Jump to content

MSV Botnica

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Finnish icebreaker Botnica)

Botnica moored in Old City Harbour in 2023.
History
Finland
NameBotnica
Owner
Port of registryHelsinki,  Finland[1]
OrderedFebruary 1997[2]
BuilderFinnyards Ltd., Rauma, Finland[1]
CostFIM 303 million[2]
Yard number421[1]
Laid down2 September 1997[1]
Launched20 February 1998[1]
Completed1 June 1998[1]
In service1998–2012
Identification
FateSold to Estonia in 2012
Estonia
OwnerPort of Tallinn (2012–)[4]
OperatorTS Shipping
Port of registryTallinn,  Estonia
Acquired28 November 2012[5]
Identification
StatusActive as of April 2018
General characteristics
TypeIcebreaker, Offshore support vessel
Tonnage
  • 6,370 GT
  • 1,911 NT
  • 2,890 DWT (offshore)
Length96.70 m (317.3 ft)
Beam24.00 m (78.7 ft)
Draught
  • 7.20–7.80 m (23.6–25.6 ft) (icebreaker)[6]
  • 8.50 m (27.9 ft) (offshore)
Depth11.70 m (38.4 ft)
Ice classDNV ICE-10 Icebreaker
Installed power12 × Caterpillar 3512B DITA (12 × 1,258 kW)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph) (max)
  • 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) (service)
  • 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) in 80 cm (31 in) ice
Crew
  • 19 (winter)
  • 23 (summer)[8]
  • Accommodation for 72 personnel
Aviation facilitiesHelipad

MSV Botnica is a multipurpose offshore support vessel and icebreaker built by Finnyards in Rauma, Finland in 1998. She was the newest and technically most advanced state-owned icebreaker of Finland until 2012, when she was sold to the Port of Tallinn, Estonia for 50 million euro.[4] Botnica is used as an escort icebreaker in the Baltic Sea during the winter months and it carries out subsea and offshore construction works worldwide during the open water season.

Design

[edit]

General characteristics

[edit]

The maximum overall length of Botnica is 96.70 metres (317.3 ft) and her length between perpendiculars is 77.51 metres (254.3 ft). The hull has a moulded breadth of 24 metres (78.7 ft) and depth of 11.7 metres (38.4 ft). The draught is 7.20 to 7.80 metres (23.6 to 25.6 ft) when the ship is acting as an icebreaker and 8.50 metres (27.9 ft) in offshore supply operations. The gross tonnage of Botnica is 6,370, net tonnage 1,911 and deadweight tonnage 2,890 tons.[1] The light displacement of Botnica, i.e. the weight of the ship without consumables, cargo and crew, is 5,880 tons. Her loaded displacement varies according to the loading condition.[3][9]

Botnica is classified by Det Norske Veritas with a class notation Symbol used by Det Norske Veritas for ships constructed under their supervision.1A1 ICE-10 Icebreaker SF HELDK RPS E0 DYNPOS-AUTRO DK(+) HL(1.8).[1] Her ice class, ICE-10 Icebreaker, means that she is designed to break ice up to 1 metre (3.3 ft) thick without limitations to ramming.[10] To improve the ship's maneuverability in ice her hull is wider at the bow than in the stern. These "reamers" increase the width of the ice channel and reduce friction between the hull and ice.[8] The reamers are designed so that they create minimum additional resistance in the astern mode by breaking ice downwards.[11] In addition the hull has an explosion-welded stainless steel ice belt that reduces friction and protects the steel plates from abrasion at the waterline. The hull is coated with low-friction Inerta 160 epoxy paint.[8]

The ship's design, with the maximum breadth in the foreship and a narrower hull aftship, provides this multipurpose vessel with good seakeeping characteristics.[11] Traditionally icebreakers have had, due to their broad beam and relatively shallow hull, a very short roll period in waves, which makes working on board the vessel extremely difficult due to its violent motions.[12] The solution with narrow breadth in the aftship results in a sufficiently long roll period. At the midship and aft ship area there are also exceptionally wide bilge shelves as an integral part of the hull, to further dampen the rolling.[11]

Overall, the design provides the vessel with excellent icebreaking capability combined with the necessary stability, seaworthiness and low motions for offshore work.[13]

For offshore construction projects Botnica was built with a 160-ton Hydralift ASA crane, but it was replaced in 2010 with a 150-ton MacGregor crane with active heave compensation. The vessel can also be equipped with an optional 120-ton A-frame. The 1,000-square-metre (10,764 sq ft) aft deck can be used for various purposes and the ship has a 6.5-by-6.5-metre (21 ft × 21 ft) moon pool for underwater operations.[3] In addition the ship has a helipad and accommodation for 45–47 workers in addition to the ship's crew, which is increased from 19 to 23 during the summer season.[8][14] Since Botnica acts as an escort icebreaker during the winter season, she is also equipped with a 210-ton Aquamaster-Rauma towing winch and stern notch for assisting merchant ships.[15] The oblique bridge maximizes visibility from the starboard side steering position.[8]

Power and propulsion

[edit]

Botnica is powered by six engine-generator-engine sets consisting of twelve 51.8-litre (3,160-cubic-inch) Caterpillar 3512B V12 high-speed diesel engines, each with an output of 1,258 kW (1,687 hp), driving six ABB generators. The ship was originally designed for six bigger Wärtsilä generating sets, but the lower initial acquisition cost of the Caterpillars resulted in the very unusual engine arrangement.[8] While having a large number of smaller engines increases the flexibility and efficiency of the power system — engines can be started and stopped on demand and the running engines operate at maximum efficiency — the main engines of Botnica require considerably more maintenance hours in comparison to ships with fewer generating sets.[8] The fuel consumption of the main engines at maximum draught is 50 tons of marine diesel oil (MDO) per day at full power, 25 tons at a service speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph), 10–15 tons during dynamic positioning and 4 tons at port.[3]

Designed according to the power plant principle in which the main engines produce power for all shipboard consumers, Botnica has no separate auxiliary generators. However, there is a smaller six-cylinder Caterpillar 3406 as an emergency diesel generator with an output of 230 kW (310 hp).[3]

Botnica was one of the first icebreakers to be equipped with Azipod propulsion, ABB's brand of electric azimuth thrusters developed in Finland. The two 5 MW Azipod VI1600A units considerably improve the maneuverability of the icebreaker — the tactical diameter of the turning circle in open water is less than the overall length of the ship. This is especially useful during escort and assistance operations in difficult ice conditions when the icebreaker has to operate at close proximity to other vessels at low speeds. Together with three 1,150-kW Brunvoll FU-80-LTC-2000 variable-pitch bow thrusters the azimuth thrusters also allow dynamic positioning during offshore operations.[1] The bow thrusters are not used in ice.[8]

The maximum speed of Botnica is 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph) in open water and she can maintain a speed of 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) in 80 cm (31 in) ice. The maximum ice thickness in which the vessel is capable of maintaining constant speed is 1.2 m (47 in). Her bollard pull is 117 tons.[3]

History

[edit]

Development and construction

[edit]

The development of the Finnish multipurpose icebreakers began in the mid-1980s when the Finnish National Board of Navigation launched a project to find secondary uses for the new vessels it was planning to build as a replacement for some of the oldest icebreakers. Until then the Finnish icebreakers had been designed solely for escort operations in ice-infested waters and their specialized hull form was not suitable for open water. As a result, the existing icebreakers had an effective operational time of only three to five months per year and spent the summer season moored at Katajanokka in Helsinki. A multipurpose application of the new icebreakers would thus result in a better utilization of the vessels and, assuming they were chartered by a commercial third party during the summer, improve the economics of the state-owned fleet.[16][17]

However, the concept did not become reality until the early 1990s, when the Norwegian company Ugland Offshore AS (later DSND Offshore AS) became involved in the project to develop and construct multipurpose icebreakers that could be used for offshore operations in the oil fields during the summer months. The concept was developed by the Board of Navigation together with a Finnish consulting engineering company ILS and the contract for the construction of the first vessel with an option for a sister ship was signed with Finnyards in October 1991. The second vessel was ordered in June 1992.[18] The 116-metre (381 ft) ships had large open aft decks similar to platform supply vessels and their two 7,500 kW diesel-electric Aquamaster Z-drive azimuth thrusters provided dynamic positioning capability. The first Finnish multipurpose icebreaker, Fennica, was delivered in 1993 and her sister ship, Nordica, in the following year.[16][17]

The third multipurpose icebreaker Botnica was designed mainly for Gulf of Finland escort icebreaking. Its summer tasks were planned in cooperation with DSND Offshore AS, and the discussion led to the conclusion that this type of vessel could be used as a cost-effective alternative to semi-submersible platforms for North Sea operators. The new light well intervention and slim hole drilling tasks brought in extra safety requirements, including explosion proof main deck arrangement and A-class bulkhead against deckhouse and lifesaving equipment because of a blow out risk. The vessel was designed into highest redundant DP class, with also machinery, thruster and DP control rooms divided into two independent spaces. A moon pool was designed in the vessel already in an earlier stage of the design, and among needed special equipment was e.g. a removable derrick. Other summer period offshore tasks included e.g. ROV support, hoisting of umbilicals, and offshore construction tasks.[19]

In February 1997 the Finnish National Board of Navigation signed a contract worth FIM 303 million with Finnyards for the construction of a new multipurpose icebreaker. While initially only FIM 280 million was reserved for the new icebreaker, this was later increased by FIM 23 million as the planned vessel proved to be more expensive than expected. While an open call for bids was arranged by the Board of Navigation as dictated by the European Union rules, only Finnyards and Kværner Masa-Yards, another Finnish shipyard, sent in their tenders, and Finnyards won the contract because of shorter delivery time. The new multipurpose icebreaker was to be delivered in March–April 1998.[2] Also designed by ILS, the new vessel resembles the older Finnish multipurpose icebreakers, but is slightly smaller, less powerful and has open-propeller Azipod units instead of Aquamasters with ducted propellers as the latter had proved to be problematic in ice.[8][20]

The new multipurpose icebreaker was given the name Botnica and delivered to the Finnish National Board of Navigation in June 1998, slightly late of the original schedule.[1] Until the recent delivery of the new icebreaker/tug Ahto, Botnica was the newest icebreaker to be commissioned in Finland.

Career

[edit]

Finland (1998–2012)

[edit]
Botnica in Finnish service in 2007.

Like the older Finnish multipurpose icebreakers, Botnica was chartered to DSND Offshore AS for 180 days per year, while in the winter months she was employed as a traditional escort icebreaker in the Baltic Sea. Once icebreaker assistance was no longer needed, the offshore construction equipment was re-installed and the vessel left the Baltic Sea for the summer season. In 2002 Halliburton Offshore and DSND combined their resources and the charter of the multipurpose icebreakers was transferred to the new company, Subsea 7.[18] Until 2004 the company had the exclusive rights to charter the Finnish multipurpose icebreakers.[21]

Following the reorganization of the Finnish Maritime Administration in 2004 the ownership and management of the state-owned vessels was transferred to a newly founded state-owned enterprise, Finstaship. Later a separate company, GDV Maritime AS, was established together with Norwegian partners to handle the global marketing of the Finnish multipurpose icebreakers.[18] Finstaship's share of the new company was 34%. In 2005 Botnica was chartered to TSMarine for offshore operations in the North Sea. The contract specified that the vessel would spend "at least" 560 days in offshore operations between 2005 and 2007.[22] Later she also received charters from other companies, but the particularly poor season in 2008–2009 left Botnica laid up for months and forced Finstaship to reduce costs and even consider laying off some employees.[23] She was also not used for icebreaking during the particularly mild winters in the late 2000s.[21]

In 2010, Arctia Shipping Oy, a state-owned limited company, took over the operations of Finstaship. The ownership and management of the Finnish multipurpose icebreakers was transferred to a subsidiary company, Arctia Offshore Oy.[24] Botnica was not contracted for icebreaking during the winter season of 2010,[25] and having been left without a charter for offshore work, she was laid up in Trieste, Italy.[26] While during the particularly harsh winter of 2011 Botnica was again employed as an icebreaker in the Baltic Sea, her icebreaking contract was not renewed for the 2012 season — instead the Finnish Transport Agency decided to charter Zeus, a small icebreaking anchor handling tug supply vessel (AHTS) owned by the Finnish towing and salvage company Alfons Håkans, until 2016. The agency also entered a similar agreement with a large Swedish icebreaker.[27][28]

Estonia (2012–present)

[edit]

On 24 October 2012, the Port of Tallinn purchased Botnica for 50 million euro to replace the 1963-built Tarmo. According to Arctia Shipping, the newest state-owned icebreaker was sold because the company has been unable to find profitable long-term charters for the multipurpose vessel.[4] Botnica changed her port of registry to Estonia on 28 November 2012.[5][29] Botnica has been contracted to provide icebreaking services in the Gulf of Finland until 20 April 2032.[30]

The operator of Botnica is TS Shipping Ltd. Botnica is operated as a multipurpose icebreaker.[31] In 2013 Botnica was involved in air diving works in the North Sea renewables sector, and in 2014 it was supporting a drilling campaign in Kara Sea conducting ice management, accommodation, and ROV duties.[32]

In 2018, Botnica was chartered to Baffinland Iron Mines to support iron ore shipments from Milne Inlet by escorting Panamax type bulk carriers and providing ice monitoring, pollution monitoring, and emergency services between July and end of October each year.[33] The contract had an option for summers 2019–2022, all of which were utilized.[34][35][36] During the 2021 season, Botnica also supported various surface and underwater surveys.[37] In December 2023, Baffinland Iron Mines called options to extend the five-year framework agreement to cover the 2023 shipping season and to shorten the charter.[38]

In June 2023, Botnica was chartered by Equinor for 40 days with a 10-day extension option to support offshore wind farm maintenance work in the United Kingdom.[39] However, due to technical challenges the charter was terminated prematurely on 3 July.[40] Shortly afterwards, BP chartered Botnica as a service operation vessel for the company's normally unmanned installation at the Mungo field from 7 August until 3 September. Afterwards, Botnica departed for Canada for the rest of the summer season.[41]

In 2024, Botnica will be again chartered by BP from May to July with option to extend the charter until 5 August.[42] The charter with Baffinland has also been extended to cover the period between 2024 and 2028 with minimum 60-day charter period from September until December each year.[43]

Controversies

[edit]

In the early 2000s the managing director Kyösti Vesterinen and several other high-ranking members of the Finnish Maritime Administration were caught in a bribery scandal when it was found out that DSND Offshore, the charterer of the Finnish multipurpose icebreakers, had offered them several private trips around the world. At the same time the offshore company, which had failed to make payments for the charters in time, was forgiven 153,000 euros of penalty interests. As a result, Vesterinen and two other officials were found guilty for corruption and as a result lost their positions, were given suspended sentences of four to ten months and had to pay back the unlawfully obtained benefits.[44][45][46] The incident ended the co-operation between DSND and the Finnish Maritime Administration and left many people suspicious about the profitability of the multipurpose icebreakers.[21]

In December 2003 the Finnish-Swedish ice class of Botnica was unexpectedly downgraded from 1A Super to III, the lowest possible ice class, which is mainly used for barges and other vessels unsuitable for navigation in ice. Since the icebreaker is built to DNV's ICE-10 ice class, which far exceeds the requirements for the highest Finnish-Swedish ice class, this was not due to any technical or structural issue, but a problem with the ship's paperwork. Botnica operates at different draughts depending on her mission, and when returning to Finland from abroad her true main dimensions were found out to be different from those stated in the ship's documentation. As a result, the maritime inspector of the Finnish Maritime Administration had no other choice but to downgrade the ship's ice classification to the lowest possible ice class. The missing documents were delivered and the correct ice class was restored shortly afterwards.[47][48]

After Botnica had been purchased by the Port of Tallinn, the Estonian state-owned company became the center of a bribery scandal involving the company's top executives. In February 2016, the parliamentary committee of investigation decided to open a criminal case after suspecting that the evaluation of the Finnish icebreaker prior to acquisition had been incorrect and biased, and as a result, the Port of Tallinn purchased the vessel for 50 million euro while a more realistic price for the 14-year-old icebreaker would have been 30 to 35 million euro.[49][50]

Criticism

[edit]

Although the crews have been generally satisfied with the vessels' operational capabilities,[51][52][53] the multipurpose icebreakers have also been perceived as compromise designs due to the conflicting requirements of icebreaking and offshore operations.[54][55][56] The vessels have been criticized for their lower icebreaking capability and ability to operate in the Bothnian Bay ice conditions characterized by heavy ridging when compared to traditional icebreakers built in the 1970s.[57][58][59] Designed primarily for icebreaking operations in the Gulf of Finland, Botnica has been described as "underpowered" by her crew because she is as wide as the older Finnish icebreakers but has only two thirds of the propulsion power.[8] While Botnica has also been praised for her seakeeping characteristics,[52] in open water operations the multipurpose icebreakers have not been competitive against purpose-built offshore vessels due to their higher fuel consumption.[26]

The state-owned shipping company Arctia and its predecessors have also been criticized for the financial losses and low profitability of the offshore business.[60][61] Unable to compete commercially against purpose-built offshore vessels, the multipurpose icebreakers would be the last ones to be hired unless they were offered at significantly reduced day rates.[26] Sometimes the ships were left without contracts and Botnica in particular spent long periods of time in foreign ports even during the Baltic Sea winter navigation season,[62] forcing the government of Finland to hire icebreakers from the commercial market to keep the ports open.[63]

Botnica and the other Finnish multipurpose icebreakers are sometimes jokingly referred to as "Moulinex ships" after the French brand of household appliances and kitchen equipment.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Botnica (19920)". Vessel Register for DNV. DNV. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  2. ^ a b c Finnyards sai jäänmurtajatilauksen Archived 30 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Kauppalehti, 7 February 1997. Retrieved 10 October 2011
  3. ^ a b c d e f Vessel specification: Botnica Archived 30 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Arctia Shipping. Retrieved 22 October 2011
  4. ^ a b c Botnica-jäänmurtaja myytiin Viroon 50 miljoonalla Archived 26 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Helsingin Sanomat, 24 October 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2012
  5. ^ a b Jäälõhkujal MSV Botnica heisati Eesti lipp. Tallinna Sadam, 29 November 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2012
  6. ^ Vapalahti, H. Finnish illustrated List of Ships 1999. Judicor Oy, 1999.
  7. ^ References - Propulsion Products. ABB. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Voelker, Richard (22 April 2003), Trip Report to Northern Europe for National Science Foundation project (PDF), US Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, retrieved 28 November 2021
  9. ^ Tekniset tiedot Archived 28 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Arctia Oy. Retrieved 3 August 2011
  10. ^ Ships for navigation in ice, Pt.5 Ch.1 Sec.4 A303 Archived 25 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Det Norske Veritas, January 2005.
  11. ^ a b c Soininen, H., Nyman, T., Riska, K., Lohi, P., & Harjula, A. (1993). The ice capability of the multipurpose icebreaker "Fennica" - Full scale results. In POAC 93 - The 12th International Conference on Port and Ocean Engineering under Arctic Conditions: Proceedings Volume 1 (pp. 259-271). POAC Proceedings.
  12. ^ Tellefsen, T., Hagelstam, L. (1993). Development of multipurpose icebreaker and offshore construction vessel. In POAC 93 - The 12th International Conference on Port and Ocean Engineering under Arctic Conditions: Proceedings Volume 1 (pp. 280-289). POAC Proceedings.
  13. ^ WÄRTSILÄ Encyclopedia of Marine and Energy Technology | Icebreaker/offshore vessel BOTNICA. Retrieved 23 November 2021
  14. ^ MSV Botnica Archived 28 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Arctia Oy. Retrieved 3 August 2011
  15. ^ Monitoimimurtaja Botnica on avustanut jo kymmeniä aluksia jäistä Archived 5 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Suomen Merimies-Unioni SMU ry. Retrieved 16 October 2011
  16. ^ a b Tellefsen, T.P. Development of multipurpose icebreaker and offshore construction vessel. Design and Operation of Ships and Offshore Structures - Proceedings of the 1st International Conference Vol 1, pp. 221-231. WIT Press, 1993.
  17. ^ a b Lohi, P. Multipurpose icebreakers for the Finnish National Board of Navigation. Design and Operation of Ships and Offshore Structures - Proceedings of the 1st International Conference Vol 1, pp. 233-240. WIT Press, 1993.
  18. ^ a b c Sjöström, P-E. From the North Sea to the Arctic: Finstaship combines icebreaking and offshore Archived 19 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Scandinavian Shipping Gazette, 18 October 2006. Retrieved 11 October 2011
  19. ^ Harjula, A., Siirilä, T.K., Eronen, H., Lohi, P. (1999). Multipurpose icebreaker MSV Botnica, basic design aspects. In POAC 99 - The 15th International Conference on Port and Ocean Engineering under Arctic Conditions. Proceedings, vol.2, pp.568-577.
  20. ^ Offshore & Icebreaking. ILS Oy. Retrieved 7 October 2011
  21. ^ a b c 15.11.2010 MOT: Italialaista jäänmurtoa, toimittaja Magnus Berglund. YLE, 15.11.2010. Retrieved 2011-08-03.
  22. ^ Finstaship charters out multipurpose icebreaker to TSMarine. Offshore Shipping Online, 22 July 2005. Retrieved 16 October 2011
  23. ^ Murtajien seisottaminen johti yt-neuvotteluihin Finstashipissä[dead link]. Turun Sanomat, 7 February 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2011
  24. ^ Arktisten olosuhteiden erikoisosaaja Archived 28 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Arctia Shipping Oy. Retrieved 16 October 2011
  25. ^ Vuosikertomus 2010 Archived 9 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Arctia Shipping Oy. Retrieved 16 October 2011
  26. ^ a b c "Italialaista jäänmurtoa: käsikirjoitus" (in Finnish). YLE. 29 November 2010. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  27. ^ Liikennevirasto teki jäänmurtosopimuksia – monitoimimurtaja Botnica jäi ilman sopimusta Archived 5 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Suomen Merimies-Unioni SMU ry, 31 October 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2011
  28. ^ The Finnish Transport Agency to sign agreement for four more icebreakers in addition to the five icebreakers already employed, to ensure smooth winter navigation. Finnish Transport Agency, 28 October 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2011
  29. ^ Arctia myy jäänmurtaja Botnican Viroon. Arctia Shipping, 24 October 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2012
  30. ^ Vapalahti, Hannu (2021), "Pitkä sopimus Botnicalle", Laivalehti Tornator (in Finnish), vol. 169, no. 2, p. 13
  31. ^ TS Shipping | About us.Retrieved 24 November 2021
  32. ^ TS Shipping | References.Retrieved 24 November 2021
  33. ^ "MPSV Botnica's 10-year icebreaking service to the Transport Administration". Port of Tallinn. 3 February 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  34. ^ "Icebreaker Botnica charter in summer 2022". Tallinna Sadam. 7 January 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  35. ^ "Tallinna Sadam finds work for icebreaker Botnica in Canada". The Baltic Course. 4 July 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  36. ^ "The subsidiary of AS Tallinna Sadam signed an agreement for chartering m/v Botnica during summer periods". Globe News Wire. 4 July 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2018. According to the agreement m/v Botnica will provide escort ice management services, oil spill and emergency response services.
  37. ^ "Icebreaker Botnica returned to Estonia from the Canadian Arctic". Port of Tallinn. 18 November 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  38. ^ "Icebreaker Botnica charter in summer 2023". GlobeNewswire (Press release). 15 February 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  39. ^ "Icebreaker Botnica Lines Up Summer Work with Equinor". MarineLink. 16 May 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  40. ^ "Changes in the 2023 additional summer work of the icebreaker Botnica". GlobeNewswire (Press release). 6 July 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  41. ^ "Icebreaker Botnica additional summer work for 2023". GlobeNewswire (Press release). 14 August 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  42. ^ "Icebreaker Botnica summer charter contract with BP for 2024". Inderes. 11 April 2024. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
  43. ^ "Icebreaker Botnica summer charter contract with Baffinland for 2024-2028". GlobeNewswire (Press release). 17 April 2024. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
  44. ^ Merenkulkulaitoksen lahjussyytteet julki. MTV3, 18 June 2002. Retrieved 21 October 2011
  45. ^ Merenkulkulaitoksen lahjustuomiot jäävät voimaan. MTV3, 3 June 2004. Retrieved 21 October 2011
  46. ^ Merenkulkulaitoksen johtajille ehdollista. Taloussanomat, 29 August 2003. Retrieved 21 October 2011
  47. ^ Icebreaker Botnica unexpectedly classified among ships unfit for service in ice conditions Archived 24 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Helsingin Sanomat, 18 December 2003. Retrieved 7 October 2011
  48. ^ Kirjallinen kysymys 670/2003 vp. Antero Kekkonen/sd, 19 December 2003. Retrieved 7 October 2011
  49. ^ Port of Tallinn corruption risks panel wants inquiry into purchase of icebreaker. The Baltic Course, 19 February 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  50. ^ Uurimiskomisjon soovib kriminaalasja algatamist: Tallinna Sadam maksis Botnica eest liiga palju. Postimees, 18 February 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  51. ^ Honkanen, Seppo (14 March 1999), "Varta vasten Suomenlahden talveen ja Pohjanmeren kesätöihin suunniteltu Botnica on miehistön mielestä onnistunut kompromissi", Kymen Sanomat
  52. ^ a b "Sekä jäissä että avovedessä - monitoimimurtajat täyttävät paikkansa", Suomen Merenkulku, no. 1, pp. 6–9, 1997
  53. ^ Abrahamsson, Elina (1994), "Uudet murtajat uusissa töissä. Suomalaista osaamista Pohjanmerellä.", Vapaavahti, no. 5, p. 9
  54. ^ "Kekkosen tyräyksestä Suomi kärsii yhä" (in Finnish). Iltalehti. 1 April 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  55. ^ "Arktinen löytöretki – näin Suomen valtion jäänmurtajat löysivät ja kadottivat kansainvälisen bisneksen" (in Finnish). YLE. 21 November 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  56. ^ Kääriä, Markus (2010), Jäänmurtopalveluiden kilpailutus palvelua tarjoavan yrityksen näkökulmasta (PDF) (in Finnish), Lappeenrannan Teknillinen Yliopisto, p. 20, retrieved 24 November 2021
  57. ^ Silén, Iivari (2013), Talvimerenkulun ympäristötietopalvelut - Tarjonta ja tarvekartoitus laivan näkökulmasta (PDF) (in Finnish), Satakunnan Ammattikorkeakoulu, p. 19, retrieved 24 November 2021
  58. ^ "J/M Polariksen hankintaideologiat" (in Finnish). Länsi-Suomi. 28 September 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  59. ^ Raportti 20.6.2002 (PDF), Valtioneuvosto, 20 June 2002, p. 5, retrieved 6 January 2022
  60. ^ "Muistio: Monitoimimurtajien kannattavuus heikko" (in Finnish). 23 August 2000. Archived from the original on 24 May 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  61. ^ "Murtajat murroksen edessä" (in Finnish). 29 August 2009. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  62. ^ Berglund, Magnus (15 November 2010), "Avoin kirje ministeri Vehviläiselle", MOT - Mikä Oli Tutkittava (in Finnish), YLE, retrieved 28 November 2021
  63. ^ "Nyt kutsutaan apuun jo yksitynenkin jäänmurtaja" (in Finnish). Kauppalehti. 3 February 2010. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2011.