The Norwegian owned icebreaker Polar Circle pulled in to Halifax this morning and tied up at Pier 9B. Although I have no direct confirmation, I understand that it will be undergoing some maintenance, then proceeding to anchor.
The impressive 12,236 bhp vessel with a bollard pull of 150 tonnes was built for tanker escort in harsh conditions in the Sakhalin Island area of eastern Russia. Langsten Slip of Tomrefjord, Norway completed the ship in 2006 on a shell built by the Aker Tulcea yard. Owners G.C.Rieber of Norway had a 15 year charter with Exxon Neftegaz for the ship which was named Polar Peven. In 2021 the charter was extended two years to September 2023. However in July Rieber opted to cease doing business in Russia and extracted the icebreaker and directing it back to Norway via the Pacific Ocean and Panama Canal. (The ship transited the Canal September 3-6 and put in the New York September 19-21 pre-Fiona.)
As of July 1 the 3396 gt ship was renamed Polar Circle - a popular name for ships of the G.C.Rieber fleet - see my previous post about Rieber July 2, 2022 - and made available for charter. I suspect both the USCG and the CCG may be "kicking the tires" since both countries have icebreaker shortages due to the age and refit needs of their current fleets.
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