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Winter navigation project WINMOS entailed acquisition of the new Finnish icebreaker

Published 06.04.2016

The winter navigation project WINMOS, initiated in 2012, will culminate in the final seminar held today on 7 April 2016. The new financial model and icebreaker concepts developed in the project will guarantee cost-effective winter navigation and timely renewal of the icebreaker fleet. The project also entailed the construction of a new icebreaker, Polaris.

Year-round maritime transport plays a key role in EU trade. The main objective of the WINMOS project  was to ensure effective winter navigation in EU's northernmost waters, as well as to develop the whole winter navigation system in the Baltic Sea area. The project comprised seven activities. The most important activity, from an economic point of view, was the building of the new Finnish icebreaker Polaris. The Finnish Transport Agency has played an active role in almost all of the activities.

Part of the WINMOS project has been to find means to reduce both fuel consumption and emissions from icebreakers. The next-generation icebreaker Polaris is the first icebreaker powered by LNG, Liquefied Natural Gas. The use of LNG significantly reduces both carbon emissions and fuel costs.

Closer icebreaker cooperation between nations

An important part of the WINMOS project has been to develop the operative modelling and financial modelling in winter navigation. The actions to make winter navigation more effective will be put into effect in the icebreaker cooperation between the nations.

At the end of last year, Finland, Sweden and Estonia looked into the possibilities of putting the cooperation into action by signing an MOU. These countries have also submitted a new application for EU funding for the next step of the WINMOS project (WINMOS 2). The decision on EU funding will be made next summer.

In addition to the icebreaker acquisition, the WINMOS project also examined the future need for icebreaking capacity, next-generation icebreakers and lifecycle extensions of old icebreakers. The project has also included development of winter navigation simulation training and training systems for seafarers.

WINMOS is a Swedish, Finnish, Estonian project which is co-financed by the European Commission The total budget of the project is 139 million euro. The contribution from TEN-T’s Motorways of the Sea (MoS) budget is 29.6 million euro.

Further information:
Senior Officer Helena Niemelä, The Finnish Transport Agency
phone 029 534 3321
firstname.lastname(at)fta.fi

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