Wärtsilä's design company SCHIFFKO to design re...

Wärtsilä Corporation, Trade & technical press release, 14 March 2008,
at 12.00 EET

Wärtsilä's ship design and marine consultancy subsidiary, SCHIFFKO
GmbH, based in Hamburg, has been awarded a contract from the Alfred
Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research of Bremerhaven,
Germany, to design the revolutionary new European research icebreaker
"AURORA BOREALIS", which will have a deep-sea drilling capability.

The contract, which was won in a public tender comprises the initial
design concept, general arrangement planning, and full tender
documentation. The ship shall facilitate research in ice and open
water conditions in the fields of geology, geophysics, oceanography,
biology, glaciology, bathymetry, meteorology, and atmosphere physics.


Navigation in up to 4.5 metres thick ice

"AURORA BOREALIS" will set new standards in the fields of polar
research and naval architecture. Currently, no polar research vessel
has the capability to autonomously navigate in pack ice outside the
summer season. "AURORA BOREALIS", in contrast, is planned as a
multi-purpose icebreaking research vessel for Arctic and Antarctic
operations with the capability to autonomously navigate in ice with a
thickness of up to 4.5 metres. This will for the first time make
possible all-year-round research, on for instance the effects of
global climate change.


Deep-sea drilling operations

The ship shall have the unique capability to perform scientific
deep-sea drilling operations at water depths of up to 5000 metres
with a penetration of up to 1000 metres, even when amid drifting
pack-ice fields. An innovative, high-performance dynamic positioning
system shall enable the ship to keep position in such a demanding
environment.

The "AURORA BOREALIS" project is a major strategic European science
infrastructure development for the next generations of polar
researchers. The vessel will have a length between perpendiculars of
165 metres, the highest icebreaker classification, and more than 55
MW of propulsive power, thereby considerably outperforming all
currently operating research icebreakers. Yet machinery onboard
"AURORA BOREALIS" shall be highly energy efficient, environmentally
friendly, fully redundant, and allow for reliable and safe operations
in the most remote and hostile polar regions.


Wärtsilä's subsidiary SCHIFFKO will provide innovative ship design

SCHIFFKO's main challenge under this contract is to provide an
innovative, technically sound and convincing ship design concept that
optimally combines the wide range of tasks specified for "AURORA
BOREALIS" by the international scientific community. This tough
challenge is one that SCHIFFKO can master, as it did some twenty-five
years ago when it designed the then revolutionary and in the meantime
legendary icebreaking research vessel "Polarstern" for the Alfred
Wegener Institute.




For more information please contact:

Mr Barend Thijssen
Director, Ship Design
Wärtsilä Ship Power Technology and Managing Director
SCHIFFKO GmbH
Tel:                [phone]

or

Marit Holmlund-Sund
Public Relations Manager
Wärtsilä Corporation
Direct tel:       [phone]
Direct fax:      [phone]
e-mail:            [e-mail]
Internet:          www.wartsila.com



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with complete lifecycle power solutions. When creating better and
environmentally compatible technologies, Wärtsilä focuses on the
marine and energy markets with products and solutions as well as
services. Through innovative products and services, Wärtsilä sets out
to be the most valued business partner of all its customers. This is
achieved by the dedication of more than 16,000 professionals manning
150 Wärtsilä locations in 70 countries around the world. Wärtsilä is
listed on The Nordic Exchange in Helsinki, Finland.
www.wartsila.com