An oblique icebreaker is a special type of icebreaker designed to operate not only ahead and astern, but also obliquely (sideways) with a large angle of attack. In this way, a relatively small icebreaker is capable of opening a wide channel in ice for large merchant ships.
The oblique icebreaker concept was developed in the late 1990s by Kværner Masa-Yards Arctic Technology Centre (MARC), the Finnish engineering company also responsible for the development of the double acting ships. The first vessel of this kind was ordered by the Russian Ministry of Transport on 8 December 2011 and was completed in 2014.