Aker Arctic Technology - R&D

Our main goal is to develop better and more economical solutions for Arctic, and Antarctic, operations and transports.

The icebreaker technology developed by AARC, or by its predecessors, is widely applied in the world's icebreaker fleet.

AARC has published some 250 reports on its development results at conferences and in journals.

Recent development work include:

DAS - Double Acting Ship development, where the ship operates with the stern first when operating in ice. This saves in installed power, and fuel, and makes it possible to optimize the bow of the ship for open water performance. A number of icebreaking ships, and tankers, have been built utilizing this technology. See News.

The DAS was made possible through the development of Azimuthing electric propulsion - another system which was developed by AARC, together with ABB (Azipod).

A very new develpoment is the Oblique Icebreaker. By using azimuthing electric propulsion, it breaks ice by moving sideways, utilizing its entire length for breaking a wide channel. This makes it possible to use a relatively small and narrow icebreaker to assist large and wide cargo ships. This saves money. See Pictures & Videos.

LNG Carrier design for Arctic operation. AARC also holds the rights for the integrated hull structure for Moss-type LNG carriers, which, regarding its strength and reliability, is ideal for Arctic icebreaking LNG carriers. See Pictures & Videos.