New models sought for icebreaking service

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The Finnish Maritime Administration is preparing a statement for introducing competition into icebreaking services.
      The launch of competition has been less than promising. The first competition in 2006 brought just one offer - the Finnish state shipping company Finstaship, and the prices that it put forward had officials at the Maritime Administration falling off their chairs.
      What was supposed to be a bid for tenders turned into a negotiation over prices, and now a new solution is being sought.
     
The issue is largely a moot point this year, as the winter is the warmest one recorded in Finnish history, and the only ice on Finnish shorelines is in the far north.
      However, this does not mean that there will never be enough ice to break. In a cold winter icebreakers will be needed to keep the wheels of industry rolling, and to supply the people with imported cars and oranges in the winter.
      Icebreakers could even find themselves busy this year: even in southern sea areas, the water is very cold and a cold snap of a few days is all that it would take for them to be in demand.
      Ilmari Aro, head of icebreaking at the Maritime Administration, does not yet want to make public proposals that the administration plans to put forward to the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
      The trouble with icebreaking is that in the summertime, five icebreakers of the traditional variety stand idle in port.
      However, three multi-purpose icebreakers operate in the summer time, helping in the construction and servicing of offshore oil wells, making money to help finance their main purpose - breaking ice in order to make wintertime shipping possible.
      In the bid for tenders, authorities would choose a company to administer and operate the vessels.
      The multipurpose icebreakers would be the focus of a separate bid for tenders, which means that the entrepreneur would not be burdened by the traditional equipment.
      Aro nevertheless indicates that this might not be the right model for competition. Finland does not have any large companies specialised in providing crews for ships. Such companies do exist in Sweden.
     
Another option would be closer cooperation with Sweden in northern sea areas. Finland and Sweden would set up a common organisation which would buy icebreaking services from private companies.
      The Finnish Maritime Administration has discussed the matter with the Finnish Competition Authority, which feels that there is no need to force the issue of competition in icebreaking.
      The legally required bid for tenders can be conducted, but if only one offer is received, the result will be another separate round of price negotiations.
      Aro notes that there are no icebreakers outside of Finland that would be available for service in Finnish waters.
     
The Ministry of Transport and Communications wants to continue the process, but Mikael Nyberg, the head of the transport unit, says that the concept has to be rethought.
      Finstaship CEO Esko Mustamäki adheres to his view that not everything should be opened to competition all at once.
      He says that Finnish waters should be divided into zones, and long contracts from 10 to 20 years, should be set up for the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Ice-free coastal waters in February considered exceptional, even in Southern Finland (13.2.2008)

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