The ''Atle'' class comprises five icebreakers built for the
Swedish and
Finnish Transport Agency
The Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency (, ), shortened to FTIA, is a Finnish government agency responsible for the maintenance of Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders ...
. The two Finnish ships, ''Urho'' and ''Sisu'', are sometimes considered a separate class, but all are operationally identical.
The ships were built by
Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish corporation, Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the Marine propulsion, marine and energy markets. The core ...
Helsinki Shipyard in
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
, and have entered service in the mid to late 1970s.
The maneuvering system, incorporating dual
rudder
A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...
s and dual
bow propellers, represented significant technical innovation. They are also notable for their high level of crew comfort (for their time), to a point where ''Urho'' has served the Finnish government as a
VIP transport.
Ships
*
''Atle'', Sweden, commissioned 1974
*
''Urho'', Finland, commissioned 1975
*
''Frej'', Sweden, commissioned 1975
*
''Sisu'', Finland, commissioned 1976
*
''Ymer'', Sweden, commissioned 1977
References
External links
* {{commonscat-inline, Atle class icebreaker
Icebreakers of Finland
Icebreakers of Sweden
Auxiliary icebreaker classes