The fifth and the sixth serial nuclear Design 22220 icebreakers will be named “Kamchatka” and “Sakhalin”, Atomflot, the operator of Russia’s nuclear icebreaker fleet, said in a statement.
Historically, nuclear icebreakers were named after geographic objects in the Northern Sea Route or after the legendary Soviet nuclear icebreakers, like the “Arktika”.
The naming of the new vessels “Kamchatka” and “Sakhalin” marks the extension of the Northern Sea Route logistics boundaries and opening the routes to the Asian Pacific Region, Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev explained.
By 2030 cargo traffic by the Northern Sea Route is to reach 150 mn tons. To assist commercial ships to transport this cargo, the lead nuclear icebreaker “Rossiya” of Design 10510, seven serial nuclear Design 22220 icebreakers, and four non-nuclear icebreakers are to be deployed in the Northern Sea Route basin. Of the previous nuclear icebreaker designs, only the “50 Let Pobedy” icebreaker will be in service by that time.
The keel laying for the “Kamchatka” icebreaker is scheduled for May 2024, and that for the “Sakhalin” for autumn 2025, according to Rosatom.
Photo: courtesy of Atomflot