Museum Vessel Suur Tõll Docked at Tallinn Shipyard

The Suur Tõll icebreaker, the legendary Estonian museum vessel that had earlier been tugged from the Seaplane Harbour to Tallinn Shipyard, was lifted into dock No 34 for examination and repair at the beginning of March.

As the icebreaker, built in 1914, cannot move independently, she was assisted by tugs from the Alfons Håkans towage company. First, the Tõrvik and Akilles tugboats navigated the floating museum from the Seaplane Harbour, and then a third, the largest one, tug – the Arkturus – took her to Tallinn Shipyard.

According to Aleksei Bogdanov, a Projects/Sales Manager at Tallinn Shipyard, the historical ship will undergo comprehensive repair and dock works – hull cleaning and blasting followed by repainting and will have her hull structures assessed, including thickness measurements and repair of marine valves and the anchor winch.

“Since the historical ship is still afloat and registered in the Ship Register, she shall be inspected and repaired regularly, at ten-year intervals, according to the requirements of the Estonian Transport Administration. However, sadly, there is little hope, if any, that the icebreaking steamer will ever put to sea on her own. That would require massive investments, and, at the end of the day, it would be too great a risk,” commented Urmas Dresen, Head of the Estonian Maritime Museum.

As estimated by Alexey Bogdanov, the museum ship will be released from the dock after the repairs in the last third of March.

We previously had the Suur Tõll 25 years ago to the month, in March 1998.