_(cropped).jpg) The bow of theNordic Orion in 2019 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Nordic Orion |
| Owner | Bulk Nordic Orion Ltd. |
| Operator | Seamar Management S.A. |
| Port of registry | Panama City, Panama |
| Ordered | 27 March 2006 |
| Builder | |
| Laid down | 10 June 2010 |
| Launched | 17 December 2010 |
| Completed | 4 February 2011 |
| Identification |
|
| Status | In service |
| General characteristics[1] | |
| Type | Bulk carrier |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | 225 m (738 ft) |
| Beam | 32.31 m (106 ft) |
| Draught | 14.089 m (46 ft) |
| Depth | 19.39 m (64 ft) |
| Ice class | DNV ICE-1A |
| Installed power | MAN 6S60MC-C |
| Propulsion | Single shaft; fixed pitch propeller |
| Speed | 12.9 knots (23.9 km/h; 14.8 mph) |
MSNordic Orion is aDanishbulk carrier registered inPanama City. Acoal andore carrier,Nordic Orion has a capacity of 75,603 tonnesdeadweight (DWT). It was built in 2011 byOshima Shipbuilding.Nordic Orion has anice-strengthenedhull,[2] and it is notable for being the first large sea freighter to transit theArcticNorthwest Passage.[3][4][5][6]It is owned and operated byNordic Bulk Carriers.[3]
Nordic Orion started its voyage fromPort Metro Vancouver,Canada, on 6 September 2013, carrying a cargo of 73,500tons ofcoking coal.[7] The ship completed its voyage through the passage on 27 September stopping atNuuk,Greenland[2] and reached its destination, thePort of Pori,Finland on 9 October 2013.[8]
Using the Northwest Passage shortened the distance betweenVancouver andPori by 1,000nautical miles compared to the traditional route via thePanama Canal. Fuel savings were approximately US $80,000.[7][9]Nordic Orion was also able to load 15,000 tons more cargo than it could if it had sailed through the Panama Canal, due to the canal's depth limits.[2]
The journey has been described as an opening of a new era on the commercial use of the Arctic.[10][11] It has also caused criticism from environmental organisations such as theBellona Foundation.[12]Michael Byers, an expert at theUniversity of British Columbia, warned about shallow waters andicebergs that may cause risk even to ice-strengthened ships. According to Byers, Canada's search and rescue capabilities in the Arctic area are poor.[13]
Nordic Bulk Carriers has acknowledged theNordic Orion never would have made the voyage if theCanadian Coast Guard had not provided free icebreaker escorts.[14][15]
Route of the cargo ship Yong Sheng, which arrived in Rotterdam on Sept. 10 after sailing across the Northern Sea Route from a Chinese port.
The ship – a 225-metre, ice-strengthened carrier loaded with B.C. coal bound for Finland – became the first bulk carrier to make the voyage, which has lured explorers for more than a century and has long been eyed as a commercial route.
Nordic Bulk Carriers' vessel Nordic Odin (77,000 dwt, built 2015) has become the first panamax bulker to carry iron ore from Baffin Island, Canada to Europe through Arctic sea ice.
The North West Passage across the Arctic is shorter than the traditional route through the Panama Canal and thereby has the potential to generate important saving in both time, fuel and CO2 emissions.
Besides the shipping firm that owns theNordic Orion underlined that the transit was made possible as the Canadian Coast Guard offered free ice breaking escort. Had the company been billed, the transit would not have taken place.