ABB has experience in delivering electric propulsion to ice-going vessels since 1939, when the Finnish icebreaker SISU was delivered with Strömberg’s Ward-Leonard DC electric propulsion system. Since then, ABB has delivered electric propulsion systems to over 80 icebreakers or ice-going vessels with a propulsion power of up to 36 MW.
The Azipod® propulsion system, which was first introduced in 1990, was another technology step change in icebreaking propulsion. The Azipod propulsion enabled ship designers to create new vessel types – such as Double Acting (DA) vessels or oblique icebreakers. Electric propulsion with Azipod® propulsion units have proven to be reliable and feasible to operate in ice-going vessels for 20 years.
Azipod references
ABB has delivered 35 Azipod units for 26 vessels with an ice class higher than or equal to 1A Super according to the Finnish-Swedish ice rules. Order backlog at the moment is nine vessels with 16 units having an ice class over 1 A Super