The M/t Uikku was the first Western oil tanker to navigate the entire Northern Sea Route
- World records also after Nordenskiöld,
but for how long? -
Text: Saana Lamminsivu
Photos: Juha Säävälä
The opening up of the Northern Sea Route for all-year-round traffic has aroused interest in many countries in – and competition - for the route. At the beginning of the year, a Russian shipping company spread the news that a vessel owned by the company will be navigating through the Northern Sea Route during the year and it will be the “first oil tanker in history which has navigated through the route”. In addition, the voyage last summer of two German merchant vessels along the sea route created a huge sensation in the media. However, the truth is that an oil tanker had already navigated the Northern Sea Route a long time ago. The historical voyage was made 1997 by the oil tanker Uikku, which sailed under a Finnish flag.
Arctic diesel oil for Russian estuaries
Russia opened up the Northern Sea Route to international shipping at the beginning of the 1990s. As a result of this, the Neste Company’s tradition of operating in icy conditions obligated and challenged the company to move to the Arctic Ocean to provide the transportation services that are needed by the Northern Sea Route. The co-operation with the Murmansk shipping company continues Neste’s tradition of operating in icy conditions, which had already started at the beginning of the 1970s. At that time, the Company transported goods, including jet fuel, to research stations located in Canada’s arctic regions.
The current Neste Oil Shipping, i.e. the formerly named Fortum Ltd still owned at the beginning of 2000s sturdy vessels belonging to the ice-class 1A Super, which were designed to operate in the extremely harsh icy conditions. The oil tankers Lunni and the Uikku both of the same size, i.e.16000 dwt were being chartered by the company Arctic Shipping Services. The principle shareholders of this joint venture shipping company were the Murmansk shipping company and from Finland the companies Neste and Kvaerner Masa-Yards, recalls Captain Juha Säävälä.
The Neste tankers transported arctic diesel oil and jet fuel to Russia’s estuaries. The country’s comparatively non-existent harbour infrastructure and its shallow shores forced large vessels to often remain further out to sea in roadsteds. The unloading of the cargo could take many days – and it once took even three weeks.
”The cargo was unloaded onto the shore using hoses which were even many kilometres long or the cargo was transferred into smaller ships which transported it further inland along the rivers,” explains Captain Säävälä.
Crossing eight time zones
In 1997, Juha Säävälä worked as the captain of the oil tanker Uikku. Once we were told that we would be going on a longer voyage: the purpose was to navigate through the entire Northern Sea Route. The crew of the vessel had worked many years together and there was a good team spirit. This is why the crew took the upcoming journey with positive expectations and did not panic.
”We had to make sure that we had primarily enough provisions and fuel for the journey because along the route there was no place to stop other than the Port of Pevek,” says Juha Säävälä as he describes the preparatory arrangements for the journey.
Eight different time zones are crossed when going through the Northern Sea Route. Previous long voyages had taught us that it would be prudent to set our time to Moscow time. This would then ensure that we would not need to continuously change our work shift lists. Assisting on the bridge were a Russian ice pilot and a Russian radio operator. They kept in contact with the cargo’s recipients in matters concerning the arrangements of monitoring the traffic, via the telefax and telephones.
”The voyage passed off without any great problems. The vessel transported Arctic diesel oil from Murmansk through the Taimyr Peninsular to the Port of Pevek, which is located in Eastern Siberia. After the cargo was unloaded, Uikku continued its voyage east and went through the Bering Straits in the early hours of Monday 15.9.1997. The voyage from one end of the Northern Sea Route to the other was 3454 nautical miles long and the time taken was two weeks,” recalls Juha Säävälä as he remembers the atmosphere of the historical moment.
****************************
The sailor of the Arctic waters
Captain Juha Säävälä has always liked the Arctic waters. The long term sailor who first went to sea in 1968 and qualified as a captain in 1979, ”has always stayed on this side of the equator” and has considered the Northern waters as a more challenging area in which to sail.
”The Arctic routes, which are not charted, demand careful deliberation and decision-making skills on the bridge” says Juha Säävälä as he describes a small exciting element, which the job offers.
Even though the routes are nowadays better charted than before, when you are on the sea you are ”always at sea” and at the mercy of the wind and the waves, which makes the work interesting according to the experienced captain.
”It depends a lot on the direction of the wind as to whether e.g. there is ice or not in the Northern Sea Route. It could be either completely without ice or when the wind blows from the North, completely frozen over.”
The easiest time for sailing, regarding ice conditions, is the time between August and October.
”The ice reaches its maximum thickness i.e. 1.1 – 2.4 metres during the second half of May. The coldest time is from December to March. Actually the ice never completely leaves the Arctic. However, during a normal summer the ice breaks up and become brittle when the big rivers of Northern Siberia release large masses of warm water into the shallow coastal areas of the Arctic Ocean.”
Along the Northern Sea Route and in other parts of the Arctic waters, there can be one year’s ice up to a thickness of 2.5 metres, but the thickness of many years’ polar ice might even be 4-6 metres! The thinner ice is broken up for example by a nuclear ice-breaker but ice which is six metres thick will remain unbroken no matter what machine is used.
*******************************************
”Finland’s Arctic know-how must not be lost”
Juha Säävälä, who will retire during this year, is distressed about the future of Finland’s current Arctic know-how. The captain who has roamed through the Northern waters during the whole of his life sees in the Arctic waters a lot of possibilities in which we could be included in the future.
”Transportation will be concentrated towards the North. Finnish Arctic seafaring skills concerning, the know-how of crews as well as the tradition of ship building is world class and it must not be lost.”
That is why Juha Säävälä sends to the Finnish State authorities, as his retirement regards, a message that there should be a longer-term perspective towards the future and reminds them that seafaring in the Northern waters would surely be one of Finland’s strong competition assets in the future. The retiring captain would still like to see the day when Neste’s tankers will once again regularly navigate the Arctic Ocean and the other areas of the Northern waters.
