Nornickel Arctic Expresses (Arc7) and tow additionally employed fleet of cargo ships Arc5 class with up to 20,000 dwt," Helsinki Shipyard added.
The icebreaker will be based in Murmansk. No price has been revealed for the deal.
The contract was signed last year and ice model tests have been successfully completed. Construction will start this year.
The mining company said the ship will expand its transport capacity.
A pioneering Arctic vessel
"And we are happy to declare that it's going to be fuelled by LNG which goes in line with current environmental trends on decarbonisation and will be a pioneer icebreaker on LNG exploited at Northern Sea Route," said Norilsk Nickel's senior vice president Sergey Dubovitskiy.
The ship will be able to break ice that is two metres thick.
The deal is worth 2,100 person-years to the shipbuilder.
"The contract is significant for Helsinki Shipyard and brings stability to the shipyard´s order book, extending it to the end of 2024," the yard said.
The company is also building two cruise ships for Russian-owner Swan Hellenic due this year.
