The Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA) has purchased a medium icebreaker originally built and operated in Norway.
The 18-year-old Polar Circle measures 74 by 17 metres, putting it between the SMA's small icebreaker Ale and the administration's larger Atle-class vessels. The purchase of the vessel was completed following a series of thorough inspections and test sailings in the Gulf of Bothnia.
The acquisition of Polar Circle was done following the earlier than anticipated onset of winter in Sweden. This then resulted in longer waiting times for merchant shipping to transit the country's waters.
The SMA said that, without its fleet of icebreakers, the country's ports would risk having to be closed for up to 130 days a year.
Polar Circle will be reflagged to Sweden and will be fitted with new equipment prior to being commissioned into Swedish service during the next icebreaking season. The SMA remarked that the vessel will then sail under a new name.
