A rendering of a HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' icebreaker / Courtesy of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries said Wednesday it has secured a contract to build a dedicated icebreaker for the Swedish Maritime Administration, marking the first time a Korean shipyard has won an overseas order for a purpose-built icebreaker.
The contract, valued at $348.9 million, covers the construction of one vessel, with delivery scheduled for 2029. The ship will operate in the Baltic Sea, performing icebreaking operations, convoy escort, towing and ice management duties.
The company said it was evaluated highly across price competitiveness, delivery schedule, and technical capability in the bidding process, prevailing over traditional icebreaker-building nations, including Finland and Norway.
The vessel will measure 126 meters long with a displacement of approximately 15,000 tons. It will be equipped with an electric propulsion system and rated at Polar Class 4, a classification denoting the ability to break continuously through ice roughly one to 1.2 meters in thickness.
The contract was secured with support from the Korean Embassy in Sweden and KOTRA Korea Trade Center Stockholm, making it a joint public-private achievement, the company said.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries noted that global interest in Arctic route development is intensifying. The U.S. last year passed legislation sharply expanding its icebreaker-related budget to approximately $9 billion and has established the ICE Pact — a trilateral icebreaker construction cooperative with Canada and Finland — with a goal of building 70 to 90 icebreakers over the next decade, according to the 2024 ICE Pact framework.
The company said it intends to leverage its demonstrated icebreaking construction capability to pursue naval vessel and special-purpose ship contracts requiring ice-capable hulls in global markets.
Joo Won-ho, head of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' Naval and Special Ship Business Unit, said the icebreaker order demonstrates international recognition of the expanded business capability achieved through the merger of HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and HD Hyundai Mipo.
"We will continue to expand into new export markets in the special-purpose vessel sector on the strength of our technology and integrated business capabilities," Joo said.
Source: Korea Times News
