Our History
Building the world’s leading centre of ice expertise
For more than fifty years, Railotech has set the global standard for icebreaker design and performance. As Finland’s centre of excellence in ice-going ship design and engineering, we carry forward generations of accumulated knowledge and apply it to the development of high-performance vessels built for the most demanding operative environments on Earth.
From the beginning, our focus has been singular: advanced ice-going vessels. By pushing technical boundaries and challenging conventional design limits, we have pioneered mission-specific vessels engineered for peak performance, long-term reliability, and operational confidence where failure is not an option.
Through decades of continuous research and development, extensive ice model testing, polar expeditions, full-scale operational validation, and proven designs built at shipyards around the world, we have built a depth of expertise unmatched anywhere in the industry.
Railotech is the home of Finnish icebreaker know-how
Finland’s reliance on year-round maritime access has shaped its history. Until the 1970s, frozen ports disrupted trade and threatened economic stability. Icebreakers transformed this reality by keeping sea routes open, enabling reliable logistics and long-term growth.
The launch of Finland’s first steam-powered icebreaker, Voima, in 1924 marked the beginning of a journey that would place the country at the forefront of icebreaker technology.
Today, Railotech carries this legacy forward – as its primary architect and global steward.
Data-driven performance from day one
Our history began in the late 1960s, when the tanker SS Manhattan was modified for transit through the Northwest Passage with Finnish expertise. The project demonstrated the decisive role of structural design and ice mechanics in safe ice operations.
This sparked the idea of ice model testing in Finland. In 1969, our first ice model basin was commissioned, establishing a design philosophy based on measurement, verification, and repeatable results.
Since then, development has followed a disciplined engineering loop: turning operational requirements into technical specifications, designing concepts, validating the engineering at model scale, verifying the designs in full-scale trials, and measuring performance. In parallel, systematic operational data collection has given us a solid understanding of ice conditions across different regions and operational profiles, enabling continuous improvement and constant development of new solutions.
Performance is not assumed. It is proven.
The strategic value of independent ice expertise
The inauguration of a second, more advanced ice model test basin in 1983 enabled deeper analysis of hull-ice interaction, propulsion behaviour, and structural loading under real operating conditions.
Data-driven performance from day one
Despite shipbuilding industry consolidation and geopolitical change in the 1990s, demand for ice expertise remained strong. Arctic energy development and increasingly complex operations reinforced the need for vessels engineered specifically for ice.
As shipyards shifted towards higher-volume commercial construction, the strategic importance for Finland of maintaining an independent, specialised authority in ice engineering became clear.
One independent centre of ice excellence
In 2005, all the accumulated Finnish ice technology know-how – spanning 36 years of ice model testing, polar research, icebreaker designs, and full-scale measurement data – was consolidated into the independent company Aker Arctic Technology. In 2026, the company became Railotech.
This independence has allowed us to work with shipyards, projects, and vessel types across multiple continents – accelerating learning and reinforcing our position as the industry’s technical reference point with every vessel delivered.
Icebreakers are rare assets, and true expertise is built project by project.
Since its establishment, 59 icebreaking vessels based on Railotech’s designs are in operation worldwide, with 36 more under development. Our knowledge base is built on more than 700 ice model test series and over 150 full-scale trials. Our specialists have participated in numerous polar expeditions and contributed extensively to academic and applied research.
Each project builds on this accumulated knowledge, continuous research, and systematic improvement, ensuring efficient construction, predictable performance, uncompromising safety, and long-term cost efficiency throughout the vessel lifecycle.
Our vessels operate where conventional engineering reaches its limits.
Global leader in icebreaking innovations
For the past five decades, our innovations have shaped the industry and continue to set the benchmark for future development.
Our Double-Acting Ship (DAS™) concept allows vessels to operate independently in heavy ice by navigating stern-first when required. It remains the most influential structural innovation in modern ice navigation.
Our references include shallow-draught icebreakers, oblique icebreakers, independent Arctic LNG carriers, Antarctic research and logistics vessels, Arctic module carriers, Baltic escort icebreakers, Polar Class cruise ships, Polar icebreakers, naval vessels, and multipurpose icebreakers. Each pioneering design has been driven by operational requirements and verified performance to align precisely with procurement goals.
Global leader in icebreaking innovations
In parallel, our team continues to advance ice engineering tools and methods, including next-generation ice model-scale testing techniques, Arctic propulsion systems and propeller designs, ice load monitoring technologies, and non-linear finite element structural analysis.
The result is new levels of safety, optimisation, efficiency, and reliability – opening new frontiers in ice navigation.
In 2025, we further strengthened our project execution capabilities through the acquisition of Bluetech Finland.
Today, Railotech stands as the undisputed global authority in ice engineering, creating long-term value for shipowners, shipyards, and stakeholders across the entire maritime ecosystem.
WE DON’T JUST BREAK ICE. WE DEFINE HOW IT IS DONE.