St. Petersburg-based Baltic Shipyard has started the construction of a new nuclear-powered icebreaker to be named “Leningrad” commemorating the Soviet name of the city and its feat during the Siege in Word War 2.
The keel laying ceremony was attended by RF President Vladimir Putin, speaker of the Council of the Federation Valentina Matvienko, United Shipbuilding Corporation Board Chairman Andrey Kostin, St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov and Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev, United Shipbuilding Corporation said in a statement.
‘The high-performance modern nuclear icebreaker Leningrad will become the fifth ship in its series. After it is completed, it will sail along the Northern Sea Route, participate in important programmes to develop and study the Arctic, and ensure the delivery of cargo, construction materials, fuel, and, in general, reliable and sustainable shipping in the difficult and hard-to-reach Arctic latitudes,’ the Kremlin press office quotes Vladimir Putin as saying.
‘Russia has an unparalleled – I would like to emphasise – unparalleled icebreaker fleet, the largest in the world, which is an enormous competitive advantage for us that opens vast opportunities for developing logistics and industry, creating new jobs, carrying out the integrated development of Arctic urban and rural areas, implementing truly global projects, and pursuing cooperation with our international partners and friends, and everyone who is willing to work with Russia,’ the President continued.
Baltic Shipyard has already built and delivered to Rosatomflot the lead nuclear icebreaker “Arktika” and the serial icebreakers “Sibir” and “Ural”. These three vessels are operating in the Northern Sea Route. Two more serial icebreakers, “Yakutia” and “Chukotka” are under construction, United Shipbuilding Corporation said.
The 22220 Design universal nuclear-powered icebreaker is designed to escort vessels in convoys in the West Arctic, to escort vessels in shallow areas of the Yenisei River and the Ob Bay, to provide towage assistance to vessels and other floating objects in ice conditions and in clear water, to assist vessels and provide salvage services in ice conditions and in clear water.
The icebreaker can break solid ice 2.8 meters thick at a speed of 1.5-2 knots.
Technical particulars of 22220 Design:
- LOA: 174 m,
- Beam: 34 m,
- Draft: 10.5 m / 9.3 m,
- Deep displacement: 33.54 thousand tons,
- Power unit capacity: 60 MW,
- Life cycle: 40 years,
- Crew: 54 people.
Photo: United Shipbuilding Corporation