The Estonian Maritime Administration announced a public procurement to charter backup icebreakers in the Bay of Pärnu, the Gulf of Riga and the Gulf of Finland for the winter navigation season of 2010-2011.

The backup icebreaker intended for operations in the Gulf of Riga and the Bay of will be assigned to offer icebreaking services for vessels and assisting convoys in entering and leaving the Port of Pärnu, including towing in ice. The area to be serviced extends from the Irbe Strait to the Port of Pärnu buoy (coordinates φ = 580 21,4’ N and λ= 240 27,0’ E).

The vessel to be chartered must be a tugboat or some other vessel complying with the requirements for tugboats; minimum breadth 12 m, maximum draft 5.5 m, main engine power 2700 kW, ice class 1A or equivalent.

Icebreaking services in the Gulf of Riga and the Bay of Pärnu are provided by the MA multi-purpose vessel EVA-316. A back-up icebreaker is needed in case the EVA-316 must be replaced due to being engaged in special operations.

The backup icebreaker intended for operations in the Gulf of Finland will be assigned to offer icebreaking services for vessels and assisting convoys in entering and leaving the ports of Muuga, Kunda and Sillamäe and all other ports in the bays of Tallinn, Kopli and Paldiski, as well as towing in ice. The area to be serviced extends from the ice edge to the water areas of the ports.

The vessel to be chartered must be an icebreaker or some other ship complying with the requirements for icebreakers; minimum breadth 18 m, maximum draft 8.5 m, main engine power 10 000 kW; contact towing equipment is required, as well as a towing cable for towing vessels in ice.

The procurement for back-up icebreakers aims at increasing the icebreaking capacity in the Gulf of Finland. Currently the icebreaker Tarmo is used in the region, but in severe winters this is likely to be insufficient.

Since 2004, the Estonian MA has a charter contract for an icebreaker with the Swedish MA, which enables us to have an extra icebreaker only if one is available in Sweden. This means that there is a possibility of backing up our icebreaking capacity in average winters, but not in severe winters when all icebreakers are needed in Swedish waters.

e-mail: eva@vta.ee