all four propeller blades, but once the replacement blades had been installed, the convoy arrived at the port of Hanko on 20 April 1889 at 13:00. Large headlines in the major Finnish newspapers reported how the ice blockade had finally been broken – a foreign icebreaker had come through the ice and was now moored at a Finnish port. The successful arrival of Bryderen was seen as the definite answer to the question whether or not an icebreaker would be needed in Finland. Development and construction Shortly after the visit of Bryderen, the Senate sent a call for bids for several Finnish and foreign shipyards for the construction of a steam-powered icebreaker capable of breaking a channel. Bids for a single-screw "European-type" icebreaker similar to the German icebreaker Eisbrecher I were received from German shipbuilder AG Vulcan Stettin, Danish Burmeister & Wain and Swedish shipyards Kockums AB and Bergsunds Mekaniska Verkstads AB. An expert committee appointed by the Senate recommended the second Swedish design, which was the second cheapest at 445,000 Swedish kronor, and the contract was signed with Bergsundet on 25 May 1889. The construction of the icebreaker began on 18 August 1889 and she was launched on 23 December. On the same day she was given the name Murtaja after her German, Swedish and Danish counterparts – each country had named their first icebreaker simply Icebreaker in their own language. The sea trials on 23–26 March 1890 were witnessed by a group of experts, among them the Finnish-Swedish arctic explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, the first person to complete a voyage through the Northern Sea Route. During these trials Murtaja passed all but one of the tests for performance and general seaworthiness. Her draught at full load exceeded the contract specification by , meaning that either her specialized hull form could not be fully utilized in icebreaking or the coal capacity would have to be reduced, affecting her range and endurance. However, the shipyard promised to do everything it could to reduce the draught of the vessel to an acceptable level and Murtaja, the largest and most powerful European icebreaker at that time, was delivered to the owner on 30 March 1890. She left the shipyard on the following day and headed to Helsinki, where she was welcomed by a large cheering crowd on 2 April 1890. Career Early career Murtaja was given the task of assisting ships to