View source for Engineering:MT Varzuga

{{short description|Russian ice-strengthened tanker}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image               = Arkhangelsk. Northern Dvina River. Oil tanker Varzuga P7151366 2200.jpg
| Ship caption             = ''Varzuga'' anchored in Northern Dvina River in 2018
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header              =
|Ship country=Finland
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Finland}}
| Ship name                =''Uikku''
| Ship owner               =* Neste Oyj (1977–1993)
* Laivanisännistöyhtiö Nemarc (1993–1994)<ref name="laivalehti">Takala, S: Teräslinnut suuntaavat pohjoiseen. Laiva 3/2003.</ref>
* Laivanisännistöyhtiö Uikku (1994–2003)<ref name="laivalehti" /><ref name="vapalahti">Vapalahti, H: Finnish illustrated List of Ships 1999. Judicor Oy, 1999.</ref>
| Ship operator            = *Neste Oyj (1977–1993)
* Arctic Shipping Services (Nemarc) (1993–2003)<ref name="laivalehti" />
| Ship registry            =Naantali, {{wipe|Finland}}
| Ship ordered             = February 1973<ref name="seaweb" />
| Ship builder             = Werft Nobiskrug GmbH (Rendsburg, {{wipe|Germany}})<ref name="vapalahti" /><ref name="russianmaritime" />
| Ship original cost       = 
| Ship yard number         = 689<ref name="vapalahti" /><ref name="russianmaritime" />
| Ship laid down           = 15 February 1977<ref name="seaweb">{{csr|register=SEAWEB|id=7500401|shipname=Varzuga|accessdate=25 April 2021}}</ref>
| Ship launched            = 2 July 1977<ref name="seaweb" />
| Ship completed           = 31 October 1977<ref name="seaweb" />
| Ship in service          = 1977–2003
| Ship fate                = Sold to Russia in 2003
| Ship notes               =
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header              = title
|Ship country=Russia
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Russia}}
| Ship name                =''Varzuga'' (''Варзуга'')
| Ship owner               = * Murmansk Shipping Company (2003–2019)<ref name="russianmaritime">{{cite ship register|register=RS|id=774814|shipname=Varzuga|accessdate=16 October 2012}}</ref><ref name="murmanskshippingcompany">[http://en.fleet.msco.ru/tanker/lunni/ Tanker fleet - Varzuga], Murmansk Shipping Company.</ref>
* JSC Bunker Company (2019–2021)<ref name="fleetphoto_varzuga">{{cite web|url=https://fleetphoto.ru/vessel/17387/|title=Варзуга|language=ru|website=Fleetphoto|accessdate=25 April 2021}}</ref>
| Ship registry            =* Murmansk, {{wipe|Russia}} (2003–2019)<ref name="russianmaritime" />
* Arkhangelsk, Russia (2019–2021)<ref name="fleetphoto_varzuga" />
| Ship in service          = 2003–2020
| Ship identification      = * {{IMO number|7500401}}
* Call sign: UGTL
* {{MMSI|273449450}}<ref name="equasis">{{csr|register=E|id=7500401|shipname=Varzuga|accessdate=2017-03-26}}</ref>
| Ship fate                = Sold for scrap in 2021
| Ship notes               =
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header              =
| Header caption           = (after refit)<ref name="vapalahti" /><ref name="russianmaritime" /><ref name="murmanskshippingcompany" />
| Ship type                = Product tanker
| Ship tonnage             =*{{GT|11,290}}
*{{DWT|16,038}}
| Ship displacement        = {{convert|22654|t|LT|abbr=on}}
| Ship length              = {{convert|164.40|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} ([[Engineering:Length overall|overall]])
| Ship beam                = {{convert|22.22|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| Ship height              =
| Ship draught             = {{convert|9.55|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| Ship draft               =
| Ship depth               = {{convert|12.00|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| Ship ice class           =*[[Engineering:Finnish-Swedish ice class|1A Super]]
*RMRS UL
| Ship power               =*2 × [[Company:Wärtsilä|Wärtsilä]] Vasa 12V32E (2 × 4,920&nbsp;kW)
*1 × [[Company:Wärtsilä|Wärtsilä]] Vasa 12V22D-HF (1,950&nbsp;kW)
| Ship propulsion          =*Diesel electric; 11.4&nbsp;MW [[Engineering:Azipod|Azipod]] unit
| Ship speed               = {{convert|17|kn}}
| Ship capacity            = 8 cargo tanks, 16,215&nbsp;m<sup>3</sup> (98%)
| Ship crew                =
| Ship notes               =
}}
|}

'''MT ''Varzuga''''' ({{lang-rus|Варзуга}}) was an [[Engineering:Ice class|ice-strengthened]] product tanker that sailed under the {{wipe|Finland}} flag in 1977–2003 and under the {{wipe|Russia}}n flag in 2003–2021. After her modernization in 1993, she became the first [[Engineering:Merchant ship|merchant ship]] to be equipped with [[Engineering:Azipod|Azipod]], an electric [[Engineering:Azimuth thruster|azimuthing propulsion unit]] developed in Finland in the late 1980s.<ref name="akerarctic_dat">Juurmaa, K et al.: The development of the double acting tanker for ice operation, Aker Arctic Technology Inc., [http://www.akerarctic.fi/publications/pdf/Poac01XNewDAS.pdf 2001] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303021431/http://www.akerarctic.fi/publications/pdf/Poac01XNewDAS.pdf |date=2012-03-03 }} and [http://www.akerarctic.fi/publications/pdf/MombXDat.pdf 2002] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904220420/http://www.akerarctic.fi/publications/pdf/MombXDat.pdf |date=2012-09-04 }}.</ref> She was also the first non-Soviet ship to transit the [[Earth:Northern Sea Route|Northern Sea Route]].<ref name="arcdev" />

==History==

=== Finland (1977–2003) ===

''Uikku'', built in 1977 by Werft Nobiskrug GmbH in Rendsburg, {{wipe|Germany}}, was the last ship of a series of four arctic product tankers ordered by a {{wipe|Finland}} oil and petroleum products company Neste Oyj in the 1970s. The ships were given names after Finnish seabirds and the [[Silhouette|silhouette]]s of their namesake birds were painted on the side of the ships' superstructure. [[Engineering:MT Indiga|''Lunni'']] ([[Biology:Atlantic puffin|Atlantic puffin]]) and ''Sotka'' ([[Biology:Aythya|Aythya]]) were delivered in 1976 and ''Tiira'' ([[Biology:Tern|tern]]) and ''Uikku'' ([[Biology:Grebe|grebe]]) in the following year. Until the 1990s the ships were used mainly to transport oil products in the [[Place:Baltic Sea|Baltic Sea]].<ref name="laivalehti" />

In 1993 ''Uikku'' was chartered to a newly founded Arctic Shipping Services to ship petroleum products in the [[Earth:Arctic Ocean|Arctic Ocean]]. The new shipping company, based in Murmansk, was a joint operation between two Russian companies, Murmansk Shipping Company and Primorsk Shipping Company, and a Finnish company Nemarc Shipping Oy, which in turn was a joint venture shipping company owned by Neste and Kværner Masa-Yards. The ship's propulsion machinery was modernized for navigation in the harsh ice conditions of the Arctic Ocean in 1993 and her ice-strengthening was increased in 1998.<ref name="laivalehti" /><ref name="akerarctic_dat" /><ref name="arcdev">[http://www.transport-research.info/Upload/Documents/200310/arcdev.pdf Final public report of the ARCDEV project], Transport Research Knowledge Centre.</ref><ref name="tkkhanninen">Hänninen, S: [http://www.tkk.fi/Units/Ship/Research/Iris/Public/Info/Files/WP9/Uikku_03.pdf Ship based observations onboard MT Uikku during the winter 2003] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727153822/http://www.tkk.fi/Units/Ship/Research/Iris/Public/Info/Files/WP9/Uikku_03.pdf |date=2011-07-27 }}, 11/2003.</ref> In the following years ''Uikku'' operated in the Baltic Sea in winter and in the Northern Sea Route during summer months.<ref name="poac95newdat">Juurmaa, K et al.: [http://www.akerarctic.fi/publications/pdf/Poac95NewDAT.pdf New ice breaking tanker concept for the arctic (DAT)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303021749/http://www.akerarctic.fi/publications/pdf/Poac95NewDAT.pdf |date=2012-03-03 }}. Kvaerner Masa-Yards, 1995.</ref>

In 1997 ''Uikku'' became the first merchant ship under non-Soviet flag to navigate the entire [[Earth:Northern Sea Route|Northern Sea Route]]. In the following year she took part in Arctic Demonstration and Exploratory Voyage (ARCDEV), a research project funded by the [[Social:European Union|European Union]] to determine the feasibility of year-around navigation in the Northern Sea Route. ''Uikku'', accompanied by a Russian [[Engineering:Nuclear-powered icebreaker|nuclear-powered icebreaker]] ''Rossiya'' to open the way and another icebreaker, ''[[Earth:Kapitan Dranitsyn|Kapitan Dranitsyn]]'', to provide facilities to 70 researchers from different countries, carried a cargo of gas condensate from Ob river estuary to Europe.<ref name="arcdev" /><ref name="transportresearch">[http://www.transport-research.info/web/projects/project_details.cfm?ID=21 Arctic Demonstration and Exploratory Voyage], Projects & Analysis, Transport Research Knowledge Centre.</ref>

=== Russia (2003–2021) ===

Fortum sold ''Uikku'' to Murmansk Shipping Company in 2003 mainly due to the tanker's age exceeding 25 years. She was renamed ''Varzuga'' (''Варзуга'') after the Varzuga River.<ref name="laivalehti" /> As Fortum was a state-owned company, the selling of two oil tankers capable of navigating in severe ice conditions resulted in a written question to the Parliament of Finland by Representative Pentti Tiusanen about whether the ships should be retained in Finnish control as they could be used to lighten a grounded oil tanker in harsh winter conditions.<ref name="eduskunta">[http://www.eduskunta.fi/faktatmp/utatmp/akxtmp/kk_137_2003_p.shtml KK 137/2003 vp], Pentti Tiusanen /vas</ref>

The ship was used for oil transportation in the Arctic Ocean. Along with her sister ship ''Indiga'' (ex-''Lunni'') which was sold to Russians at the same time, she was involved in transporting oil from an oil terminal in the Ob Bay of the Kara Sea through the Kara Gates, the strait between Vaygach and Novaya Zemlya, to [[Engineering:Belokamenka (ship)|FSO ''Belokamenka'']] in the Kola Bay of the Barents Sea.<ref>Bambulyak, A and Frantzen, B: [http://www.akvaplan.niva.no/download/reports/oil_transport_2009.pdf Oil transport from the Russian part of the Barents Region, Status per January 2009], page 41. Retrieved on 2010-02-05.</ref> On 19 July 2010 ''Varzuga'' collided with her sister ship ''Indiga'' while being assisted by two nuclear-powered icebreakers in difficult ice conditions. The bow of ''Varzuga'' and the stern of ''Indiga'' were damaged, but neither vessel lost seaworthiness and there were no spills.<ref name="collision2010">[http://www.barentsobserver.com/arctic-oil-tankers-collided.4801363-16178.html Arctic oil tankers collided] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110905012617/http://www.barentsobserver.com/arctic-oil-tankers-collided.4801363-16178.html |date=2011-09-05 }}. BarentsObserver, 2010-07-19.</ref>

Following the bankruptcy of the Murmansk Shipping Company, ''Varzuga'' was sold to JSC Bunker Company and registered in Arkhangelsk. The new owner replaced Neste's original light-green-over-dark-blue livery with white for the deckhouse and bright red for the hull.<ref name="fleetphoto_varzuga" /> In late March 2020, ''Varzuga''{{'}}s Azipod propulsion unit malfunctioned and the tanker lost propulsion and steering in the ice-covered Gulf of Ob. The vessel was escorted to the ice edge by nuclear-powered icebreakers and towed to Murmansk.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/industry-and-energy/2020/04/oil-tanker-lost-steering-icy-ob-bay-nuclear-icebreakers-assisted|title=Oil tanker lost steering in icy Ob Bay|publisher=The Barents Observer|date=3 April 2020|accessdate=25 April 2021}}</ref> 

After having been laid up for a year, ''Varzuga'' was reportedly sold for scrap and towed to a shipbreaking yard in Aliağa, [[Place:Turkey|Turkey]], for recycling.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fleetphoto.ru/photo/337809/?vid=17387|title=Варзуга|language=ru|website=FleetPhoto|accessdate=25 April 2021}}</ref> The tow was briefly interrupted when the tanker broke loose in the English Channel and had to be recovered by the French [[Engineering:Emergency tow vessel|emergency tow vessel]] ''Abeille Liberté''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fleetmon.com/maritime-news/2021/33585/tanker-broke-loose-towline-english-channel/|title=Tanker broke loose from towline in English Channel|website=Fleetmon|date=5 May 2021|accessdate=6 May 2021}}</ref> After a brief detention, it was agreed to tow ''Varzuga'' to Brest for scrapping.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://robindesbois.org/en/la-fin-de-vie-du-tanker-russe-aura-lieu-a-brest/|title=The Russian tanker will be scrapped in Brest|website=Robin des Bois|accessdate=23 July 2021}}</ref>

==Design==

''Uikku'' and her sister ships were designed to be able to navigate in the ice conditions of the Baltic Sea independently without icebreaker assistance and maintain a moderately high speed in ice. To enable this they had more power than an average Baltic tanker and were normally required to use only 50-75{{nbsp}}% of the full engine power in ice<ref name="tkkhanninen" /> — in normal operation only one of the two main engines was coupled to shaft, with the other remaining in reserve for difficult ice conditions.<ref name="propbook">Gallin, I. et al. Ships and Their Propulsion Systems - Developmentsr in Power Transmission. Lohmann & Stolterfoht GmbH, Witten, West Germany. {{ISBN|3-9800624-0-6}}.</ref> The highly raked stem, similar to those in traditional icebreakers, was designed to break the ice by bending it downwards under the ship's weight.<ref name="laivalehti" /> The ships were also equipped with an air bubbling system to reduce friction between the hull and ice.<ref name="mil">Mulherin, N et al.: [https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA311979.pdf Development and Results of a Northern Sea Route Transit Model], pp. 15-17. Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), 1996. Retrieved on 2010-02-05.</ref> To prevent pollution in case of grounding, the ships were also built with double hulls and conformed to the IMCO regulations in respect of segregated ballast tanks even though they were regarded only recommendations back then.<ref name="vapalahti" /><ref name="propbook" />

===Modernization===

''Uikku'' was extensively modernized by Kværner Masa-Yards' Helsinki New Shipyard in 1993 and became the first merchant ship to receive a newly developed electronic azimuthing propulsion unit, [[Engineering:Azipod|Azipod]]. Before her retrofitting, the only ship equipped with such propulsion was [[Earth:Fairway (navigation)|fairway]] maintenance vessel ''Seili'' owned by the Finnish Maritime Administration.<ref name="akerarctic_dat" /> Her original MaK 12M551AK main engines (2 × 5737&nbsp;kW), reduction gearbox, shaft generators, controllable-pitch propeller and rudder were removed and replaced with [[Company:Wärtsilä|Wärtsilä]] Vasa marine generating sets and an 11.4 MW electric propulsion unit. Being one of the early designs, the Azipod unit in ''Uikku'' was of the so-called "pushing" type with an aft-facing propeller instead of the more efficient "pulling" set-up used in modern Azipod-equipped ships.<ref name="vapalahti" /><ref name="azipodinlunni">[http://www.akerarctic.fi/MarineConsulting_files/MT%20LUNNI_Azipod.jpg Photograph of ''Lunni'' 's Azipod unit] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718163420/http://www.akerarctic.fi/MarineConsulting_files/MT%20LUNNI_Azipod.jpg |date=2011-07-18 }}, Aker Arctic Technology Inc.</ref>

Upgrading the propulsion machinery improved her icebreaking capability considerably especially when running astern. Even though the ship's stern wasn't originally designed or shaped for icebreaking, ice resistance astern in level ice was only 40{{nbsp}}% of that of when running ahead despite the icebreaking bow.<ref name="poac95newdat" /> The modernization of ''Uikku'' helped to demonstrate the feasibility of the [[Engineering:Double acting ship|double acting ship]] (DAS) principle for year-round navigation in ice-covered waters.<ref name="akerarctic_dat" /> The refit also increased her speed from 14.5 to 17 knots despite the propulsion power remaining roughly the same.<ref name="laivalehti" /><ref name="russianmaritime" /><ref name="akerarctic_dat" />

''Uikku'''s sister ship, ''Lunni'', was similarly modernized in the following year.<ref name="akerarctic_dat" />

In 1998, the ice-strengthening of ''Uikku'' was upgraded and increased for the severe ice conditions in the Arctic Ocean, making her hull strength exceed the demands for [[Engineering:Finnish-Swedish ice class|Finnish-Swedish ice class]] 1A Super. The hull was also instrumented with [[Physics:Strain gauge|strain gauge]]s for the ARCDEV research voyage.<ref name="laivalehti" /><ref name="tkkhanninen" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varzuga}}
[[Category:Oil tankers]]

{{Sourceattribution|MT Varzuga}}