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www.sname.org/sname/mt January 2013 The Urho leads a convoy of merchant ships in the Gulf of Finland. In addition, a holistic approach, with e ective coop- eration of the available resources between the states and di erent industrial players, should also be enhanced both in the Baltic and arctic areas. During winter 2011, the ice- breaker Urho remained berthed in Helsinki for almost two weeks, awaiting operational tasks, while northwest- erly winds kept pushing the sea ice into Russian territorial waters. At the same time, more than 100 ships lay ice- bound off St. Petersburg. Several Russian icebreakers were operating in the area. Urho could not be sent to help them due to the restrictions of cross-border regulations. To avoid such situations in the future, companies providing icebreaking services in the Baltic should agree on joint use of capacity in the region. Russian authorities have taken an active and positive stance towards this initiative, and both the Finnish and Russian parties are striving to get these ideas o the drawing board as soon as possible. Emissions In addition to the Baltic Sea icebreaking operation, Arctias eet is used for ice management and other rel- evant o shore purposes such as helping with diving and other underwater operations worldwide. Because the current eet was built many years ago, its suitabil- ity to meet renewed emission demands is not up to date. erefore, the company has been facing the chal- lenge of meeting the new United States Environmental Protection Agency (and other) regulations, along with customer demands. e company has made several technical studies for improved future use within the new emission limits. One study has already been put into practice. Arctias icebreak- ers Fennica and Nordica used to run on heavy fuel oil. eir former fuelling system caused sulphur, nitrogen oxide, and black carbon emissions, which exceeded IMO and cus- tomer demands for the Arctic. During 2011, the company studied the opportunities for technical conversions to meet the new demands in order to be able to provide ice man- agement services in arctic Alaskan waters. e fueling system was converted from previous heavy fuel oil to ultra low-sulphur diesel oil, which contains less than 15 parts per million of sulphur. A new urea-based l-tering system was installed and a new funnel was built to reduce the nitrogen oxide and black carbon emissions. e technical conversion was done in the Arctech Helsinki Shipyard and the technical system speci cations were provided to Finnish marine engine company Wärtsilä. e time required for the conversions was approximately two months. e results are that sulphur emissions were reduced by 99%, nitrogen oxide emissions by 90%, and black carbon emissions were cut in half. e feasibility of the system is tested regularily during the operation. Combined conversions?those that meet emission targets and provide oil recovery capacity in addition to main tasks such as ice management?are part of the future of vessels in this region. e challenge of doing an open-water voyage from the Baltic to the Arctic requires an additional conversion of a vessels stability without damaging its icebreaking capabilities. is challenge also has also been addressed and tested in ice simulations with additional bilge keels and stability tanks. All of these elements are needed in order to safeguard a safe and sound arctic maritime future. Enhancements in capacity utilization can be gained through converting existing vessels for new tasks, adopting new cooperative models, and introducing new, innovative technology. MTTero Vauraste is president and CEO of Arctia Shipping Ltd.