Affairs

01 of 19The ‘IB Kontio’, docked in a floe in the Bay of Bothnia

02 of 19Onboard controls

03 of 19Spotlight on the seas that ‘Kontio’ keeps clear

04 of 19Churning through the ice

05 of 19Veli Luukkala, ‘Kontio’ captain on this stint

06 of 19Artwork in the meeting room of ‘Kontio’

07 of 19Going with the floe: Some days are spent leading ships in and out of port; others are spent waiting out on the ice

08 of 19What’s the crack? In such extreme temperatures, channels can start freezing back over minutes after they’re cut

09 of 19Toughing it out: The ice that ‘Kontio’ breaks can have the thickness and texture of chunky concrete slabs

10 of 19Putting in a shift: Deck officers on ‘Kontio’ work six hours on, six hours off during 20-day stints at sea

11 of 19Cold comfort: Daytime moonlight on a solid sea: the icebreaker’s otherworldy operating environment

12 of 19Powering through: Four 16-cylinder diesel engines keep ‘Kontio’ going through the toughest ice

13 of 19It’s got a ring to it: ‘Kontio’, which means ‘bear’, was built in Helsinki and launched in 1987

14 of 19Feeling the burn: Depending on ice thickness and workload, ‘Kontio’ consumes up to 60 tonnes of fuel a day

15 of 19Feeling the burn Depending on ice thickness and workload, ‘Kontio’ consumes up to 60 tonnes of fuel a day

16 of 19Charting a course

17 of 19‘Kontio’ in the port of Oulu

18 of 19A deck officer surveying the horizon

19 of 19Hi-tech and lower-tech ways of seeing what’s ahead