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SA-15 is the project name for a
series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...
of
icebreaking An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...
multipurpose
cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...
s built in
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
for the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
in the 1980s. The ships, capable of independent operation in all prevailing
arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...
ice conditions, were the first merchant vessels designed for year-round operations in the
Northern Sea Route The Northern Sea Route (NSR) (, shortened to Севморпуть, ''Sevmorput'') is a shipping route about long. The Northern Sea Route (NSR) is the shortest shipping route between the western part of Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific region. Ad ...
. For this purpose they have hulls that resemble those of polar icebreakers and propulsion systems capable of withstanding ice loads. While the ships are also known as the ''Norilsk'' class after the first ship, ''Norilsk'', they are usually referred to by their project name which denotes a
subarctic The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of hemiboreal regions and covering much of Alaska, Canada, Iceland, the north of Fennoscandia, Northwestern Russia, Siberia, and the Cair ...
15,000 DWT cargo ship.Kitagawa, H. et al
Northern Sea Route. Shortest Sea Route Linking East Asia and Europe.
Ship & Ocean Foundation, 2001. .
Nineteen SA-15 type ships were delivered by Finnish shipbuilders
Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish corporation, Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the Marine propulsion, marine and energy markets. The core ...
and
Valmet Valmet Oyj, a Finnish company, is a developer and supplier of process technologies, automation systems and services for the pulp, paper, energy industries. Flow control serves a wider base of process industries. History 1999–2012 Valmet ...
in 1982–1987, and two vessels remain in service.


History

Maintaining year-round traffic in the Northern Sea Route, especially between
Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...
and
Dudinka Dudinka (; Nenets: Тут'ын, ''Tutꜧyn'') is a town on the Yenisei River and the administrative center of Taymyrsky Dolgano-Nenetsky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It used to be the administrative center of Taymyr Autonomous Okrug, ...
that were the most important ports in the Soviet arctic region, had always been a high priority to the Soviet Union due to the economic exploitation of the vast natural resources of the northern regions. Northern Sea Route is also a potentially important link between Europe and Asia as it significantly reduces the transit time in comparison to the route through the
Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
. While the Soviet Union had constructed a large fleet of ice-strengthened cargo ships, they could not keep up with the large
nuclear-powered icebreaker A nuclear-powered icebreaker is an icebreaker with an Nuclear marine propulsion, onboard nuclear power plant that produces power for the vessel's propulsion system. Although more expensive to operate, nuclear-powered icebreakers provide a number ...
s and were often damaged by ice during towing operations. In order to prevent this, a fundamentally new type of cargo ship was needed. In the late 1970s Sudoimport, the Soviet foreign trade organization with a monopoly for the foreign trade of ships, requested for tenders for the design and construction of 20,000 DWT arctic cargo ships according to the specifications laid out by the Ministry of the Merchant Marine of the Soviet Union (MORFLOT). In terms of hull strength and engine power, these ships were to be in par with icebreakers that would escort them through the most difficult ice conditions.


Development and construction

Leading Finnish shipbuilders Wärtsilä and Valmet both developed designs that met the requirements for the new class of arctic cargo ships capable of year-round operation in the Northern Sea Route, Wärtsilä using knowledge and experience gained from building more than half of the world's icebreaker fleet in service at that time and Valmet from several types of ice strengthened cargo ships the company had built in the 1960s and 1970s, and an initial order for nine ships, six for Wärtsilä for
FIM FIM may refer to: Organizations and companies * Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation * Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States * Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media * ...
1.2 billionMiljarditilaus Wärtsilälle – Kuusi jäätämurtavaa monitoimialusta NL:oon. Navigator 9/80. Page 41. and three for Valmet for FIM 600 million,Uusi aluevaltaus Valmetille – Kolme arktisen liikenteen monikäyttöalusta NL:oon. Navigator 9/80. Page 42. was placed in July 1980. Wärtsilä's order was the largest single contract made by a Finnish industrial company. In the following year three more ships were ordered from Wärtsilä and two from Valmet, resulting in a total order of 14 ships worth of FIM 3.5 billion.Jättitilaus toimitettu. Navigator 5/84. While initially the idea of ordering two similar but technically different series of ships for the same purpose was to gain operational experience for the future arctic freighters, shortly after the deal was made public the shipyards approached Sudoimport to agree on a uniform design. Not only was running two parallel development projects wasting effort and resources for the shipyards, but constructing a single type of ships instead of two would bring savings to the customer in form of reduced maintenance and spare part costs. Wärtsilä's design was chosen as the standard for further development since it was ahead in the production schedule.Multipurpose vessels Arctic liner trade. Navigator 1982. However, despite the co-operative measures some dissimilarities between the ships built by Wärtsilä and Valmet remained, resulting in the crews considering of them as separate types of ships as the differences were most obvious from the operator's point of view. The first ship of the class, ''Norilsk'' from Wärtsilä, was delivered on 13 November 1982 from the
Perno shipyard Perno shipyard is a shipyard in Turku, southwest Finland, that specialises in building cruise ships, Ferry, passenger ferries, special vessels and offshore projects. The yard area is and is operated by Meyer Turku, Meyer Turku Oy with a dry do ...
in
Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...
, half a year behind schedule due to the prototype nature in many of its systems.Avain rikkauksiin. Navigator 1/83. The first ship from Valmet, ''Nizhneyansk'', was delivered from the Vuosaari shipyard in
Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
on 21 January 1983, about three months ahead of the contracted delivery time.NIZHNEYANSK from Valmet. Navigator 3/83. Page 17. The remaining twelve ships, all named after cities within the Soviet Union, were delivered in 1983–1984. Shortly after the last SA-15 type ships of the initial order, ''Anadyr'' from Valmet and ''Nikel'' from Wärtsilä, were delivered on 23 and 30 March 1984, respectively, Valmet received a follow-up order from Sudoimport for five more ships of the same type. The contract, finalized on 13 July 1984, was worth of FIM 1.5 billion (US$263M) and was the biggest single order ever received by Valmet.Kaikesta Huolimatta: SA-15. Navigator 9/1984. Minor modifications were made to the design based on the operator's experiences during the exceptionally hard arctic winter,Finland's orderbook boosted by Soviet five year plan. The Motor Ship, Volume 65, Issue 767, June 1984. Page 11. resulting in a subclass sometimes referred to as SA-15 Super.Murmansk Shipping CompanyDry Cargo fleet – SA-15 Super
Retrieved 2011-01-19
The ships, named after Russian and Soviet explorers, were built in 1985–1987 and the final ship, ''Kapitan Danilkin'', was delivered on 17 June. At that time, Valmet was already part of
Wärtsilä Marine Wärtsilä Marine (; ) was a Finland, Finnish shipbuilding company. The company was created in 1987 in order to improve shipbuilding productivity by combining the Wärtsilä and Valmet yards under the same organisation. The yards were located in ...
and a decision had been made to close the Vuosaari shipyard.Valkonen, M. Vuosaaren telakka-altaan kuntotutkimus ja käyttömahdollisuudet Vuosaaren sataman yhteydessä. Diplomityö. Rakennus- ja ympäristötekniikan osasto, Teknillinen Korkeakoulu, 2005.


Operational history

While the first ships suffered from prototype problems with e.g. the propeller pitch control mechanismNorrby, R.
Propellers for Soviet Arctic ships: Lessons from initial experience
Mar. Engng/Log, vol 89, 1984. Page 31.
and returned to the shipyard for repairs under warranty, the feedback from the operators was generally positive from the beginning especially regarding the performance of the ships in difficult ice conditions which was deemed superior to earlier ULA class freighters. The vessels were capable of breaking level ice up to in thickness while maintaining a speed of 1–2 knots and proceed in even thicker ice by ramming. Later reports state that the ships could maintain an average speed of 6 knots in winter and 12 knots in summer while operating in the Northern Sea RouteMulherin, N et al
The Northern Sea Route – Its Development and Evolving State of Operations in the 1990s
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory The Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) is a United States Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center research facility headquartered in Hanover, New Hampshire, that provides scientific and engineering ...
(CRREL), April 1996. Retrieved 2011-02-08
and were capable of continuously breaking ice at five knots. With assistance from ''Arktika''-class nuclear icebreakers the ships could operate in level ice with thickness of at two knots under their own power without towing,Brigham, L. W. Natural Conditions, Ice Navigation and Ship Design – Pushing the Limits
The 21st century – turning point for the Northern Sea Route? Proceedings of the Northern Sea Route User Conference, Oslo, 18-20 November 1999.
Pages 57-62.
but if the freighter is attached to the icebreaker's stern notch for close towing, the combination could maintain a speed of four knots in similar ice conditions, the same as the speed of the icebreaker when operating alone. The strength of the SA-15 type ships was further proven when icebreaker ''Admiral Makarov'', after having been immobilized for five days, pushed the freshly delivered ''Nizhneyansk'' at full power through the ice separating the vessels from
Pevek Pevek (; Chukchi language, Chukchi: , ''Pèèkin'' / ''Pèèk'') is an Arctic port types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Chaunsky District in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, located on Chaunskaya Bay (pa ...
, arriving at the city as the first ships of the year 1983.Horensma, P
The Soviet Arctic
Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. .
The freighter received only minor ice damage in the process. During the particularly difficult season, during which around fifty cargo ships were trapped in ice in the
East Siberian Sea The East Siberian Sea (; ) is a marginal sea in the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the Arctic Cape to the north, the coast of Siberia to the south, the New Siberian Islands to the west and Cape Billings, close to Chukchi Peninsula, Chukotka, ...
, the SA-15 type freighters were sent to the Northern Sea Route as soon as they were delivered from the Finnish shipyards. They were used to unload cargo from icebound ships and deliver the much-needed supplies to isolated communities along the coast. The ships also acted as escort icebreakers, using their stern notches to tow smaller ships through the ice fields even though it was not their original purpose. Among the ships that received assistance from the new SA-15 type ships was the nuclear icebreaker ''Sibir'' which had to be helped on several occasions by '' Okha''. Unlike the freighters, the icebreaker had no abrasion-resistant coating and suffered from severe hull corrosion that considerably increased the ice resistance of the vessel.


Initial Soviet and Russian owners

The largest initial operator was
Murmansk Shipping Company Murmansk Shipping Company (), often abbreviated as MSCO, was a Russian shipping company based in Murmansk. It was one of the primary shipping companies operating in Arctic Russia and northern Europe, in 2014 the company had 303 vessels, with a to ...
(MSCO) which owned and operated a fleet of ten SA-15 type cargo ships in the western part of the Soviet arctic. It was followed by two companies operating in the eastern regions,
Far East Shipping Company FESCO Transportation Group () is an intermodal transport operator in Russia, which provides services, including marine shipping, roll-on/roll-off, rail transportation and port handling. The parent company of the Group is Far-Eastern Shipping Co ...
(FESCO) with seven and Sakhalin Shipping Company with two vessels.References
. Aker Arctic Technology Inc. Retrieved 2011-02-08
Later MSCO transferred three ships to its affiliate, NB Shipping, and the ships were transferred from
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
n to Cypriot register. During the summer sailing season, the ships carried cargo along the Northern Sea Route, supplying the settlements and mining colonies on the East Siberian coast, and made several transit voyages from Europe to the Far East and Canada, each 25-day voyage taking around ten days less than a similar voyage through the Suez Canal. In winter the SA-15 type freighters mainly supported the Norilsk-Dudinka operation, providing a continuous flow of non-ferrous metal concentrates to the smelters of the
Kola Peninsula The Kola Peninsula (; ) is a peninsula in the extreme northwest of Russia, and one of the largest peninsulas of Europe. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely inside the Arctic Circle and is border ...
and other industries within the Soviet Union, but also carried other cargo especially when the ice conditions became too difficult for other vessels. In 1990, ''Norilsk'' became the first ship to transport cargo from Japan to Europe via the Northern Sea Route.First of the SA15 freighters sold for scrap
SeaNews Turkey, 4 November 2010. Retrieved 2012-02-17
To promote the utilization of the Northern Sea Route, cargo space on board the SA-15 type ships was also leased to Western shipping companies and several experimental voyages for scientific purposes were made in the 1990s. For years the SA-15 type ships formed the core of the Soviet and later Russian fleet of icebreaking cargo ships. '' Kapitan Man'', one of the later SA-15 Super type freighters, was involved in the Strait of Juan de Fuca laser incident on 4 April 1997. In 2009, ''Igarka'' was used as a setting for the opening scene of the 2010 action movie ''The Expendables'' while the ship was staying at
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
,
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, for repair work. Although the SA-15 type ship owned by the Far East Shipping Company is not identified in the movie, both its name and the company logo are briefly visible in some shots.


Bank Line

In 1995 Bank Line, a subsidiary of Andrew Weir Shipping Ltd, purchased four SA-15 type ships, ''Okha'', ''Bratsk'', ''Tiksi'' and ''Nikel'', for their westbound round-the-world liner service linking
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
to the
South Pacific Islands The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...
and
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
via the
Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
and Suez Canals. The ships, no longer required to sail in the arctic conditions, were renamed ''Speybank'', ''Arunbank'', ''Foylebank'' and ''Teignbank'' and converted in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
for the South Pacific service.Ship NostalgiaBank Line – Part 7
Retrieved 2011-01-16
In 2006 China Navigation Co Ltd, the deep-sea shipping arm of John Swire & Sons Ltd, bought the business from Andrew Weir Shipping. The ships, while still managed by Bank Line, were time chartered, renamed to ''Mahinabank'', ''Tikeibank'', ''Gazellebank'' and ''Boularibank'', and sent to
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
for drydocking and extensive refits. Later the company also chartered two more SA-15 type ships, ''Anatoliy Kolesnichenko'' and ''Vasiliy Burkhanov'', but unlike the others they were not rebuilt and retained their Russian identity. However, due to the economic downturn of 2009 the round-the-world cargo liner service was discontinued, the charters were ended, and the four converted SA-15 type ships were returned to their original owner and sold for scrap in late 2009.The Ocean Liner Virtual Museum
Retrieved 2011-01-16
Barry Rogliano Salles


. Retrieved 2011-01-16
The end of Bank Line's SA-15 type ships was not without incident. On 28 April 2009, on her last complete voyage in round-the-world service, ''Boularibank'' was attacked by
Somalian pirates Horn of Africa * Somali Peninsula, a region of East Africa, also known as "The Horn of Africa" * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Greater Somalia ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somali culture ...
120 miles northeast of
Socotra Island Socotra, locally known as Saqatri, is a Yemeni island in the Indian Ocean. Situated between the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea, it lies near major shipping routes. Socotra is the largest of the six islands in the Socotra archipelago as ...
at the entrance to the
Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...
. Unable to outrun the attackers, Captain Peter Stapleton carried out evasive manoeuvres while under fire from the assailants'
AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...
s and
RPGs RPG may refer to: Military * Rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon **''Ruchnoi Protivotankoviy Granatomyot'' (Russian: ''Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт''), hand-held anti-tank grenade laun ...
and had his crew ward off the invaders using water cannons,
twistlock A twistlock or twist lock, together with matching corner castings, as defined in norms including ISO 1161:1984, form a standardized (rotating) connector system, for connecting and securing intermodal, and predominantly ISO-standard internatio ...
s and heavy balks of timber lashed to the guard rails. By the time a destroyer of the
Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...
arrived at the scene the pirates had given up, leaving ''Boularibanks crew of 31, eleven passengers and the captain's wife unharmed. Stapleton was later awarded the
Merchant Navy Medal The Merchant Navy Medal for Meritorious Service is a state award within the British honours system. The medal is awarded to no more than 20 recipients annually who are announced on Merchant Navy Day, 3 September. A 'Merchant Navy Medal' with the s ...
for exceptional bravery during the attack.Skipper's award for repelling a pirate attack
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
, 24 October 2009. Retrieved 2011-01-17
Another converted SA-15 type ship, ''Foylebank'', was briefly featured in the 2000 drama film ''
Cast Away ''Cast Away'' is a 2000 American survival drama film directed and produced by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, and Nick Searcy. Hanks plays a FedEx troubleshooter who is stranded on a desert island after his plane cras ...
'' as the ship that rescues the character portrayed by
Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
.


Other operators

While the majority of existing SA-15 type ships has always remained under Russian ownership, in addition to the four ships operated by Bank Line several SA-15 type freighters have found their way to the second-hand market since the 1990s and several were sold to non-Russian owners. In 1996 ''Nizhneyansk'' was sold to a
Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...
n company Bandwidth Shipping Corporation and renamed ''Magdalena Oldendorff''. Operated by a
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
shipping company Oldendorff Carriers, a subsidiary of Egon Olderdorff, the ship was chartered in 2000 as a support ship for the 20th Indian Antarctic Expedition. On 11 June 2002 ''Magdalena Oldendorff'', while on her second voyage to the Maitri Base, was immobilized by pack ice. 79 Russian scientists and 11 crew members were airlifted by helicopters to the
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
n research ship '' S. A. Agulhas'' and returned to
Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
. After an unsuccessful rescue attempt by the
Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...
icebreaker '' Almirante Irízar'' in late August a decision was made for the ship to winter in the Bay of Muskegbukta and attempt to free itself when the ice started to melt with the beginning of the Antarctic summer. In late November ''Magdalena Oldendorff'' freed itself and returned to Cape Town for the Christmas.MAGDALENA OLDENDORFFShades Stamp Shop Ltd
Retrieved 2011-07-12

Unofficial website of ARA Admirante Izítar. Retrieved 2011-07-12
The ship was sold in 2003 and renamed ''Ocean Luck'', but since 2010 it sailed again under Russian ownership as ''Captain Kurbatskiy''. The ship was in news again in June 2011 when four crew members died after consuming alcohol that turned out to be methanol.m/v Captain Kurbatskiy tragedy – full report
7/9/2011. Retrieved 2011-07-19
''Captain Kurbatskiy'' was sold for scrap in late 2011. In early 2009 another SA-15 type ship, the ''Monchegorsk'', became the centre of an international incident involving
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
,
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
, Russia, the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
,
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, the
Palestinian territories The occupied Palestinian territories, also referred to as the Palestinian territories, consist of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip—two regions of the former Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine ...
and
Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
. American naval ships of the
Combined Task Force 151 Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151) is a multinational naval task force, set up in 2009 as a response to piracy attacks in the Gulf of Aden and off the eastern coast of Somalia. Its mission is to disrupt piracy and armed robbery at sea and to engag ...
alerted the Egyptian officials after the ship left an Iranian port and headed for the Suez Canal. The ship was forced into an
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
ian port and munitions, believed to be headed to the
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
, were found hidden in the cargo. However, the officials had no evidence that this was in violation of the
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747 United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747 was a United Nations Security Council resolution, written with reference to some IAEA reports, that tightened the sanctions imposed on Iran in connection with the Iranian nuclear program. It was ...
, which prohibits Iran from exporting weapons, and the ship was released. After leaving the Canal ''Monchegorsk'', flying a Cypriot flag, was boarded and escorted to the
Port of Limassol The Port of Limassol (), also known as the Limassol New Port is the largest port in Cyprus, located in the city of Limassol. Location The port is located in the Eastern Mediterranean and is considered one of the busiest ports in the Mediterranean ...
. This resulted in a diplomatic struggle in which Israel and the US maintained that the shipment was in violation of the UN resolution, Israel claimed that the weapons were heading for the Palestinian organizations in the Gaza strip and Iran denied everything. The Cypriot officials made a decision to unload the suspicious cargo of 98 containers from the ship and keep it in Cyprus. The ship was sold for scrap shortly after the incident. On 11 July 2011, more than two years later, the confiscated containers, stored in the open under allegedly inappropriate conditions at the
Evangelos Florakis Naval Base The Evangelos Florakis Naval Base () is a Cyprus Navy base, situated on the island's southern coast adjacent to the Vasilikos industrial area and power plant, near Zygi, between Limassol and Larnaca. Operations Prior to 11 July 2011, it was th ...
near Mari, exploded, leaving 12 people dead and 62 injured. The explosion created a crater and caused widespread damage to the naval base and the nearby power station of Vasilikos.


Future

Despite decades of service in some of the harshest operating conditions on the planet, no SA-15 type freighters have been lost. However, even the newest ships are over 30 years old and approaching the end of their economic life. The increasing operating costs of the old vessels with relatively large crews will eventually force the shipping companies currently operating old SA-15 type ships in their fleet to retire them and look for replacements especially for the more demanding arctic routes. Most SA-15 type freighters were transferred to southern routes for their final years and became a common sight especially in Chinese ports. In 2006–2011 MMC Norilsk Nickel built a series of five 14,500 DWT double acting
container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...
s to replace the ageing fleet of MSCO-owned SA-15 type ships used to support the Norilsk-Dudinka operation.Year-round Arctic Marine Transport to Dudinka in Support of Natural Resource Development and Production

The Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME)
Retrieved 2011-02-06
In November 2010 one of these new vessels capable of breaking ice up to thick when operating astern,"Norilskiy Nickel" a Breakthrough in Cost Efficient Arctic Transports
. Aker Arctic Technology Inc. Retrieved 2011-02-06
''
Monchegorsk Monchegorsk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located on the Kola Peninsula, south of Murmansk, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: 52,242 (Russian Census (2002), 2002 Census); ...
'', became the first ship to traverse the eastern part of Northern Sea Route without icebreaker assistance while sailing from Murmansk via Dudinka to
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
.Icebreaking container vessel Monchegorsk, successiful Arctic voyage
SeaNews Turkey, 17 November 2010. Retrieved 2011-02-06
The first SA-15 type ship to be scrapped, ''Kandalaksha'', was sold for demolition in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
in the spring of 2009.From 4 April to 26 June
Robin Des Bois, 9 July 2009. Retrieved 2011-02-06
It was followed by the four ships operated by Bank Line – ''Boularibank'' was sold for recycling in
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
and ''Gazellebank'', ''Tikeibank'' and ''Mahinabank'' in
Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
during the second half of 2009 – and ''Monchegorsk'', which arrived at the breakers in China in late 2009.From 27 June to 24 September
Robin Des Bois, 30 September 2009. Retrieved 2011-02-06
From 25 September to 31 December
Robin Des Bois, 21 January 2010. Retrieved 2011-02-06
In 2010, they were joined by ''Kola'' and ''Norilsk'', which were recycled in India and Huangpu, China, respectively. The first vessels of this type to be scrapped in 2011 were ''Arkhangelsk'', withdrawn from the register on 17 May, and ''Emerald Sea'', reported to be bound for breakers in Alang in late May.From 7 May to 29 July
Robin Des Bois, 10 August 2011. Retrieved 2011-02-06
They were followed by ''Captain Kurbatskiy'' and ''Amderma'', both of which were sold to Indian breakers in late 2011.Clarkson Hellas S&P Weekly Bulletin
Hellenic Shipping News, 10 October 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-14
Market report, week 47
. Alemar Shipping Ltd. Retrieved 2011-11-30
The last ships of the original SA-15 series were scrapped in 2012 – ''Professor Barabanov'' was sold for recycling in Alang in FebruaryWeekly Report, week 10
Lion Shipbrokers, 12 March 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-13
and ''Igarka'' in China in June. 2012 also saw the decommissioning of the first SA-15 Super type ships when ''Kapitan Man'' sailed to the breakers in May and ''Anatoliy Kolesnichenko'' in July, both ending their life in Chittagong. The only SA-15 type ship to be broken up in 2013, ''Vasiliy Burkhanov'', arrived to the same final destination on 18 December 2013. No SA-15 type ships have been scrapped since and two SA-15 Super type ships, ''Kapitan Danilkin'' and ''Yuriy Arshenevskiy'', remain in service . As part of the
Yamal LNG Yamal LNG () is a joint venture led by Novatek based around a liquefied natural gas plant located in Sabetta at the north-east of the Yamal Peninsula, northwest Siberia, Russia. In addition to the LNG plant, the project includes production at the ...
project, one of the alternatives that were studied for transporting
LNG Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volume o ...
plant modules to the material offloading facility located in the port of Sabetta was a conversion of one of the remaining SA-15 type ships into a heavy-lift module carrier. If done, it would consist of removing all cargo handling gear ahead of the superstructure and cutting the hull down to the tweendeck in order to create a large level cargo deck for the oversized industrial modules.Sea Port Sabetta
Andrey Kalinin, Yamal LNG. 2013.


Design


General characteristics

The SA-15 type multipurpose cargo ships have a maximum
overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...
of or with the stern notch excluded. Their hulls are long at the waterline and their
length between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ste ...
is . The breadth of the ships, like all other cargo ships operating in the Northern Sea Route, is limited to by the size of the escorting icebreakers. The shallow waters of the Northern Sea Route limit the draught to , but outside the arctic their cargo capacity can be increased by allowing the ice-strengthened parts of the hull to become submerged. Increasing the draught to increases their displacement from 27,660 tons to 31,000 tons and deadweight tonnage from 16,600 to around 23,000 tons. While there are minor differences in tonnage and displacement between ships and the actual figures differ slightly from the design values which were measured in
register ton Tonnage is a measure of the capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on '' tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically refers to a calc ...
s, the gross tonnage (GT) of the SA-15 type cargo ships is generally around 18,600 and net tonnage (NT) at summer load waterline ranges from around 8,700 to roughly 9,000, being smaller for the newer SA-15 Super type ships. At the arctic subdivision line the net tonnage is reduced to 6,300. The SA-15 type freighters have a design speed of 17 knots at the design draught of and 90% MCR (13,860 kW), but are capable of reaching speeds up to 18.1 knots. However, the actual service speed of the ships when fully laden is slightly lower, 12 knots with one or 15 knots with both main engines.Anatoliy Kolesnichenko
Far East Shipping Company. Retrieved 2011-01-02
The fuel capacity, 3,740 m3 of
heavy fuel oil Heavy fuel oil (HFO) is a category of fuel oils of a tar-like consistency. Also known as bunker fuel, or residual fuel oil, HFO is the result or remnant from the distillation and cracking process of petroleum. For this reason, HFO contains seve ...
and 783 m3 of
diesel oil Diesel fuel, also called diesel oil, heavy oil (historically) or simply diesel, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a re ...
, gives them an operational range of 16,000 nautical miles in open water. The ships can carry enough
provisions Provision(s) may refer to: * Provision (accounting), a term for liability in accounting * Provision (contracting), a term for a procurement condition * ''Provision'' (album), an album by Scritti Politti * A term for the distribution, storing and/ ...
for 60 days of operation. The ships provide accommodation for 52 people, including five double cabins for passengers, and extensive facilities such as library, photographic laboratory, film projector room, swimming pool, sports room, two combined messes and dayrooms, hospital and separate saloons for passengers and the captain. The accommodation spaces have an effective thermal insulation, heating and air conditioning to maintain comfortable inside temperature while the outside temperature varies from to . The SA-15 type ships also have several special features not commonly found in cargo ships, such as a lookout post in the bow for surveying the ice conditions in front of the ship. In addition to the official names, the SA-15 type ships are sometimes called "
carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in colour, though heirloom variants including purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild ...
s" (
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
: Морковь) because of the shape and orange colour of their hulls.


Special features

The harsh operating conditions of the arctic seas place high requirements on the strength, reliability and redundancy of the hull and propulsion machinery, especially for single-screw ships operating independently without icebreaker escort.Häkkinen, P. Laivan koneistot. TKK laivalaboratorio, M-179, Otaniemi, 1993. . For this reason the hull form of the SA-15 type freighters resembles that of icebreakers and their robust propulsion system has several innovative features and prototype arrangements to improve the ships' operational capability.Evolution of the SA-15 hull and propeller design. The Motor Ship, Volume 64, Issue 753, April 1983. Page 69. Special attention has also been paid on the ships' general purpose characteristics by designing the cargo storage and handling facilities to allow various different types of cargo.


Hull

The hull form of the SA-15 type ships, a result of intensive model tests in both open water and model ice, is very different from that of conventional merchant vessels, being more akin to polar icebreakers than traditional cargo ships. The bow design puts equal emphasis on both icebreaking and
seakeeping Seakeeping ability or seaworthiness is a measure of how well-suited a watercraft is to conditions when underway. A ship or boat which has good seakeeping ability is said to be very seaworthy and is able to operate effectively even in high sea stat ...
characteristics, meaning that in addition to good icebreaking and manoeuvring capabilities in various ice conditions the vessel must be able to operate in open water without bottom slamming or shipping of green water occurring in rough seas. The sides are flared to prevent the ship from stopping or being damaged when operating in compressive ice fields. The aft part of the hull, while a compromise between good reversing qualities in the ice and low level of propeller-induced vibrations in the stern, is also designed to prevent pieces of ice from coming in contact with the propeller. The ships are also equipped with stern notches similar to those found in icebreakers, but instead of towing other ships they are meant to be used to allow safe assistance from icebreakers in particularly difficult ice conditions. The material used in the hull is largely grade E shipbuilding steel which is suitable for cold temperatures down to . A special high-strength steel,
Rautaruukki Rautaruukki Oyj, using the marketing name Ruukki, is a Finnish company, headquartered in Helsinki, which manufactures and supplies metal-based components and systems to the construction and engineering industries. In 2014 Swedish SSAB bought Ru ...
Raex E32 Polar, is used in the main components of the ice zone where it was protected by abrasion-resistant low-friction paint, Inerta 160. The thickness of the plating in the ice belt is .Drent, J
Commercial shipping on the Northern Sea Route
The Northern Mariner, III, No.2, April 1993.
Longitudinal framing is used except in the side area between double bottom and tweendeck, which has transverse framing to improve the distribution of ice loads on the side shell.


Propulsion and power

Propulsion power is provided by two 14-cylinder
Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish corporation, Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the Marine propulsion, marine and energy markets. The core ...
- Sulzer 14ZV40/48 4-stroke medium-speed diesel engines running on heavy fuel oil, each with a maximum continuous output of at 560 rpm. As a precaution against failure of the propeller pitch control mechanism the main engines are directly reversible. The fuel consumption while underway is 76 tons per day,Mulherin, N et al
Development and Results of a Northern Sea Route Transit Model
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory The Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) is a United States Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center research facility headquartered in Hanover, New Hampshire, that provides scientific and engineering ...
(CRREL), 1996. Retrieved 2011-01-16
but to save fuel costs only one main engine is used when operating in open water. The main engines are connected to a single propeller shaft through a double input/single output single-stage
reduction gear A gear train or gear set is a machine element of a mechanical system formed by mounting two or more gears on a frame such that the teeth of the gears engage. Gear teeth are designed to ensure the pitch circles of engaging gears roll on each oth ...
manufactured in Finland by Valmet Rautpohja Works in co-operation with Renk AG. The gearbox is equipped with separate Renk multi disc
clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that allows an output shaft to be disconnected from a rotating input shaft. The clutch's input shaft is typically attached to a motor, while the clutch's output shaft is connected to the mechanism that does th ...
es and
Voith The Voith Group is a global technology company. With its broad portfolio of systems, products, services and digital applications, Voith trades in the markets of energy, paper, raw materials and transport. Founded in 1867, Voith today has aroun ...
fluid coupling A fluid coupling or hydraulic coupling is a hydrodynamics, hydrodynamic or 'hydrokinetic' device used to transmit rotating mechanical power.
s for the main engines. The hydrodynamic couplings that allow over 100% slipping between input and output shafts are used in difficult ice conditions to increase propeller torque and protect the main engines from large torque variations resulting from propeller blades hitting the ice. The gearbox itself is also designed to withstand the high thrust and torque loads caused by an open propeller operating in ice – the gear teeth are dimensioned to withstand loads up to five times the nominal value. The fully locking mechanical clutches are used to improve fuel efficiency when the ship is operating in open water or light ice conditions. The 13-metre () propeller shaft weighs 66 tons and has a large external diameter, in the stern part.Weldmar Ltd
Retrieved 2011-01-16
The shaft line is designed according to a certain hierarchy of strength, meaning that if the maximum load is exceeded, yielding occurs in predefined points before components that are more expensive or difficult to repair are damaged. Because the propeller pitch control unit is located at the end of the propeller shaft on the other side of the gearbox, no cutouts that would reduce the strength of the shaft are needed. Because the power output per shaft of the SA-15 type freighters was at that time one of the highest among icebreaking ships, second only to ''Arktika''-class nuclear icebreakers, their propellers are of extremely robust design. The 5.6-metre (), 68-ton, four-bladed
stainless steel Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...
controllable pitch propeller Controllability is an important property of a control system and plays a crucial role in many regulation problems, such as the stabilization of unstable systems using feedback, tracking problems, obtaining optimal control strategies, or, simply p ...
s were developed and manufactured by
KaMeWa AB Karlstads Mekaniska Werkstad (''trans.'' Karlstad Mechanical Works Ltd), known as Kamewa, was a Swedish manufacturing company in the city of Kristinehamn. Kamewa started as a brand name of the controllable-pitch propellers manufactured by KM ...
specially for the SA-15 project. The propeller hubs, which house the pitch adjusting mechanism dimensioned for arctic ice conditions, have a diameter of and were, at the time of the building, the largest ever constructed.KaMeWalle potkurien suurtilaus. Navigator 1/81. Instead of
bow thruster Manoeuvering thrusters (bow thrusters and stern thrusters) are transversal propulsion devices built into or mounted to either the Bow (watercraft), bow or stern (front or back, respectively) of a ship or boat to make it more manoeuvrable. Bow th ...
s the ships are equipped with Wärtsilä Air Bubbling System (WABS). Pressurized air released from nozzles located below the waterline lubricates the hull and, by reducing friction between steel and ice, improves the ship's ability to operate in difficult ice conditions such as pressure ridges and reduces the risk of becoming stuck in ice. The system can also be used to steer the ship at low speeds. For electricity production the ships have four auxiliary generating sets, Wärtsilä-Vasa 624TS 4-stroke medium-speed diesel engines driving 1,000 kVa Strömberg alternators. One of the four engines, each with a power output of 810 kW at 750 rpm, can also be coupled to a radial compressor to serve the air bubbling system. A fifth engine of the same type is dedicated to drive a second compressor. Instead of heavy fuel oil the auxiliary generating sets run on
marine diesel oil Marine diesel oil (MDO) is a type of distillate diesel oil. Marine diesel oil is also called ''distillate marine diesel''. MDO is widely used by medium speed and medium/high speed marine diesel engines. It is also used in the larger low speed and m ...
. There's also an emergency diesel generator of Soviet origin that has a power output of 100 kW at 1,500 rpm.


Icebreaking capability

The SA-15 type freighters are designed to break level ice up to one metre () in thickness with a snow layer of in continuous motion without icebreaker assistance and operate in all prevailing ice conditions encountered in the arctic regions such as ridges and compressive ice. Designed for year-round operation in the North Sea Route, the freighters were intended to operate unescorted during the summer navigation period and, if necessary, with assistance from ''Arktika''-class icebreakers in the more severe ice conditions during winter. The ships are equipped with a stern notch, similar to the towing notches found in icebreakers, to allow safe pushing assistance from an icebreaker. The ships were the first freighters in ten years to be built to the highest Soviet ice class notation available for merchant ships, ULA. Their hulls, rudders and propulsion systems were dimensioned according to the then-latest ice class rules of the USSR Register of Shipping. When the ships are loaded to a deeper draught, their ice class is reduced to UL which, despite being slightly lower, is still equivalent to the highest
Finnish-Swedish ice class Finnish-Swedish ice class is an ice class assigned to a vessel operating in first-year ice in the Baltic Sea and calling at Finland, Finnish or Sweden, Swedish ports. Ships are divided into six ice classes based on requirements for hull structura ...
, 1A Super.The equivalence between the Finnish-Swedish ice classes and the ice classes of classification societies
. Finnish Maritime Administration Bulletin No. 16/27.11.2002.


Cargo handling

The SA-15 type freighters are capable of carrying a wide variety of cargo ranging from general and dry bulk cargoes to containers and trailers. Heavy cargo up to 80 tonnes and long goods up to can also be carried. The ships, designed to serve the remote arctic regions, are also equipped with flexible cargo handling equipment for loading and unloading in undeveloped ports. The cargo gear is designed to operate normally at an ambient temperature of and maintain operational condition at temperatures as low as . It is also extensively winterized by arranging most of the operating equipment inside the cargo access units. The ships have five holds fitted with tweendecks, four forwards and one abaft of the superstructure, with a total grain capacity of 31,181 cubic metres. The foremost hold, No. 1, is specially designed for the carriage of explosives for the mining industry, inflammable liquids and chemicals in packages, and for this reason has a separate seawater fire extinguishing system that can also be used to cool the bulkhead between the foremost holds. Lower holds No. 2, 3 and 4 are designed for bulk cargoes such as coal, ore and grain. Containers can be carried in all holds and on the hatch covers, and the total container capacity of the SA-15 type ships is 576
twenty-foot equivalent unit The twenty-foot equivalent unit (abbreviated TEU or teu) is a general unit of cargo capacity, often used for container ships and container ports.Rowlett, 2004. It is based on the volume of a intermodal container, a standard-sized metal box tha ...
s, forty of which can be refrigerated, or 236 forty-foot equivalent units. In addition the ships can carry special ten-foot ore concentrate containers in holds No. 2, 3 and 4, with two layers on tank top and one on tweendeck. For loading and unloading of general cargo, containers and bulk cargo the ships are geared with four deck cranes located on the centerline, one on the aft deck and three forwards of the superstructure. The No. 2 crane on the foredeck is a twin type crane with a lifting capacity of 2 × 40 tonnes at while the others are single hydraulic cranes, capable of lifting 20 tonnes, with a maximum outreach of . The ships can carry roll-on/roll-off cargo on the continuous tweendeck between holds No. 2 and No. 5. The cargo space, which has a capacity of 570 lane metres with a width of 3.0 metres and free height of 4.3 metres, is divided into five watertight compartments with sliding bulkhead doors located between the holds to meet the subdivision requirements. Wheeled cargo can be loaded and unloaded via a 41-tonne stern quarter ramp angled at 65 degrees to the centerline. The 18-metre () ramp has a free driving width of and can handle cargo weighing up to 56 tonnes. It can also be lowered directly on ice if the thickness exceeds one metre although the resulting slope angle of 17 degrees would be too much for normal vehicles. While not designed to carry liquid cargo, the ships have a provision to transfer fuel from either side of the ship to another vessel moored alongside. A novel cargo handling feature of the SA-15 type freighters was an air cushion platform which could be carried on the weather deck and used to transport cargo ashore or directly to a warehouse in locations having little or no cargo handling facilities. These
hovercraft A hovercraft (: hovercraft), also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and various other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the ...
, manufactured by Wärtsilä, were powered by a 625 kW stern-mounted diesel engine driving two fans giving the platform a hovering height of . They were capable of carrying a payload of 38 tonnes over ice, water, land and marshy terrain when towed by a tractor or a tug or, if necessary, by using an auxiliary propulsion unit that gave the platform a speed of at least two knots.Ilmatyynyaluksia. Navigator 5/1981. However, the air cushion platforms were rarely used and have not been seen on board the SA-15 type freighters since the 1980s.


SA-15 Super

When Valmet Oy received a follow-up order for five SA-15 type cargo ships in 1984, some modifications to the ship were made based on the owner's experiences during the past winter that had been exceptionally hard. While the basic design followed that of the other vessels and the general characteristics remained largely the same, due to the changes the last five ships are sometimes referred to as a separate subclass, SA-15 Super. The majority of the changes were internal. While the module-based design of the engine room, pioneered by the SA-15 type ships, reduced the amount of working hours while building the ship, the piping was completely redesigned to reduce its overall length and make basic maintenance easier. The fifth auxiliary engine was also left out as it was rarely used in actual operation. Winterization was improved by installing heating elements in the double bottom tanks, improving the heating in other ballast water tanks and increasing ice strengthening in some parts of the hull. Some modifications were made to cargo spaces and cargo handling equipment. The aftmost lower hold was turned into a refrigerated cargo space and a dividing bulkhead was removed from the foremost hold. The tweendeck hatch covers were changed from wire-operated to hydraulic and, due to the rearranging of the aft deck winches and to ease the handling of mooring lines, the aft hatch was made slightly smaller than in the original ships. The capacity of the deck crane in front of the superstructure was increased to 40 tons to allow better handling of ore containers. The stern quarter ramp was also changed to a folding type that would maintain constant pressure on the quay. There were also some changes to the general arrangements of the lowest accommodation deck. Externally one of the most noticeable changes in addition to the stern ramp was lowering the lookout post in the bow to improve visibility from the bridge.


Bank Line conversion

The SA-15 type ships purchased by Andrew Weir Shipping were converted at
Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...
and Tyne Tees Dockyard for South Pacific service in 1995 by increasing their cargo-carrying capacity and removing specialized icebreaking features in favor of reduced operating costs. The conversion consisted of retrofitting a
bulbous bow A bulbous bow is a streamlined flaring or protruding bulb at the bow (or front) of a ship just below the waterline. The flare or bulb modifies the way the water flows around the hull, reducing drag and thus increasing speed, range, fuel effici ...
, faired to the existing icebreaker bow, to reduce the wave resistance and replacing the ice-strengthened propeller blades with more efficient highly skewed blades, designed by
KaMeWa AB Karlstads Mekaniska Werkstad (''trans.'' Karlstad Mechanical Works Ltd), known as Kamewa, was a Swedish manufacturing company in the city of Kristinehamn. Kamewa started as a brand name of the controllable-pitch propellers manufactured by KM ...
, to improve speed and fuel consumption. Six double-bottom tanks were converted from bunker to ballast water tanks while nine wing tanks were converted from ballast to heavy fuel oil and two to dedicated heeling tanks. The cargo-carrying capacity of the ships was increased by converting deep tanks between the cargo holds and below the lower deck in the bow for the carriage of vegetable oils. Their maximum allowable draught was increased to , which substantially increased the ships' deadweight tonnage. Other changes included upgrading the cargo handling and lifesaving equipment, converting ten cabins for passengers and installing a new
incinerator Incineration is a list of solid waste treatment technologies, waste treatment process that involves the combustion of substances contained in waste materials. Industrial plants for waste incineration are commonly referred to as waste-to-ene ...
to deal with the shipboard waste. The stern notch was also no longer needed and thus removed, but the Wärtsilä Air Bubbling system was retained for maneuvering.Innovative Bank Line conversion of former Russian Arctic cargo ships. Shiprepair and Conversion Technology, International Journal of the Royal Institution of Naval Arctitects. 1st Quarter 1996. Pages 3-4. When China Navigation Co Ltd bought the South Pacific service from Andrew Weir Shipping in 2006, the four SA-15 type freighters were time chartered by the new owner and further modified during drydocking in Singapore. During the refit an additional Wärtsilä Auxpac 6L20 generating set, capable of operating on the same grade of heavy fuel oil as the main engines, was installed alongside the existing smaller 624TS diesel generators and some ballast tanks were converted to heavy fuel oil to increase the bunker capacity. Fuel efficiency was further improved by grit blasting the underwater parts to minimize hull roughness and installing wake-equalising ducts and a rudder bulb.Upgrade for Bank Line quartet. Shiprepair and Conversion Technology, International Journal of the Royal Institution of Naval Arctitects. 1st Quarter 2006. Page 43. The ships' container capacity was also increased to 702 TEU.


List of SA-15 type ships


References

{{reflist Ship classes Cargo ships of Russia Ships built in Finland Valmet Merchant ships of the Soviet Union Finland–Soviet Union relations