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Fairway Vessel Seili Improves Oil Spill Response Capacity
in Gulf Of Finland
(9.
March 2004)
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M/s
Seili, one of the fairway maintenance
vessels managed by Finstaship - the new Finnish
State Shipping Enterprise - has been rebuilt,
lengthened and modified to be capable of both
fairway maintenance and oil spill response functions.
The rebuilt vessel enhances the oil spill response
readiness considerably in the eastern Gulf of
Finland, especially in ice conditions. The installations
for collecting oil from ice masses have been
developed at the Finnish Environment Institute.
The "new" Seili was commissioned in February
2004 and her location is Kotka in south-eastern
Finland. She will mainly be used for major fairway
maintenance work in the Gulf of Finland.
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Seili
before the conversion
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Seili
after the conversion
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Photo courtesy of the Finnish Maritime
Administration
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Photo courtesy of Aslemetals Oy
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Seili was lengthened by adding a new 8 meters
long module in the middle of the vessel. This
module includes the oil collecting facilities
and the 200 cubic meter tanks for collected spill
oil. The vibration screens - for oil spill |
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Photo
courtesy of Aslemetals Oy
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response in ice conditions - will be installed
outside the hull of the vessel when needed. These
facilities will considerably improve the oil spill
response capacity of the vessel in ice conditions.
Such equipment is available only in a few places
in the world. |
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Photo courtesy of Aslemetals Oy
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The old propulsion machinery of the vessel was
replaced and the vessel has been furnished with
efficient fire monitors as well as an emergency
towing system. The new Steerprop propulsors and
position keeping system enables Seili to keep
its position automatically without anchoring.
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The installed propulsion power is 2 x 1100
kW driving two Steerprop SP 25 propulsors,
with 2.1 m diameter open propellers. The Propulsors
ar built according to Finnish-Swedish ice
class 1A.
The
new propulsion system has also improved the
ice going capabilities of the vessel considerably.
During the recent delivery trip Seili was
able to keep the speed at 12.5 knots in broken
channels and more than 5 knots in 60 cm thick
level ice.
The
oil harbour recently opened on Russian territory
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in the eastern end of Gulf of Finland, as
well as the additional harbours still under
construction, have significantly increased
and will furthermore increase the volume of
oil transport through the Gulf of Finland
and thereby also the risk of oil spills. One
of the major objectives of the protection
plan for the Baltic Sea is therefore to improve
the navigation safety and the oil spill response
capacity in the Baltic Sea. The programme
of the Government of Finland also mentions
assessment of the need of an oil spill response
centre, a proposal to purchase a new multi-purpose
ice breaker that would be capable of oil and
chemical spill response operations, and support
to Russia and Estonia for investments in oil
spill response capacity.
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Photo
courtesy of Aslemetals Oy |
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The
modification works of m/s Seili were
made at the Shipyard of Aslemetals in Olkiluoto,
close to Rauma, as a cooperation project of
Finstaship and the Finnish Environment Institute
(SYKE). It took 9 months to rebuild the vessel.
The costs, EUR 8 million, were provided by the
National Oil Security Trust.
The
nine fairway maintenance vessels of the Finnish
State Shipping Enterprise are now all capable
of oil spill response operations. Seili
will be used for fairway maintenance as well
as construction and maintenance of various navigation
devices. The vessel can also be used for icebreaking,
for various transports and for supporting pilot
functions in heavy ice conditions. Together
with m/s Letto, which is used in Gulf
of Bothnian, m/s Seili is the largest
vessel of its kind in Finland.
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Photo
courtesy of Aslemetals Oy |
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In environmental damage response operations,
the fairway maintenance and oil spill response
vessels are administred by the Finnish Environment
Institute (SYKE), which is the authority responsible
for marine oil and chemical spill response operations
in Finland.
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Seili was originally built in 1979 and
has the following main particulars: |
| LOA |
50,5
m |
| LWL
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48,6
m |
| Beam |
12,2
m |
| Draught |
3,8
m |
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| Engine
power |
3
x 800 kW |
| Propulsion
power |
2
x 1100 kW |
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| Tanks
for collected oil |
2
x 98 m³ |
| Number
of cabins |
17
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Maximum number of crew |
25
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Finnish Environmental Institute
The Finnish Environment Institute (also known as SYKE,
after the Institute's Finnish acronym) is both a research
institute, and a centre for environmental expertise.
SYKE's research focuses on changes in the environment,
and seeks ways to control these changes. Our expertise
is based on long-term environmental monitoring, wide-ranging
research results, and the Institute's highly-qualified
staff. |
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Finstaship
administrates
and markets the state owned ice-breakers, multi-purpose
ice-breakers, buoy-tender vessels and connection
ferries. Furthermore Finstaship provides crew and
management for vessels owned by other companies.
The current Finstaship fleet consists of 30 vessels,
the turnover being 60 million Euro.
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Aslemetals Oy
is a medium-sized limited company operating in the
field of mechanical engineering and shipbuilding.
The company's home town is Rauma, on the western coast
of Finland, where the company manufactures plate and
steel structures as well as piping constructions,
and has its head office.
The
company also has a shipyard of its own, which is located
in Olkiluoto, Eurajoki, 10 km north of Rauma. Shipyard
services include newbuilding, modification and repair
of ships, ship blocks, ferries and other vessels.
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