''Röthelstein'' is an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

river icebreaker A river icebreaker is an icebreaker specially designed to operate in shallow waters such as rivers and estuaries, and often able to pass through canals and under bridges. As published by the American Society of Civil Engineers almost a century a ...

owned by

Verbund AG Verbund AG, formerly known as Verbundgesellschaft or Österreichische Elektrizitätswirtschafts-AG, is Austria's largest electricity provider. Verbund covers around 40 percent of electricity demands in Austria and generates 90 percent thereof fro ...

. She is used to break ice and push barges on the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , ...

river. Built by

Kværner Masa-Yards Kværner was a Norwegian engineering and construction services company that existed between 1853 and 2005. In 2004, it was amalgamated to the newly formed subsidiary of Aker ASA - Aker Kværner, which was renamed Aker Solutions on 3 April 2 ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

in 1995, she was the first new vessel to be fitted with

Azipod Azipod is a trademark azimuth thruster pod design, a marine propulsion unit consisting of a fixed pitch propeller mounted on a steerable gondola ("pod") containing the electric motor driving the propeller, allowing ships to be more maneuverab ...

propulsion units.

History

In early 1994, Kværner Masa-Yards signed a contract worth about $4.3 million for the construction of a shallow-draft river icebreaker for the Austrian power company Österreichische Donaukraftwerke AG (today

). The vessel would be fitted with a new type of propulsion system and, following extensive development work carried out by the shipyard's Arctic Research Centre, feature high icebreaking capability despite its small size and shallow draft.Kvaerner Builds Diesel-Electric Icebreaker, Renovates Russian Vessel
Maritime Reporter/Engineering News, February 1994, page 39. Instead of being launched from a slipway or floated out from a dry dock, the 400-ton vessel was lowered to the water using the shipyard's cranes in late 1994. She was given the name ''Röthelstein'' after a municipality of the same name. During sea trials in the northern

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and fr ...

in February 1994, ''Röthelstein'' achieved a speed of in open water and, using the azimuthing propulsion units, demonstrated ability to turn on the spot. In full scale ice trials in the Gulf of Bothnia, the river icebreaker was successfully tested in level ice up to thick.

Ridge A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

penetration tests showed that ''Röthelstein'' could overcome ridges varying between in thickness when the icebreaker proceeded in astern direction and utilized the pulling-type azimuth thrusters to break up the ridge. This was one of the first demonstrations of the

double acting ship A double acting ship is a type of icebreaking ship designed to run ahead in open water and thin ice, but turn around and proceed astern (backwards) in heavy ice conditions. In this way, the ship can operate independently in severe ice conditions ...

principle. After the trials, ''Röthelstein'' sailed through the

Rhine–Main–Danube Canal The Rhine–Main–Danube Canal (German: ''Rhein-Main-Donau-Kanal''; also called Main-Danube Canal, RMD Canal or Europa Canal), is a canal in Bavaria, Germany. Connecting the Main and the Danube riv ...

flying the Finnish flag. She was delivered to the owner in the port of

Ybbs an der Donau Ybbs an der Donau () (short: Ybbs) is a town in Austria. It was established in 1317. Throughout the town, from the intersection of the important trade routes and along the Danube the town has preserved a site that already had great economic importa ...

in April 1995. Since then, ''Röthelstein'' has been in service on the Danube River.

Design

''Röthelstein'' is long and has a beam of . Her normal operating draft is , which results in a displacement of about 400 tonnes, but in shallow waters the draft can be reduced to only . The hull form follows the design of very shallow draft river icebreakers with a wide cylindrical bow similar to those found in

landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force ( infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are large ...

s. The low-profile deckhouse is only highDiesel-Electric Icebreaker Röthelstein Launched At Kvaerner's Helsinki Yard
Maritime Reporter, December 1994, page 24. and provides accommodation for up to ten people, but normally the vessel carried a crew of three. ''Röthelstein'' has a diesel-electric propulsion system consisting of two

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larva, larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterfly, butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawfly ...

3508 DITA generating sets, each producing 700kW, and two 560kW

ABB ABB Ltd. is a Swedish-Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. The company was formed in 1988 when Sweden's Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) and Switzerland's Brown, Boveri & Cie merged to create ...

VI0760A propulsion units with stainless steel propellers.References - Propulsion Products
ABB. Following retrofits to two existing vessels, the newly built ''Röthelstein'' was only the third vessel ever to be fitted with an electric podded propulsion system where the propulsion motors driving the propellers are located inside steerable gondolas. She was also the first vessel with Azipod units in pulling configuration where the propellers are facing forwards to improve efficiency and icebreaking performance.Experience with Azipod propulsion systems on board marine vessels
ABB Review 2/1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rothelstein (icebreaker) Icebreakers of Austria 1994 ships Ships built in Helsinki Ships of Austria