Wärtsilä is equipping a new icebreaking Polar logistics vessel being built at Chantiers Piriou shipyard in France with main engines, exhaust treatment systems and thrusters.

Due to be delivered in the first half of 2017, the 72 m patrol icebreaker vessel will be operated by the French Navy on behalf of Terre Australes et Antarctiques Françaises (TAAF) and the French Polar Institute (IPEV), and is slated to carry out its first supply mission to the Dumont d'Urville station in Antarctica in winter 2018.

Powered by Bureau Veritas "Icebreaker 5"-classed stainless steel propellers, the vessel will have accommodation for 60 people as well as a cargo capacity of 1,200 tonnes, and is fitted with a helideck large enough to accommodate two helicopters.

Total scope of supply comprises four in-line Wärtsilä 20 main engines, two controllable-pitch-propellers and shaft lines, a tunnel thruster, two reduction gears and four Wärtsilä NOR (‘NOx Reducer’) after-treatment systems allowing the vessel to comply with IMO Tier III emissions regulations. Delivery of the equipment is planned for mid-2016.

"For this type of vessel that will be operating in the most challenging ice and weather conditions, reliability and efficient performance are essential. Wärtsilä has a strong reference list indicating our ability to fulfil these requirements and we are extremely pleased to be cooperating with Chantiers Piriou in this project," said Aaron Bresnahan, vp Wärtsilä Marine Solutions.